May/June 2023 RMM

Counseling the Counselors continued from page 21 Working families and seniors faced unexpected challenges, including unemployment, financial stress and the risk of foreclosure and eviction—in addition to the public health challenges, he says. “I felt that HUD, in collaboration with public- and private-sector leaders, and of course, the housing counseling and housing finance industries, had a critical role to play,” he adds. In December 2020, Berenbaum joined HUD in the nonpolitical post of deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Housing Counseling, which is part of the Office of Housing. In a career spanning nearly four decades, he had been CEO of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation and held executive-level positions with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Equal Rights Center, Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington and Long Island Housing Services. The Office of Housing Counseling oversees a cohort of over 1,550 HUD-approved housing counseling agencies nationwide. Those agencies employ counselors certified and educated to deliver the objective counseling mandated for any consumer seeking a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage, including a HECM. “My joy has been partnering with the public and private sectors to expand access to sustainable credit, to ensure that individuals and families across the country have a decent, affordable place to call ‘home,’” he says. “Hand in hand with that, I’ve had a lifelong commitment to ensuring that the interests of all consumers are respected, including consumer protection issues, and promoting fair and open housing.” Reverse Mortgage: What is your role at HUD regarding reverse mortgages? David Berenbaum: It’s my responsibility to ensure reverse mortgage counseling services are provided in a manner that is understandable to seniors and is accessible and responsive to the needs of low- and moderate-income and middle-income seniors considering the HECM reverse mortgage product. The Office of Housing Counseling’s program supports the reverse mortgage industry through education and outreach, fraud prevention, ensuring regulatory compliance and quality control by setting standards, housing counseling certification protocols and written guidelines for all counseling agencies and their practices. Further, comprehensive housing counseling grants provide funding for the education and training of HUD-certified HECM-roster counselors. RM: Do reverse mortgages demand this specialized approach because they target older citizens, including the subset who may be in financial distress? DB: As Baby Boomers are aging today, they are carrying the most significant amount of debt into retirement that we have seen in generations. Because of the pandemic and the challenges of the financial crisis, it is important that the reverse mortgage product be available as a financial option for seniors who have equity in their homes but who may have challenges regarding their budget. Frankly, as the [U.S.] continues to recover from the pandemic, I see a growing importance of the HECM product and ensuring the quality of life as seniors age in place. Counseling helps ensure it is the right product for the consumer. Housing counselors serve as trusted advisers and provide accurate, objective information to the senior and the family or guardians. The role of a trusted adviser has been the hallmark of housing counseling. RM: How has your work in fair housing, equity and inclusiveness impacted your oversight of reverse mortgage counseling? DB: The Office of Housing Counseling has been focused on providing training and technical support to all HUDapproved housing counseling agencies to ensure they’re familiar with fair housing law and to foster activities and counseling approaches that foster inclusiveness, cultural sensitivity and linguistically appropriate services. For instance, we updated our agency locator tools last year. They were extremely out of date. But working collaboratively with the HUD Office of Single Family Housing, we now have a system where consumers—including seniors—can find a HUD-approved housing counseling organization, an organization that’s in their community, an organization that provides services telephonically or virtually. They can go to www.hud.gov/findacounselor, and they will find robust information. If they call our 800 22 REVERSE MORTGAGE / MAY–JUNE 2023

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