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The Jacksonville Urban League is a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency. Through our Housing Education and Counseling Services (HECS), we provide comprehensive housing counseling services. These services include group educational workshops and individual counseling. All counselors are certified and continuously participate in nationally approved training to insure up to date awareness, process and knowledge of constant changes within the housing counseling and homeownership arena.
The HECS program is designed to promote economic empowerment by providing financial education tools necessary for successful wealth accumulation. Program benefits include budgeting, credit counseling, debt reduction, predatory lending prevention, financial literacy, home buying resource tools and home retention, re-entry to renting and other information relating to re-location.
The objectives of the program are two –fold: getting a home…keeping a home. Our primary focus is to expand and increase homeownership opportunities for families and individuals, improve access to affordable housing, and preserve homeownership through education, counseling and empowerment of homeowners. Our housing counselors provide guidance and information to help families and individuals improve their housing conditions and meet the responsibilities of tenancy and homeownership. We assist in helping prospective homebuyers avoid inflated appraisals, unreasonably high interest rates, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions that can result in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and eventually foreclosure. Our program also provides referral assistance to the homeless and renters in distress to help them secure permanent, safe and affordable housing
Housing Counseling Services Signature Programs:
Homebuyer Education Workshop
The Home Buyer Education Workshop combines orientation of and addresses the home buying process. The program is designed to ensure that clients fully understand the home-purchasing process and how to utilize the resources introduced during the workshop. Topics covered in the seminars include:
Qualifying for a loan
How much home you can afford
Understanding Credit and Credit History
Down payment assistance
Mortgage options
Making your dream a reality
Pre-purchase Homeownership Counseling Designed to educate potential first-time homebuyers on the process and to produce successful homeowners. Provide comprehensive mortgage readiness counseling with emphasis on budgeting and money management to individual (household) seeking homeownership.
Basic Budget and Credit Education and Counseling The ability to maximize available financial resources is a skill broadly needed today. Counselor works with individual or shares with group, data and tools to increase the self-sufficiency of all its clients. Budgeting and credit counseling is an integral part of all housing services and other JUL programs. Developing a budget, looking at spending habits, reducing existing debt, and developing savings strategies are some of the areas covered in this program. Counseling generally ranges from three to six months.
Foreclosure/Loss Mitigation Counseling Home foreclosure and mortgage delinquency can occur as a result of a reduction in pay, job layoff, illness, death of an income provider, care of family members or other reasons. HECS provides clients who are delinquent on their mortgage or facing foreclosure, the opportunity to bring their mortgage payments current, potentially save their home or relocate. This is accomplished through education and advocacy.
Our housing counselor works on behalf of the client with their mortgage company to find a workable solution for both parties. The HUD-approved counselor is often a welcome addition to the negotiation process for the mortgage company and provides a sense of relief to the client. Counselor creates a detailed budget for the client to use based on financial weaknesses identified in a confidential counseling session. After a detailed budget has been drafted, the housing counselor assists homeowner with a course of action and works with the client and mortgage company towards a realistic and beneficial solution for all parties.
Loss mitigation options include:
Forbearance
Loan modification
Partial claim
Deed in lieu
Pre-foreclosure sale
Re-finance
Bankruptcy
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage
HOUSING COUSELING SERVICES COLLABORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS
Local community businesses play a vital role toward the success and sustainability of the Jacksonville Urban Leagues Housing Counseling Services. These organizations have provided their support including more than 400 hours of volunteer as Housing Counseling Task Force members and presenters during program and community outreach activities.
- Bank of America
- Branch Banking & Trust Company (BB&T)
- City of Jacksonville
- Compass Bank
- DH Horton
- EverBank
- Fifth Third Bank
- Funding America
- Human Rights Commission
- KB Home
- Mosley & Associates Insurance
- Regions
- SunTrust
- TD Bank
- Watson Realty
- Wachovia
- Wells Fargo Mortgage
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