OFFICE OF HOUSING COUNSELING 1

HUD’s Housing Counseling 

Program: 

The Importance of Research 

and Metrics

Sarah S. Gerecke, Marina L. Myhre

October 4, 2018
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• Housing Counseling Research

• Office of Housing Counseling Data Collection 

• How Research and Data Inform Program Decisions

Agenda
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• HUD reaches more than 1 million families through a network 

of approximately 1,800 housing counseling agencies

• HUD monitors compliance, conflicts of interest, and the quality 

of housing counseling provided by these agencies

• HUD provides grant funding for qualified agencies

HUD Office of Housing Counseling

“The mission of the Office of Housing

Counseling is to help families to obtain, 

sustain and retain their homes. 

We will accomplish this mission through a 

strong network of HUD-approved housing 

counseling agencies and counselors.”
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Marina L. Myhre, Ph.D.

Social Science Analyst, Program Evaluation Division 

Office of Policy Development and Research, 

U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
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I. HUD Pre-Purchase Housing Counseling Demonstration (1979)

II. Recent series of HUD studies on housing counseling:

• The State of the Housing Counseling Industry (2008)

• Housing Counseling Outcome Evaluation: Foreclosure and Pre-Purchase Counseling 

Outcome Reports (2012)

III. The First-Time Homebuyer Education and Counseling 

Demonstration

• The First-Time Homebuyer Education and Counseling Demonstration: Early 

Insights Report (2016)

• The First-Time Homebuyer Education and Counseling Demonstration: Baseline 

Report (2017)

What is the history of HUD housing 

counseling studies?
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• HUD has reviewed around 50 studies of the 

program 

• Most show positive correlation between housing 

counseling and better credit, reduced debt, 

greater savings, higher satisfaction with the 

mortgage process and fewer foreclosures

• A number of those studies have been experiments 

and have found positive effects on delinquencies 

on debt and lower odds of foreclosure, and 

reduction in mortgage default rates for FTHB with 

subprime credit or low-income FTHB

What are other housing counseling 

studies and experiments finding?
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Objective: 

• To measure the impact of offering homebuyer 

education and counseling to a sample of 

approximately 5,800 low-, moderate-, and middleincome prospective first-time homebuyers in 28 cities 

across the country.

Research Questions: 

• To what extent does homebuyer education and 

counseling affect outcomes related to: 

• Preparedness and Search 

• Financial Capability and Management 

• Sustainable Homeownership

What are the goals of the HUD FTHB Homebuyer 

Education and Counseling Demonstration?
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Target Population

• Low-, moderate- and middle-income (less than 120% of AMI)

• Prospective first-time homebuyer

• Lender referred customers who had applied for pre-qualification/preapproval/loan

• Anyone participating in a downpayment assistance or other program that 

required homebuyer education or counseling was excluded 

Study Sample

• 5,854 LMMI, FTHB participants in 28 U.S. metropolitan areas

Study Design

• Randomized-Controlled Trial (RCT)

• 3 treatment groups (remote, in-person, and “choice”), 1 control group

• 3 Surveys: Baseline, 12-/18-month, and 36/60-month follow-up surveys 

• 3 Types of Administrative Data: Biannual credit report and loan-origination 

and servicing data, service tracking data

What is the HUD FTHB Homebuyer Education and 

Counseling Demonstration design?
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• HUD successfully implemented a large-scale 

randomized experiment

• This study is groundbreaking in its scale, 

experimental design, elimination of any selection 

bias, and expected length that the families will be 

followed

• Early findings show improved mortgage literacy, 

greater appreciation for communication with 

lenders, and improved underwriting qualifications

What are the key takeaways of the 

Demonstration?
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Sarah Gerecke

Deputy Assistant Secretary,

Office of Housing Counseling 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
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Housing Counseling Service 

Activity (FY17) 

Total Counseling Activity – 1,121,957 Clients

34%

1%

23% 9% 4%

9%

20%

Group Education

Homeless

Rental

Pre-purchase

Post-purchase

Reverse Mortgage

Mortgage Delinquency
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345,612

• Worked with housing counselor to develop a 

sustainable household budget

309,706

• Received fair housing information

165,605

• Improved financial capacity

171,142

• Gained access to resources to help improve 

housing situation

The Impact of Housing Counseling 

Services (FY17)
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Service Usage: 

Racial Demographics (FY 17)
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Service Usage: 

Ethnicity Demographics (FY 17)
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Service Usage: 

Income Demographics (FY 17)
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• Research and data allow us to 

• Understand who uses these resources and for what 

purpose

• Evaluate unmet needs and service gaps

• Demonstrate the impact of the program

• Assess the benefits to clients from the program

• Overall, metrics and research enable more 

effective program management and service 

delivery

Using Research and Metrics to 

Inform Program Decisions
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Example: Research shows initiation and completion 

rates for housing counseling services vary based on 

delivery mechanism

• Training added to encourage agencies to use a wider 

variety of methods to deliver counseling

Example: Currently the demand and funding for 

services is shifting from foreclosure prevention to prepurchase counseling 

• Training may be required to ensure appropriate 

resources are available to meet this need

Using Research and Metrics to 

Inform Program Decisions 
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Example: Research suggests that there is a lack of awareness of 

the availability of counseling 

• Selection bias research problem can be a program 

opportunity

• HUD has prioritized raising awareness and visibility efforts so 

that those who would benefit from program are aware of it

Using Research and Metrics to 

Inform Program Decisions 
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• HUD data elements mapped and adopted to meet 

mortgage industry standards (MISMO) 

• Lending industry can now track housing 

counseling data

• HUD shares data and research with industry to 

encourage policies to support housing counseling 

in lending, renting, foreclosure prevention, and 

disaster recovery 

Using Research and Metrics for 

Policy and Scale
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• www.hudexchange.info/programs/housingcounseling

• Send questions to housing.counseling@hud.gov

• Or contact: 

• Dr. Marina L. Myhre, Office of Policy Development & 

Research

• Marina.L.Myhre@hud.gov or 202-402-5705

• Sarah S. Gerecke, Office of Housing Counseling

• Sarah.S.Gerecke@hud.gov or 202-402-3453

For More Information About Housing 

Counseling