Position Summary

The Housing Counselor provides counseling and education to help individuals and households prepare for homeownership and maintain stable housing. Reporting to the Senior Director of Programs, this position focuses on pre-purchase counseling, helping clients understand their financial circumstances, address barriers, and develop realistic plans for purchasing a home.

The position works collaboratively with the programs team and expands counseling knowledge and services as organizational needs develop. The Housing Counselor is responsible for effective client follow-up, accurate documentation, and progress toward established counseling and education goals.

Key Responsibilities:

Pre-Purchase Homeownership Counseling:

Provide individual pre-purchase counseling, assessing client goals, income, expenses, savings, debt, and credit to identify readiness for homeownership.
Develop individualized action plans with clients, establish achievable milestones, and provide follow-up to track progress and address barriers.
Help clients build household budgets, improve credit, manage debt, save for homeownership, and understand the ongoing costs of owning a home.
Explain the homebuying process, mortgage basics, closing costs, insurance, taxes, and homeowner responsibilities in clear, practical terms.
Connect clients with appropriate community resources and assistance programs, coordinating referrals and follow-up as needed.

Housing Education and Expanded Counseling Services:

Prepare and deliver homebuyer education workshops and other housing education activities.
Coordinate class schedules, registration, attendance, completion records, and participant feedback; arrange volunteer presenters and partner participation as appropriate.
Maintain and update educational materials and learn approved curricula for additional housing counseling topics.
Develop knowledge and skills in additional areas of housing counseling, such as rental housing, post-purchase support, and foreclosure prevention, through training and supervised experience.
Provide additional counseling services as training, qualifications, and program authorization allow.

Counseling Intake and Homeownership Program Support:

Manage intake for housing counseling services, including inquiries, registration, required documentation, authorizations and disclosures, initial needs assessments, and scheduling.
Support Habitat homeownership program intake by explaining counseling services, assisting with documentation and referrals, and helping applicants understand next steps. Coordinate with the staff responsible for homeownership program intake and application processing.
Coordinate with homeownership services staff to track education, sweat equity, savings, and other partnership requirements and help clients address barriers to completion.
Coordinate with mortgage and construction staff on client readiness, anticipated closing dates, and preparation for the transition to homeownership.
Support home dedications, groundbreaking events, housing fairs, and other program activities in coordination with relevant staff.

Post-Purchase and Housing Stability Support:

Provide post-purchase education on household budgeting, home maintenance, insurance, property taxes, escrow, and planning for repairs and unexpected expenses.
Help homeowners understand mortgage statements and payment responsibilities, coordinating account-specific questions with mortgage servicing staff.
Develop skills to assist households facing mortgage delinquency, foreclosure, rental instability, or other housing challenges and provide counseling within the position’s qualifications and authorized scope.
Help clients organize documents and understand available assistance or loss mitigation options, coordinating with lenders, servicers, and community partners as appropriate.
Provide referrals for needs beyond the affiliate’s services and follow up on client progress.

Client Records and Program Quality:

Maintain complete, accurate, and timely housing counseling records, including assessments, action plans, counseling notes, referrals, and outcomes.
Protect confidential client information and follow applicable organizational policies and program requirements.
Track counseling activity, client progress, and education participation; provide reports and identify service gaps or barriers with the Senior Director of Programs.
Assist with preparation of required housing counseling reports, including HUD-9902, and support grant reporting, reimbursement documentation, and monitoring or audit preparation.
Follow applicable counseling standards and maintain required credentials, training, and professional knowledge.

Collaboration and Community Engagement:

Coordinate with homeownership services and mortgage staff to support a clear client experience and appropriate referrals while maintaining distinct counseling responsibilities.
Work with the Senior Director of Programs to establish priorities, review results, and improve counseling and education services.
Regularly review and implement the Affiliate Outreach and Marketing Plan to increase awareness of housing counseling services and connect individuals and households with counseling and education opportunities.
Build relationships with community partners and participate in outreach that connects households with counseling and education opportunities.
Perform other related duties as assigned by the Senior Director of Programs.

Qualifications:

Experience providing pre-purchase homeownership counseling is required.
HUD housing counselor certification, or the ability to pass the HUD Housing Counselor Certification Examination within six months of hire. Complete the remaining certification steps when the agency participation requirement is met and maintain certification as applicable.
Working knowledge of household budgeting, credit, debt management, mortgage basics, and the homebuying process.
Ability and willingness to learn additional areas of housing counseling and complete relevant training.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to explain financial information and facilitate group education.
Ability to work respectfully with clients from diverse backgrounds, maintain confidentiality, and support informed client decisions.
Strong organization, documentation, and follow-up skills, with the ability to manage an active caseload and use client management software.
Commitment to Habitat for Humanity’s mission and values.

Charlotte County Habitat for Humanity

Housing Counselor

About the Job