Foreclosure Prevention/Housing Counselor, NKCDC

Posted by New Kensington CDC on May 29, 2017

New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) strengthens the physical, social and economic fabric of Kensington, Fishtown and Port Richmond, Philadelphia, by being a catalyst for sustainable development and community building. We believe in a multi-faceted approach to neighborhood revitalization, working with economic development, real estate development, vacant land management, community engagement and neighborhood planning as well as housing counseling. Our housing counseling department is robust. We like to call ourselves a one-stop shop for community members’ housing needs, including energy assistance, housing counseling, foreclosure prevention, first-time homebuyer assistance, and rental rebates.

Function
The Foreclosure Prevention/Housing Counselor works to build healthy communities and expand homeownership opportunities and retention for low and moderate-income households. Counselor’s goal is to provide city-wide residents (and aspiring homebuyers or struggling homeowners) with the skills, knowledge and information to buy and maintain a home, provide them with energy assistance, or resolve their current housing situation. This is done by bringing people into the program through outreach and marketing events, working with people individually, and education. Finally, this position provides a full complement of data entry and reporting functions for all counseling programs provided by NKCDC’s housing department.

Reports to
Director of Housing Counseling

Mentored by
Foreclosure Prevention Specialist/Assistant Director of Housing Counseling

Responsibilities
Intake & Referrals: Assist with orientation of applicants to the various, foreclosure prevention, tax delinquency, water delinquency, first time homebuyer, energy assistance and other loan programs available to low and moderate income families. Ensure completeness of application. Gather data and enter into appropriate program databases to track program statistics. . Refer homeowners or renters to other necessary community resources.

Counseling & Case Management: Conduct preliminary assessment of the homeowner’s situation, counsel the homeowner about personal and financial issues that assist with addressing their problems. Assist with intake and referrals to appropriate programs including loss mitigation options, tax relief options, first-time homebuyer, and energy assistance programs. . Prepare Mortgage financial applications including Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program. Submit to attorneys, mortgage servicers or PHFA application packets via email, mail or Hope Loan Portal in a timely manner. Contact Mortgage Servicers and other relevant parties to further understand homeowner’s situation and options.Negotiate and advocate with lender, and other community resource providers to facilitate implementation of plan to address client’s situation.Attend conciliation conferences and when possible petition to postpone sheriff sales. Assist other Housing Counseling staff with workshops, presentations, and other community outreach events.This position is required to participate in the weekly DHCD Diversion Court sessions.

Data Collection & Entry: Provide full complement of data entry and program reporting functions for NKCDC housing department ensuring quality control, programmatic requirements and appropriate paper and e-filing.

Other duties may be assigned.

Qualifications and requirements

• Five years experience working with a social service organization or other related fields dealing with the public or college education equivalent.
• Must be computer savvy, able to access e-mail, electronic calendars and the Internet; experience required with a variety of software applications including Microsoft Office.
• Must be able to master CRM software used to maintain client information and provide reports. Efficient data entry skills a must.
• Proven ability to deal with people in high stress situations with empathy and concern.
• Both team player and self-starter with ability to prioritize tasks.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience working with culturally diverse groups of people.
• Knowledge of Real Estate, underwriting policies, mortgages, foreclosure, and household budgeting and loan closing highly desirable.
• Must be certified in various housing counseling designations and/or be willing to become certified. DHCD Diversion Court Certified preferred.
• Must be able to pass the HUD Counselors Certification Exam
• Familiarity with social service networks in Philadelphia a plus.
• Bilingual Spanish/English is preferred.
• May need to work off-site or off-hours on occasion as needed.

Compensation
Competitive salary with excellent benefits including HMO health plan, long- and short-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid vacation and 403 (b) retirement plan.

Application process
Send cover letter including salary expectations and resume to Lorie Meyer, at lmeyer@nkcdc.org. Please note that all candidate resumes are given due consideration and are kept on file for three months, but we cannot always respond personally to individual applications due to the high volume of inquiries.

NKCDC provides Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, race, national or ethnic origin, gender identity or expression, religion, language, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or physical ability.