Pre-Purchase Orientation (Walk-ins Welcome!):A workshop to educate homebuyers on topics critical to purchasing a home, including:
- Determining whether you are ready to buy and preparing for home purchase (considering your income, debt, credit, savings, and other factors)
- An overview of the home purchase process
- Understanding home loans
- Homebuyer programs (including HPAP and EAHP) and tax relief for homebuyers
- Predatory lending and housing discrimination.
Every Thursday @ 11:00 AM and on the first Wednesday of the month @ 6:00 P.M. Workshops last approximately 2 hours. (See Calendar)
Fair Housing/Predatory Lending Workshops (Call to schedule):
HCS conducts fair housing and predatory lending workshops to educate professionals, partners, tenant associations, homebuyers, industry professionals and community agencies about fair housing and predatory lending laws, practices and trends. Topics include:
- Understanding Fair Housing Law
- Identifying predatory lending
- Recent Cases
- Impact of Discrimination
- Filing a Fair Housing/Predatory Lending complaint
Money Matters Workshop (Walk-Ins Welcome!) A free financial literacy workshop on budgeting and credit to help our clients achieve their financial goals (including eventual home purchase). Topics include:
- Analyzing your finances and working with a budget
- Understanding, repairing, and improving your credit
- Predatory lending and identity theft
The 2nd Wednesday of Each month at 6:00 p.m. (See Calendar)
Tenant Rights and Responsibilities Workshop: A workshop to educate renters about their legal rights and responsibilities under Washington, D.C. law. Topics include:
- How to get repairs made in your unit
- The eviction process
- Rent Control
- What to do if your building is being sold, converted to condos, or foreclosed
- Lead safety hazards
- Obeying your lease and keeping records
- Fair housing law
The 3rd Tuesday of every month. (See Calendar)
Housing Search Clinic (Open to the public, Walk-Ins Welcome!): This workshop provides helpful information to individuals and families searching for rental housing in Washington DC. Topics include:
- Resources for locating housing in Washington, D.C.
- How to best present yourself to a landlord during the rental application process
- Determining how much you can afford to pay in rent
- Financial assistance and subsidized housing for renters in Washington, D.C.
HCS does NOT place clients in housing and does NOT have housing units to rent to clients.
Every Thursday at 4:00 P.M. (See Calendar)
Homeownership Training Course (Invitation Only):HCS offers a comprehensive eight-hour training course for potential homebuyers who have applied to and been approved for a DHCD funded home purchase program (including HPAP or EAHP). This course offers homebuyers the opportunity to learn from HCS staff as well as from housing industry professionals.
Home Rehabilitation Tips Workshop (Walk-Ins Welcome!): A workshop for anyone interested in doing rehabilitating or renovating on their home. Topics include:
- Planning and financing your rehabilitation project
- Home inspection
- Building contracts and selecting a contractor
- Managing renovations and resolving disputes with a contractor
- Home maintenance after renovation
- Consumer protection
The Second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 P.M. (See Calendar)
Homeowners Club (Walk-Ins Welcome!): A monthly workshop to educate homeowners on various issues pertaining to homeownership. HCS often invites guest experts to speak at the Homeowners Club and encourages Club participants to share their experiences and knowledge about homeownership with one another. Past Homeowner’s Club topics include:
- Home maintenance
- Refinancing
- Landscaping
- Energy conservation
- Tax preparation
- Interior design
- Weatherization
Call HCS to sign up for the Homeowner’s Club and check the calendar for upcoming club meetings.
Foreclosure Prevention Clinic
Appointments for foreclosure prevention counseling are scheduled at our weekly Foreclosure Prevention Clinics. Clinics include a presentation on vital information that every homeowner in danger of foreclosure should know. Clients who attend the clinic are then scheduled to meet individually with counselors who will address their specific situations.
Counselors assess their clients’ financial and credit status and contact their lenders to negotiate alternatives to foreclosure. Counselors also help their clients apply for any assistance programs for which they might be eligible, including HAMP and HARP loan modification programs and the Homesaver Program. Solutions vary according to each client’s individual situation. While counselors are able to help some of their clients modify or refinance their loans in order to stay in their homes, counselors help other clients to avoid foreclosure through the sale of their homes and other options. Counselors may also refer clients for legal assistance when a case of predatory lending or loan fraud is identified.
Please be sure to bring all required documents to the clinic because you may be scheduled for an individual appointment immediately following the clinic.
Clinics are held every Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. except on the last Wednesday of the month when they are held at 6:00 p.m.
Housing Counseling Services, Inc. 