A HUD-approved housing counselor works for an agency approved to take part in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Housing Counseling Program, and HUD requires counseling under its programs to be given by counselors who have passed HUD's certification exam. For an owner who is behind on payments, a counselor reviews your finances, explains the options your servicer may offer, and helps you talk to the servicer and understand what it proposes. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says HUD-approved counseling agencies provide foreclosure prevention counseling at no cost to you; you can find one through its Find a Counselor tool or the HOPE Hotline at (888) 995-4673. Mr. Cali Offers is not a counseling agency and offers no counseling.
This article is part of our series on behind on payments, liens and tax defaults, and every article in the series sends you here first. For the whole map of options, see behind on payments in California: your options, the timeline and the two numbers.
What "HUD-approved" actually means
Two approvals stack. The agency is approved by HUD to participate in its Housing Counseling Program. The individual counselor is certified: HUD's housing counselor site says that to become certified, "you must pass the exam and work for a HUD-approved agency," and that counseling required by HUD programs must be provided only by certified counselors working for approved organizations. HUD set August 1, 2021 as the final compliance date for that requirement.
California's foreclosure statutes use the phrase "HUD-certified housing counseling agency." It means the same thing for your purposes: an agency on HUD's list, not a company that calls itself a counselor.
What a counselor does when you are behind
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes the work in plain terms. A HUD-approved counselor can help you:
- assess your financial situation and evaluate your options if you are having trouble paying your mortgage loan;
- talk to your mortgage servicer, and understand the offers it makes.
The options a counselor walks through are the same ones the rest of this series names first: reinstatement under Civil Code section 2924c, a repayment plan, a loan modification, more time by written agreement, and, when there is no equity, a short sale. Selling outright is one item on that list, not the first.
What a counselor does not do matters too. The CFPB says a counselor "can't promise that you will get to keep your home," and that if you face imminent foreclosure or have been served with legal papers, you may also need an attorney. A counselor is not your lender, cannot approve a modification, and is not a lawyer.
Where California law puts counselors in the process
Civil Code section 2923.5 builds counselors into the steps before a notice of default is recorded:
- The number comes from your servicer. During the required first contact to assess your finances and explore options, the servicer must give you the telephone number HUD makes available to find a HUD-certified housing counseling agency. If the servicer could not reach you, its first-class letter must include the same number.
- A counselor can get copies of the notices. The servicer must tell you that a third party, such as a family member, a HUD-certified housing counselor or an attorney, may record a request to receive copies of any notice of default and notice of sale.
- A counselor can talk to the servicer for you. Under section 2923.5(d), you may designate in writing a HUD-certified housing counseling agency, attorney or other advisor to discuss your finances and options with the servicer on your behalf. Any modification or workout offered is still subject to your approval.
If a notice of default or a notice of sale is already recorded, it is not too late to call. Bring the notice; the dates on it shape every conversation. See notice of trustee sale: reading the date for what each date means.
How to find one, and how to check it is real
- Use an official list. The CFPB's Find a Counselor tool lists HUD-approved agencies by location, and the CFPB says the tool is powered by HUD's official list of housing counselors.
- Or call the HOPE Hotline at (888) 995-4673, which the CFPB lists as open around the clock, or the CFPB itself at (855) 411-2372 to be connected to a counselor.
- Ask for foreclosure, or default, counseling specifically. Agencies offer different services, including homebuying, rental and reverse mortgage counseling. Say that you are behind on payments and, if one is set, give the sale date.
- Confirm the name. If someone contacts you first and says they are a HUD counselor, look the agency up on the official list yourself before you share anything.
What to bring to the first appointment
The CFPB says a counselor will likely ask for the items below. Add any notices you have received.
ItemWhere it comes fromHave it?
Loan balance and last payment date
Your most recent mortgage statement
-
Pay stubs and other income records
Your employer or benefits agency
-
Tax returns
Your own records
-
Recent bank statements
Your bank
-
Other monthly bills
Your own records
-
Notice of default or notice of sale, with dates
Mailed or posted by the trustee
-
Property tax or special tax bills, if behind
The county tax collector
-
A counselor is not paid "foreclosure help"
Once a notice is recorded, owners hear from companies offering to save the house for a fee. The CFPB's foreclosure scam page says companies that offer mortgage assistance or foreclosure help "aren't allowed to collect any fees up front," and lists warning signs: being told to stop paying your mortgage, paying someone other than your servicer, signing over title in a "rent to buy" scheme, pressure to act immediately, and talk of a "forensic audit." California's Civil Code section 2945.1 separately regulates foreclosure consultants, people who for pay say they will postpone a sale or save the house. A HUD-approved counselor is the opposite of all that: no up-front fee, and no offer on your house.
A cash buyer, including any buyer making an offer through Mr. Cali Offers, is also not a counselor. A buyer has its own interest in the price. That is why the counselor conversation comes first.
Where a sale fits, after the counselor
Sometimes the conclusion is that the house has to sell, or that selling would leave more than any other path. If so, the sale should be measured, not guessed. We put two numbers on the same house, an as-is cash offer and an open-market read, each with the comps, the deductions and the net after the payoff and reinstatement figures you request from your lender. The open-market read is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal; it is not an automated estimate and not a certified appraisal. You can share the sheet with your counselor.
When listing wins: if there is enough time before any sale date for a financed buyer to close, and the house shows well, the open market will usually net more, and the written recommendation says so. You are then introduced to a designated local expert, an independently licensed agent who works your area. Mr. Cali Offers never lists a house. Whether a sale can close in time is covered in selling before a trustee sale: when it can and cannot work.
What this looks like in practice
These are the kinds of files that come in, described without names or figures: a Rancho Cucamonga owner behind on the mortgage and on the community facilities district special tax billed on the San Bernardino County tax bill, who brought both bills to a counselor before asking what a sale would leave; and an owner holding a notice of default who had not yet called the servicer, where the first step was the number the servicer is required to give, not a buyer.
If a sale is one of the options you and your counselor want measured, see how both numbers are mapped against your trustee sale date, or call (909) 498-3977. There is no cost and no obligation to get the two numbers and the written report.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD Housing Counselors: Certification: hudhousingcounselors.hud.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Find a housing counselor (powered by HUD's official list): consumerfinance.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, How do I find a HUD-approved housing counselor?: consumerfinance.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, How to spot and avoid foreclosure relief scams: consumerfinance.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
- California Civil Code section 2923.5 (servicer contact, the HUD number and designating a counselor): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
- California Civil Code section 2924c (reinstatement): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
- California Civil Code section 2945.1 (foreclosure consultants): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, accessed November 6, 2026
- City of Rancho Cucamonga, Special Districts: cityofrc.us, accessed November 6, 2026
Mr. Cali Offers is not a housing counseling agency, a law firm or a lender, and does not offer foreclosure consulting. Cash offers come from independent buyers and investors who buy for their own account and may resell for profit; a cash offer is generally below what the open market would bring. Any value shown is a preliminary estimate, not an appraisal. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
What does a HUD-approved housing counselor do?
For an owner behind on payments, a counselor at a HUD-approved agency helps assess your finances, evaluate options such as reinstatement, a repayment plan or a loan modification, and talk to your mortgage servicer and understand its offers. A counselor cannot promise you will keep the house, cannot approve a modification and is not an attorney.
Do HUD-approved housing counselors charge a fee?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says HUD-approved housing counseling agencies provide foreclosure prevention counseling at no cost to you. It also says companies offering mortgage assistance or foreclosure help are not allowed to collect fees up front, so a request for money before any help is a warning sign.
How do I find a HUD-approved housing counselor?
Use the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Find a Counselor tool, which runs on HUD's official list of housing counselors, or call the HOPE Hotline at (888) 995-4673. Under California Civil Code section 2923.5, your servicer must also give you the HUD telephone number for finding a counseling agency during its first contact about the default.
Can a housing counselor talk to my lender for me?
Yes, with your written consent. California Civil Code section 2923.5(d) lets a borrower designate a HUD-certified housing counseling agency, an attorney or another advisor to discuss the borrower's finances and options with the mortgage servicer. Any modification or workout plan offered is still subject to the borrower's approval.
Written by
Anthony Grynchal
Anthony Grynchal is a California real estate salesperson with eXp Realty, licensed since November 2009 (CA DRE #01873626), and the owner of Mr. Cali Offers.
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