Policy Focus

Defending Civil Rights

On Monday, in an extreme move against a core civil rights protection, HUD proposed a rule that would dismantle an important enforcement tool for combating discrimination by financial institutions, insurance companies, and housing providers. The rule would dramatically weaken disparate impact liability under the Fair Housing Act, making it virtually impossible to prove systemic discrimination in housing and lending. We will be working with allies across the country to oppose this attack on fair housing. Learn more »

Opposing the Public Charge Rule

Last week, the Trump Administration released the final revised “Public Charge” rule, designed to severely restrict low-income immigrants and their children from accessing critical and potentially life-saving benefits, including food, health, and housing assistance. We applaud Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul for joining a multi-state legal challenge to this plan, which will deny visa renewals or permanent residency for immigrants who use or may use government assistance programs. Housing Action is speaking out against this rule alongside allies in the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition. Learn more and take action.

Expanding Homelessness Prevention in Illinois

Some good news on the local front: Governor Pritzker signed HB 3331 into law, expanding access to grant assistance for families at risk of becoming homeless. We are proud to have worked alongside Rep. Delia Ramirez, Sen. Laura Fine, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, and other allies to pass this amendment to the Homelessness Prevention Act. Learn more »

Last Chance for Early Bird Registration!

At our 2019 Housing Matters! Conference, you'll get updates on the latest housing issues, hear from leaders in the field, learn best practices, and network. Join workshops in four tracks: 

• Affordable Housing Development
• Ending Homelessness
• Housing Counseling
• Public Policy Advocacy

The conference will be on October 24 & 25 in Bloomington, Illinois. Reserve your spot now and save $50!

Housing Counselor Dispatch

Countdown to Certification

The August 1, 2020 deadline for housing counselors to become certified is less than a year away. Are you ready to pass the HUD Certification Exam? Housing Action's Capacity Building Specialist Wanda Collins is hosting another Online Study Group this December to help you prepare. Each webinar-based session is dedicated to a different section of the exam, helping you gear up in a supportive, peer-learning environment. Study with us »

Congratulations to all the newly certified housing counselors who have passed the HUD certification exam! Are you one of them? We want to hear about your experience studying for and taking the exam. Fill out our survey »

Goodbye CounselorMax & Launchpad, Hello Compass

NeighborWorks America has announced that they are launching a CMS (Client Management System) for housing counseling agencies called NeighborWorks Compass in Spring 2020. They will be transitioning over their CounselorMax clients to the new CMS. They also have a formal agreement to acquire Launchpad, a CMS developed in 2018 by the Housing Partnership Network and powered by the Salesforce platform, and plan to integrate it with this new system. Learn more »

Know Your Acronyms

CDBG, CDFI, CFPB, CSBG . . . sometimes it can be hard to keep track of all the acronyms used in housing and homelessness discussions, and Google doesn't always get the answer right. (ESG might mean "Environmental, Social, and Governance factors" in some contexts, but not this one!) Our new acronym guide makes it easy for you to navigate the alphabet soup by listing acronyms commonly used in Illinois in the housing and homelessness fields all in one place.