Armed, Unarmed or Harmed by Knowledge? A Comment on the FHA's Housing Counseling Pilot Program

7 Pages Posted: 18 Jul 2014

Date Written: July 14, 2014

Abstract

The FHA has requested input on its Homeowners Armed with Knowledge (HAWK) for New Homebuyers pilot program. This comment letter argues that housing counseling is not a proven solution to the problem it is meant to solve, excessive defaults by FHA borrowers. HAWK is a traditional housing counseling program but the scholarly literature casts into doubt the efficacy of such programs. It would be better to take time to research which counseling strategies, if any, are proven to be effective. This is true for the FHA but also for other government agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that have devoted significant resources to unproven financial counseling programs.

Keywords: CFPB, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Housing Administration, FHA, financial education, financial literacy, HAWK, HAWK for New Homebuyers, homebuyers, Homeowners Armed with Knowledge, homeownership, Housing and Urban Development, housing counseling, housing counseling agency, HUD, meta

Suggested Citation

Reiss, David J., Armed, Unarmed or Harmed by Knowledge? A Comment on the FHA's Housing Counseling Pilot Program (July 14, 2014). Brooklyn Law School, Legal Studies Paper No. 383, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2467058 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2467058

David J. Reiss (Contact Author)

Brooklyn Law School ( email )

250 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
United States

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