ALBANY, NY – November 5, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) a grant for $49,716 to allow OMRDD to continue to provide comprehensive housing counseling to individuals with developmental disabilities, their income-eligible parents or legal guardians, and direct care professionals.
The grant, awarded on October 14, will fund HUD-Certified first-time homebuyer training for people with developmental disabilities, their families and the workforce.
OMRDD’s curriculum was specifically designed for individuals with developmental disabilities, but was expanded in recent months to include other segments of the agency’s population. The grant will be distributed through OMRDD’s Office of Housing Initiatives and Supports.
“With foreclosures at critical levels nationwide, these services are more vitally important than ever,” said OMRDD Commissioner Diana Jones Ritter. “And with this assistance OMRDD can realistically help potential homebuyers to evaluate their readiness for a home purchase, understand their financing and down payment options, and work their way through what can be an extremely complicated and vexing process.”
OMRDD also offers several programs to support homeownership for people with developmental disabilities and their income-qualified family members, guardians and for direct care professionals. These initiatives are consistent with Governor David A. Paterson’s priority to increase homeownership in New York State.
OMRDD’s New York City Office boasts two individuals with developmental disabilities who administer the program. Recently, HUD certified these employees to be housing counselors to their peers – making them the first people with developmental disabilities in the nation to be HUD-certified housing counselors.
OMRDD has taken a proactive stance to prevent foreclosure of homes owned by people with developmental disabilities and their families or legal guardians. OMRDD is the only state agency in the nation to become a HUD-certified housing counseling agency for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Available training and counseling programs include:
HUD-Certified Pre- and- Post-Homeownership Counseling;
Mortgage Delinquency/Foreclosure Prevention;
Predatory Lending;
Identity Theft;
Financial Literacy and Credit Counseling/Credit Repair;
Rental Housing Assistance; and
Relocation Counseling.
As a HUD-certified housing counseling agency, OMRDD’s Office of Housing Initiatives and Supports works with loss mitigation departments at various banks. Since the downturn of the housing market, hundreds of calls have been made to OMRDD’s housing counseling program from people seeking assistance with various issues, including defaults on loans, homebuyer education counseling, pre-and-post-homeownership guidance, financial education, predatory lending, identity theft, foreclosure basics and other programs.
“We not only want people to be able to purchase a home,” Ritter added. “We want them to keep it.”
For more information about this grant or the OMRDD Office of Housing Initiatives and Supports, contact Lucinda Grant-Griffin at 518-473-1973.
