Implications of Dodd-Frank for Housing Counselors

This year marks the tenth anniversary of landmark legislation that waspassed in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008, which was marked bya mortgage crisis, spurred by an overextension of credit and foreclosures,that have consequences still being felt by families, the financial industry,and the global economy (Gerecke, 2016). It is important that housing policy achieves the goal of increasing homeownership rates without encouraging irresponsible borrowing and lending to accomplish that objective.Wall Street reform and consumer protection are the two areas that the2010 Dodd-Frank Act (DFA) was intended to address. The purpose of thispaper is to raise awareness about a provision of this law that is designedto address protection for consumers: requiring housing counselors to beindividually certified.

Rita W. Green