Julie Birkenmaier

Providing Access to Affordable Credit to the Poor - Evaluating the Effectiveness of Credit Counseling for Building Assets Julie Birkenmaier

Asset building has become an increasingly important component of social welfare policy in recent years. For families seeking to build assets through home ownership, raising credit scores is often a key element of their prepurchase efforts. Low income and minority families in particular can struggle with poor credit scores and seek Homeownership Education and Counseling (HEC) services to assist them to raise their credit score and access affordable mortgage credit. This book examines the effectiveness of credit counseling within HEC services on credit scores. Quantitative data were gathered via preand one year post-counseling credit scores from 203 clients who obtained pre-purchase credit counseling. Qualitative findings from a focus group of HEC credit counselors shed light on the role of credit counselors in HEC services and difficulties encountered in interfacing with the sub-prime mortgage market. This book is addressed to community development, mortgage finance and public policy professionals and researchers.