This manual serves as a guide in the preparation and delivery of counseling services to first - time homebuyers enrolled in the demonstration for counselors involved in the Prepurchase Homeownership Counseling Demonstration. HUD is conducting the program to learn whether prepurchase homeownership counseling can reduce the rate of mortgage default and foreclosure among Federal Housing Administration insured and subsidized mortgagors (low - income and moderate - income) and increase the ability of first - time homebuyers to deal effectively with the problems of homeownership. In Philadelphia, Pa., Atlanta, Ga., and Phoenix, Ariz., four basic counseling variations will be tested: group counseling sessions, group and individual counseling, individualized advocacy counseling, and no direct counseling. Individuals in the noncounseled group will receive copies of the Homebuyer’s Information Package, and their progress in buying and owning homes will be monitored throughout the demonstration period. Unlike the other groups, these participants will have no contact with counselors. Further distinctions are made among the counseling methods, and a detailed counseling curriculum for each counseling variation is used. Counselors, the manual suggests, should become familiar with the different counseling techniques to be employed with all three counseling variations. They should use only those counseling approaches which are described for the particular group, however, in order to determine whether one counseling approach is better than another. Advice is also provided on handling participant’s problems, dealing with other housing actors, adapting to local circumstances, involving participants in decisionmaking, and preventing dependency relationships. No references are provided.
