HUD Certified Housing Counselor Application Process

1. Apply for Certification

Please read these notes in their entirety before taking any action.

• Read the eligibility requirements.
   
• Applications must be submitted online.
   
• In addition to the application, your exam score must have been transferred and accepted into FHA Connection.
   
• You must include a valid email address in your application.
   
• If you receive an error message that you cannot remedy after reading the instructions on this page, send an email with a screenshot of the error message and a description of the issue to the FHA Connection Single Family Help Desk at sfadmin@hud.gov.

Beginning your application in FHA Connection:

1. Go to the HUD Certified Housing Counselor Application page and change the Counselor Type to Certified. A pop-up warning message appears advising the user that any HECM training data will be cleared. Click OK to clear the message.

2. Enter all information on the HUD Certified Housing Counselor Application page in the Certified Counselor Information section. In the Counselor’s Exam ID Box, the applicant should enter the 10-digit Counselor Exam ID provided on the applicant’s profile page on hudhousingcounselors.com. Enter the 5-digit HCS agency ID issued to your employer (the first digit is an 8 or 9) and your hire date. If you work for multiple agencies, you will have to enter the additional agencies after you receive your FHAC User ID. If you don’t know the HCS ID of your agency or branch location, you may search the map online to find it listed under “Agency ID”.

3. Click send at the bottom of the page to submit the HUD Certified Housing Counselor Application.

Note: Applicant must complete all fields on the application screen.

If your application is successful:

1. A Success message (CERTIFIED COUNSELOR APPLICATION SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED) will appear at the top of the Application Results page. You are not in the certified counselor database yet.

   Note: A counselor will not be officially placed in the certified counselor database until the agency Application Coordinator successfully validates counselor employment in the FHAC system.

2. Counselors must now request an FHAC User ID.

If your application is not successful:

1. An error screen will appear. A list of errors will be provided for the applicant to correct.

2. If the applicant cannot remedy the error message after reading the instructions on this page, send an email with a screenshot of the error message and a description of the issue to the FHA Connection Single Family Help Desk at sfadmin@hud.gov.