Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Department's Fiscal Year 2023 Comprehensive Housing Counseling Grant Program | FR 6700 N 33

Opportunity Information: Apply for FR 6700 N 33

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fiscal Year 2023 Comprehensive Housing Counseling (CHC) Grant Program is a discretionary grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number FR 6700 N 33; CFDA 14.169) intended to strengthen HUD-approved housing counseling services nationwide. The core purpose is to fund organizations that deliver housing counseling and practical advice to renters and homeowners, covering topics like property maintenance, budgeting and money management, financial literacy, and other issues tied to sustaining stable housing. In plain terms, HUD is using this program to help individuals and families get into housing, stay housed, and avoid preventable crises by supporting counseling that leads to sustainable homeownership or stable, affordable rental situations. HUD also emphasizes that housing counseling agencies act as a front-line protection against housing scams and discrimination and often serve as a key entry point to local, state, federal, and private programs that can help households stabilize.

Eligibility is narrow and tied to HUD program participation status. To apply, an organization must already be approved to participate in the HUD Housing Counseling Program before the NOFO issue date. In addition to HUD-approved counseling agencies, State Housing Finance Agencies (SHFAs) may apply if they have statutory authority to provide housing counseling statewide and if they comply with the governing rules and guidance for the program, including 24 CFR Part 214, HUD Handbook 7610.1, and other applicable HUD policies. At the same time, HUD makes clear that certain entities cannot compete for or receive awards under this announcement, including individuals, foreign entities, and sole proprietorships.

The NOFO also places strict limits on how applicants and subgrantees can be funded to prevent double-dipping across the same fiscal year. Applicants and subgrantees are prohibited from receiving FY 2023 Housing Counseling Program grant funding from multiple sources. For example, an organization cannot receive funds as a direct grantee under this NOFO while also receiving funding as a subgrantee under an Intermediary or SHFA award. Similarly, an organization cannot be funded as a subgrantee by two different intermediaries/SHFAs under the same NOFO. These restrictions are designed to ensure each funded agency has a single, clear funding path and to spread limited federal resources across a broader counseling network.

Another important requirement involves network affiliation consistency across related HUD funding competitions. Subgrantees must keep the same network affiliation for both the FY 2023 CHC NOFO and the FY 2023 Homeownership Initiative NOFO. In practice, if a subgrantee receives a CHC subaward through a particular Intermediary, SHFA, or Multi-State Organization (MSO), that same subgrantee cannot switch and receive a Homeownership Initiative subaward through a different Intermediary, SHFA, or MSO. HUD notes, however, that it may approve different network affiliations in specific situations on a case-by-case basis, suggesting there is a limited exception process when a strong justification exists.

From a funding and scale standpoint, HUD anticipated a substantial number of awards and a relatively high maximum award size. The opportunity listed an award ceiling of $3,000,000 and an expectation of roughly 250 awards, indicating that awards may vary widely depending on the applicant type, role in the counseling network, and HUDs allocation decisions. The opportunity was posted with a creation date of January 9, 2024, and an original closing date of February 8, 2024. Overall, this NOFO is aimed at maintaining and expanding the capacity of HUD-approved housing counseling systems so they can guide households through renting and homeownership decisions, improve financial readiness, reduce vulnerability to fraud and discrimination, and connect clients to the broader safety net of housing assistance resources.

• The Department of Housing and Urban Development in the housing sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Department's Fiscal Year 2023 Comprehensive Housing Counseling Grant Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 14.169.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-01-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-08. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 250 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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