Take Occupancy Specialist Exam
The half-day certification exam includes questions about the material you cover during the training. Along with your score, you also get a printout of any strengths and weaknesses your answers reveal and your relative standing among everyone in the training. Pass the exam and you earn certification. Fail the exam and you earn a certificate of participation.
Enroll In Training Course
You must complete a certification training course to earn HUD certification. For example, the National Center for Housing Management offers a Certified Professional of Occupancy course. Training is geared toward HUD-subsidized program managers who want to learn more about HUD guidelines and regulations. A three day course is held in cities across the country. Also available is a 16 hour live online course that is taught over four days. Those who complete the COS course and pass an exam receive a NCHM certificate and lapel pin.
Other organizations such as Affordable Housing Training and Consulting Services offer similar training on HUD regulations. The Accredited Housing Compliance Professional course consists of 10 hours of interactive webinar instruction offered over five days. Participants become a certified AHCP after finishing their training and passing an exam.
How To Become A Hud Certified Occupancy Specialist
Related
Occupancy specialists work for housing authorities, at properties that rent to low-income families who receive public housing benefits from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and at HUD-regulated properties. Most employers only hire certified occupancy specialists because of the number of rules and regulations that govern eligibility for HUD aid.
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Document Content And Description Below
Which document is most important when working with a client to develop an initialbudget as part of a Client Action Plan?Pay stubRetirement plan statementList of assetsCurrent lease – P… ay stubA client would like purchase a home within one year. The client is motivated to increasehousehold income as a way to save for a down payment and qualify for a loan. Which isthe best solution for the client to reach this goal?Find a second jobBorrow from retirement fundSell major assetsFind a temporary job through a staffing service – Find a second jobA credit report may contain which information?The number of accounts in collection statusA history of payments on an electric billIncome historyCriminal record – The number of accounts in collection statusA credit report contains inaccurate information. Which action item should the counselorinclude in the Client Action Plan?
Preview 1 out of 18 pages
Training And Testing Requirements Websites
Information about the exam and testing can be found on HUDHousingCounselors.com. Specifically, visit the following web pages for information:
- HUDHousingCounselors.com – Taking the Exam: Online vs Test Centers: provides information on taking the exam at test centers vs. online and an overview of the requirements for each.
- HUDHousingCounselors.com Certification Exam: provides information on transferring results to FHA Connection, receipt of payment, compliance, eligibility, retesting, access, exam appointment details, user accounts, registration, and scoring.
- HUDHousingCounselors.com Proctoring/Kryterion: provides information on exam appointments, changes, online registration, system and webcam requirements, proctoring, and reasonable accommodations.
- Technical Assistance Support:
- You can also submit your question or Feedback online at HUDHousingCounselors.com Support. Responses to issues will be sent to your email address on file.
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Certification Examination Preparation And Testing
This page provides housing counselors with information about the HUD Housing Counselor Certification Exam, including what they need to know to register and prepare for both online and test center exams.
Updates:
- Change in Camera Requirements for HUD Housing Counselor Online Certification Exam:
- As of August 6, 2020 HUD no longer requires candidates to use an external camera for the online certification exam. HUD will accept any camera for the online certification exam. This change is due to the increased demand for online testing and the slow reopening of testing centers closed by COVID-19. This change will be reevaluated in the future based on security, demand, and availability.
Become A Hud Certified Housing Counselor
- Provides housing counseling services to families and individuals
- Provides administration and oversight of homeownership counseling and rental counseling
- Administers the HUD approval process to become a HUD-approved housing counseling agency
- Administers the approval process to become a certified HUD Housing Counselor
The HUD Housing Counseling Program supports the delivery of a wide variety of housing counseling services to homebuyers, homeowners, low- to moderate-income renters, and the homeless. The primary objectives of the Program are to improve financial literacy, expand homeownership opportunities, improve access to affordable housing, and preserve homeownership.
To provide housing counseling services through HUD Programs, individuals must certify through HUD by way of passing a new written examinationThe HUD Housing Counseling Certification Examinationand verifying employment at a Housing Counseling Agency.
Refer to the HUD Exchange for more information about the HUD Housing Counseling Program.
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One Stop For Training And Certification
Everything you need to become a Certified Occupancy Specialist is in one spot registration, training, testing, and certification. Getting trained, tested, and accredited as a Certified Occupancy Specialist has never been easier when you work with NCHM.
For employers, your people will get the best training with the least amount of frustration its business made simple. In this employment market, your candidates will get everything they need to get up to speed and become valuable members of your team without training and testing bottlenecks.
It truly is one and donedone right.
Youll get more with less:
All of NCHMs courses are conducted live online. COS is only 4 hours per day, Monday through Thursday*. The online exam needs to be completed within a week of the final day of class youll get your results the Wednesday following the close of the exam window. That means that youll be trained, tested, and certified within fifteen days.
It is easier than ever to enroll, take the class, and get your questions answered in real-time during the class.
This training is structured for optimal speed:
Only NCHM offers training with a course instructor and a teaching assistant on-hand to answer questions as you have them, during class, without interrupting the flow of the class.
Speed is useless unless the process is done right and nobody is better equipped to deliver the ultimate training experience than NCHM.
Certified Professional Of Occupancy
The Certified Professional of Occupancy course is the only comprehensive program covering the entire HUD Handbook 4350.3 including the latest revisions. Each participant receives an updated version of this Handbook in the course.
An extensive course manual with 31 chapters covers topics from eligibility criteria, standards, tenant selection and screening to non-discrimination, allowances, adjusted income, certifying tenants and annual recertification. Each chapter is followed by a mini quiz with an opportunity for questions. Evening optional review sessions are offered.
After this three-day CPO course, taught by NAHMA-certified instructors who are experts on HUDs occupancy standards, managers will have mastered using the HUD Handbook effectively. After completing the two and one-half days of interactive instruction, participants will be given a voucher number to take the online exam at the location of their choice, home office, headquarters or property office. The voucher expires after three weeks. Students are notified immediately of their test results upon completion of the exam.
The CPO is a requirement for NAHMAs NAHP® designation program. All participants who successfully complete the course will receive a CPO certificate and lapel pin, and will be listed in NAHMAs online Credential Directory.
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Tips For Passing The Certification Exam On The First Try
Since 1994, Catholic Charities of Chemung/Schuyler, based in Elmira, New York, has provided quality housing counseling services in the rural Southern Tier Region of New York State. Read on to learn how two of this agencys housing counselors, Jane Sokolowski and Amy Bell, passed the HUD Housing Counselor Certification exam on November 1, 2018 and lived to tell about it!
Online Proctored Testing Overview
A recent article from The Bridge Five Steps to Success: Taking the HUD Housing Counselor Certification Exam Online provides a detailed overview of each step of the online certification process.
- National Identification card
Scheduling:
- Before scheduling your exam, test your equipment compatibility, which includes checking for webcam, microphone, and internet speed. Review the following resources:
- Visit Kryterion Online Proctoring Support to check equipment compatibility for webcam range, microphone, and internet speed.
- HUDHousingCounselors.com cannot provide a webcam.
- Test browser functionality of the exam Calculator provided onscreen during the exam.
Preparation & Launch:
- Log into your HUDHousingCounselors.com account and download Sentinel Secure from the Exam Status Center, create your Biometrics Profile, and test your equipment at least one day before your exam.
- Some candidates may require assistance from their IT Department to install Sentinel Secure and troubleshoot any network or equipment issues.
Post-Exam:
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Improving Service Through Certification
The HUD certification examination unites housing counselors and their agencies in a commitment to provide quality, informative, effective housing counseling.
For over 25 years, housing counselors at Catholic Charities of Chemung/Schuyler have provided high quality, up-to-date counseling by sharpening skills and knowledge through continuing education and certification offered by National Training Institutes such as NeighborWorks, UnidosUS, HUD Exchange, and others. In complying with the HUD Final Rule to certify housing counselors, the agency and its staff are raising the bar on professional competency and agency credibility and inspiring confidence in local consumers.
As a HUD-certified housing counseling agency with professionally certified housing counselors, Catholic Charities of Chemung/Schuyler is more prepared than ever to help consumers beat the odds by achieving better credit, more savings, fewer foreclosures, and sustainable, stable homeownership and you and your agency can be, too.
Dont wait until August 2020! Visit HUD Exchange for more information on the exam, and prepare and register at HUDHousingCounselors.com. Good luck and remember we are in this together.
Pictured from left: HUD-certified Housing Counselors Amy Bell and Jane Solokowski of Catholic Charities of Chemung/Schuyler
Keys To Passing The Exam
Preparing, studying, and taking lots of pre-tests were key to passing the exam on the first try. All the studying came together when five days were spent with peers completing two NeighborWorks courses: HO200 Ready, Set, Prep and HO210 Practice, Study, Success. These two courses simplified the information so counselors could navigate through the 90 exam questions and confidently use their knowledge and expertise to come up with the best answers.
The examination allows up to two hours to complete the 90 questions. One helpful strategy is to know what you know. Go through the exam, answering all the questions you can without worrying about the ones you cannot answer immediately. If you are unable to answer a question within one to two minutes, mark it save for later and move on. Dont get hung up on a single question sometimes later in the exam that answer might be evident in another question.
Is it challenging to be tested on areas that you dont typically counsel in? Yes, it is. But studying, taking practice tests, and reviewing the material really broaden your knowledge so you can demonstrate competency in all counseling areas: financial management property management responsibilities of homeownership and tenancy fair housing laws and requirements housing affordability and avoidance of, and responses to, rental and mortgage delinquency and avoidance of eviction and mortgage default.
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What Youll Learn:
- Core occupancy requirements, including eligibility and tenant selection 504/Fair Housing assets and income determination and calculation deductions and adjusted income verification methods including EIV and requirements for annual and interim recertifications.
- How to navigate the HUD Handbook 4350.3 REV-1, Change 4, and applicable notices.
NCHMs COS Course Manual includes a complete copy of the HUD Handbook 4350.3 REV-1 and relevant additional notices and guidance already in effect but not yet integrated into the HUD Handbook.