Successfully complete an approved formal HECM training course
In order to be eligible for the HUD HECM roster application you must complete a training course. HUD indicates which courses are approved HECM training courses, and NeighborWorks offers these courses. A certificate will be administered for each successfully completed course. This certificate must be scanned and uploaded into the roster application system.
Pass the HUD HECM exam
This exam is required under HUD Rule FR-4989-F-402 which established standards to qualify individuals as counselors to provide HECM counseling to prospective borrowers. This is a challenging exam designed to ensure that knowledgeable, well-informed counselors are providing services to senior homeowners. Extensive preparation is required. In the past, you also had to be employed by a HUD approved agency to take the HUD HECM exam. Recent guidance from HUD has stated that a person not yet employed can take the exam. Email hecminfo@nw.org for more information. Learn more about the HUD HECM exam.
NOT be listed on the General Services Administration's Excluded Parties List System (EPLS), HUD's Limited Denial of Participation List (LDP), or HUD's Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System (CAIVRS).
Become employed at a HUD approved agency
You must be employed by a HUD approved agency to apply for the HUD HECM roster. As a HECM counselor however, you will hold the HECM roster status, not the agency. Therefore, your agency can only offer HECM counseling if they employ a certified HUD HECM counselor. If you leave an agency and you were their only HECM counselor, they can no longer offer HECM counseling.
Apply for the HUD HECM roster
Once you have taken a HECM training course, passed the HUD HECM exam, and become employed at a HUD approved agency, it is time to apply for the HUD HECM roster. Follow the application instructions carefully. Should you have any questions about the process, email hecminfo@nw.org. If you run into technical difficulties, or are having trouble with the system itself, email housing.counseling@hud.gov.
Executive Director/Program Manager Roles
Part of the HUD HECM roster application process includes having a manager at your counseling agency act as your Application Coordinator for FHA. The application coordinator verifies your employment for HUD.
Once on the HUD HECM roster, you hold your roster status as a HECM counselor. The agency does not hold the roster status. You may work for more than one agency at a time, or you may change agencies at any time, and your roster status goes with you. However, you must keep your employment information up to date in FHA.
Prospective counselors and managers at counseling agencies can also benefit from NeighborWorks’ course HO272, Introduction to HUD’s HECM Counseling Program Procedures & Roster. See NeighborWorks’ HECM Training page for more information.