BATON ROUGE - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $42.8 million in housing counseling grants to help Americans make more informed and educational housing decisions. The Louisiana Housing Corporation received $580,206, which should help counsel thousands of people.  

LHC Director of Public Affairs Na'Tisha Natt says the money will be a big help when it comes to counseling new home buyers.

"A lot of times when homebuyers come in they are ready to purchase but they don't have the funds," said Natt. "We're helping them understand what they're looking for when purchasing a home, understanding what their home buying journey's going to look like and in addition to making sure that they have the financial stability to purchase a home."

Through counseling, people can find forever homes, affordable rental housing, and foreclosure prevention counseling. It also helps ease their fears of the home buying process.

By participating in HUD certified programs like counseling through LHC, homebuyers can receive incentives including reduced interest rates or down payment assistance.

LHC is holding a counseling education class on October 22 and 24.

There are many ways to locate a HUD-approved housing counseling agency. Visit HUD’s website or call (800) 569-4287 for our interactive telephone directory.