HOMEOWNERSHIP OC

HOOC CLIENT INTAKE

714.204.2314                                                       www.HOMEOWNERSHIPOC.ORG

714.204.2314                                                        www.HOMEOWNERSHIPOC.ORG

Dear Client:

Upon completion of your counseling session with your counselor, you are given an Action Plan to aid you in the counseling experience and expectations from HOMEOWNERSHIP OC.

Please understand that there is a high volume of clients who are in similar situations and we are trying our best to meet their needs as our capacity will allow.

1. HOMEOWNERSHIP OC’s workshop provides counseling advice through its counselors, educators, and its Partners/Supporters. It is your sole responsibility to seek any future services that may be needed. This file and supporting documents will be retained by HOMEOWNERSHIP OC and information provided might be shared with HOMEOWNERSHIP OC, partners, supporters or 3 parties to provide service to you.

2. HOMEOWNERSHIP OC may receive funding from the US Dept. of HUD and/or HUD Intermediaries and other grantors and as such, is required to: a) share some of my personal information with HUD program administrators or their agents; b) to open my file to be reviewed for purposes of program monitoring, compliance; c) to conduct follow up with me related to program evaluation.

3. HOMEOWNERSHIP OC and its nonprofit partners provide housing counseling after which I will receive a written action plan consisting of recommendation for handling my finances, credit, and possibly including referrals to housing agencies as appropriate.

4. A counselor may answer and provide information, but not give legal advice. If I want legal advice, I will be referred for appropriate assistance.

5. HOMEOWNERSHIP OC and its nonprofit partners provide information and education on numerous loan products and housing programs and I further understand that the housing counseling I receive from HOMEOWNERSHIP OC in no way obligates me to choose any of these particular products or housing programs.

6. I may be referred to other housing services of the organization, another agency or agencies as appropriate that may be able to assist with my particular concerns that have been identified. I also understand that I am not obligated to use any of the services offered to me.

7. HOMEOWNERSHIP OC hosts Workshops and events to help me/participating individuals (“Participants”) among other services distinguish legal problems from non-legal problems, and to refer them to service providers, agencies, organizations, or other lawyer sources to provide them with any necessary substantive legal advice or representation. I further understand that by signing and dating this form, HOMEOWNERSHIP OC and its counselors do not and cannot provide legal advice or guidance in the course of the meetings with Participants, and do not establish or create any type of attorney-client relationships with Participants. I also understand that after consultation with counselor, Participants are urged to promptly consult with the service providers, agencies, organizations, or other lawyer referral sources to which the Participants have been referred for follow up on their potential legal issues.

I affix my signature below in agreement of what is stated in this Counseling Agreement.

714.204.2314                                                        www.HOMEOWNERSHIPOC.ORG

HomeOwnership OC is pleased that you have come to us for housing counseling services and we look forward to working with you. We are here to provide you with housing solutions and counseling. However, you may use services other than those provided by this agency. Generally, your services may include the following:

• The gathering of essential demographic and financial information to help us resolve your housing need
• An assessment of your housing situation
• A case management plan that provides instructions and identifies resources for resolving your housing need
• Individual face to face, telephone, internet, email and/or group counseling designed to guide you through the process of resolving housing needs.
• Follow-up calls, emails, and/or letters to track the outcome of our services:
• 1) Pre-purchase Counseling = Preparing for Home Purchase
• 2) Pre-Purchase Homebuyer Education Workshops = Online Workshop
• 3) Fair Housing Pre-Purchase Education Workshops = Group
• 4) Mortgage Delinquency and Default Resolution Counseling Mortgage Assistance
• 5) Non-Delinquency Post Purchase Workshops = After purchase counseling
• 6) Financial Management/Budget Counseling = Budgeting
• 7) Financial, Budgeting and Credit Workshops = Credit Improvement

HOOC upholds the highest standards of customer service. As such, HOOC staff members providing these services will adhere to the following guidelines:

• HOOC does not offer legal counsel or services. HOOC staff members will provide counseling, group education and/or instructional information only regarding your housing, personal financial management or credit situation under this program.

• HOOC does not provide debt consolidation services nor will any member of HOOC’s staff takeover or assume responsibility for the finances of any participating client.

• HOOC does not pay or receive fees or other considerations for referrals to or from any program administered by us.

• HOOC staff members will not recommend that clients participate or engage in any services whereby the staff members themselves or any member of their immediate family have a financial interest.

• No staff member of HOOC will disclose any personal information without proper authorization of the participant.       
• HOOC strongly believes in and promotes housing choice. To that end, HOOC does not endorse any realtor or lender and you are free to choose any realtor or lender of your choice.

• Participants in HOOC’s Pre-Purchase Counseling/Home Buyer Education/Down Payment Assistance Programs may shop for and select the lender and realtor that best suits their needs.

• HOOC in many instances, will need to pull your credit report in order to assess the condition of your credit either to determine your readiness for ownership or to assist in the resolution of mortgage delinquency. HOOC will pull your credit with little to no effect on your credit score.                                                              
• HOOC employs persons who are qualified to provide the services rendered. To that end, all HOOC Housing Counselors are required to be HUD Certified. New counselors employed by HOOC have one year to acquire such certification, which can be obtained through the Association of Housing Counselors, the National Federation of Housing Counselors or Neighbor Works. Central to HOOC’s mission is the elimination of housing discrimination and education regarding Fair Housing laws. All of HOOC programs and services are required to educate participants about their rights and responsibilities under local, state and Federal Fair Housing laws. Please be advised that you, the client, are not obligated to receive, purchase or utilize any other services offered by HOOC, or its exclusive partners, in order to receive housing counseling services. This certifies that I have read and understood the above statement of disclosure.

714.204.2314                                                         www.HOMEOWNERSHIPOC.ORG

Homeownership OC is a nonprofit housing counseling agency that promotes housing opportunities and homeownership. Our mission is to promote and preserve the dream of home ownership through outreach, education, counseling, and financing. Homeownership OC works to educate the public, especially the low income and under-served populations, on all aspects of owning or renting a home. We are a one stop shop and a free resource here to assist the community with any and all housing related issues. We realize that the concerns you bring to us are highly personal in nature and we are committed to the responsible management, use and protection of personal information. We assure you that all information shared both orally and in writing will be managed within legal and ethical considerations. You “nonpublic personal information”, such as your total debt information, income, living expenses and personal information concerning your financial circumstances, will be provided to creditors, program monitors, and others only with your authorization and signature on the counseling agreement. We may also use anonymous aggregated case file information for the purpose of evaluating our services, gathering valuable research information and designing future programs.

Types of Information Gathered

We collect personal information to support our housing counseling program and to aid your housing needs counseling. We collect personal information about you and we may disclose the following kinds of personal information about you:

1. Information we receive from you orally, on applications or forms, such as name, address, social security number, employer, occupation, assts, debts and income;

2. Information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, your creditors. Or others, such as your account balance, payment history, parties to transactions and credit usage; and

3. Information we receive from a consumer credit reporting agency, such as your credit bureau reports, your credit history and your credit worthiness.

You May Opt-Out of Certain Disclosures

1. You have the opportunity to “opt-out”, we will not be able to answer questions from your creditors. If at any time, you wish to change your decision and “opt-out”, you may call us at (800) 954-0441.

Release of Your Information to Third Parties

1. So long as you have not opted-out, we may disclose some or all of the information that we collect, as described above, to your creditors or 3rd parties where we have determined that it would be helpful to you, would aid us in counseling you, or is a requirement of grants which make our services possible.

2. We may also disclose any nonpublic personal information about you or former customers to anyone as permitted by law (e.g., if we are compelled by legal process)

Confidentiality and Security

We restrict access to personal information about you to those of our employees, volunteers and affiliated organizations who need to know that information to provide services to you. We maintain physical,electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information. Our safeguards strive to comply with federal regulations to guard your personal information.

714.204.2314                                                        www.HOMEOWNERSHIPOC.ORG

Homeownership OC is a nonprofit housing counseling agency that promotes housing opportunities and homeownership. Our mission is to promote and preserve the dream of home ownership through outreach, education, counseling, and financing. Homeownership OC works to educate the public, especially the low income and under-served populations, on all aspects of owning or renting a home. We are a one stop shop and a free resource here to assist the community with any and all housing related issues. We realize that the concerns you bring to us are highly personal in nature and we are committed to the responsible management, use and protection of personal information. We assure you that all information shared both orally and in writing will be managed within legal and ethical considerations. You “nonpublic personal information”, such as your total debt information, income, living expenses and personal information concerning your financial circumstances, will be provided to creditors, program monitors, and others only with your authorization and signature on the counseling agreement. We may also use anonymous aggregated case file information for the purpose of evaluating our services, gathering valuable research information and designing future programs.

Types of Information Gathered

We collect personal information to support our housing counseling program and to aid your housing needs counseling. We collect personal information about you and we may disclose the following kinds of personal information about you:

1. Information we receive from you orally, on applications or forms, such as name, address, social security number, employer, occupation, assts, debts and income;

2. Information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, your creditors. Or others, such as your account balance, payment history, parties to transactions and credit usage; and

3. Information we receive from a consumer credit reporting agency, such as your credit bureau reports, your credit history and your credit worthiness.

You May Opt-Out of Certain Disclosures

1. You have the opportunity to “opt-out”, we will not be able to answer questions from your creditors. If at any time, you wish to change your decision and “opt-out”, you may call us at (800) 954-0441.

Release of Your Information to Third Parties

1. So long as you have not opted-out, we may disclose some or all of the information that we collect, as described above, to your creditors or 3rd parties where we have determined that it would be helpful to you, would aid us in counseling you, or is a requirement of grants which make our services possible.

2. We may also disclose any nonpublic personal information about you or former customers to anyone as permitted by law (e.g., if we are compelled by legal process)

Confidentiality and Security

We restrict access to personal information about you to those of our employees, volunteers and affiliated organizations who need to know that information to provide services to you. We maintain physical,electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information. Our safeguards strive to comply with federal regulations to guard your personal information.

714.204.2314                                                        www.HOMEOWNERSHIPOC.ORG

714.204.2314                                                         www.HOMEOWNERSHIPOC.ORG