From: Housing.Counseling  
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 5:25 PM 
To: 'sf-housing-counseling-l@hudlist.hud.gov' 
Subject: HECM Roster Program Clarifications

To: HUD-Approved HECM Counseling Agencies

This message is intended to provide further clarification on the HECM Roster Program. 

Applications for the HECM Roster
In anticipation of the HECM Standardization and Roster Final Rule being published in the near future, 
applications from qualified HECM counselors will be accepted for pre-registration beginning on August 
3rd, 2009. On that date, application instructions will be posted on the HUD.gov website. Qualified HECM 
counselors will have taken the HECM exam prior to application, had HECM training in the past two years, 
and be employed by a HUD-approved counseling agency. 

HECM Exam Requirement
Counselors who have taken the HECM exam prior to the effective date of the final rule will be deemed to 
meet the exam requirement regardless of how long ago the exam was taken. (Note that this is 
supplemental information to the July 1st e-mail).  HECM Roster Counselors will be required to take the 
HECM exam every three years as of the date they are added to the Roster. 

Information about the exam is available at: www.hecmexam.org  HUD has access to the records of 
individuals who have taken the HECM exams. Counselors do not need to take any specific course in order 
to take the exam, but the exam is difficult, and some counselors may find pre-exam courses and study 
materials helpful.

HECM Training Requirement & Upcoming Training
To be eligible for the HECM Roster, counselors must have completed HECM training within the last two 
years. HUD anticipates allowing a variety of courses to fulfill this requirement, and encourages counselors 
who are qualified in other respects to submit their training information along with their application. Please 
note that the online training located here: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/HECMonline050706.pdf 
is the exception, and will NOT count toward the training requirement for Roster eligibility. 

To address the concerns about the availability of training in the near term, HUD will be hosting conference 
calls for counselors on the HECM Protocol. These calls will count toward the training requirement. The 
next call will be on Monday, July 20th. An e-mail with more information about these training conference 
calls will be sent out separately.

This message has gone out to the email addresses provided by all active HECM Counseling 
agencies in HUD’s Housing Counseling Program.  All Parent Agencies should make sure their sub-
agencies have received this information.  Please direct questions or comments to your HUD point 
of contact or email Housing.Counseling@hud.gov

Sincerely,

Ruth Román
Director, Program Support Division
Office of Single Family Housing
Department of Housing and Urban Development