Bilingual Housing Counselor

Job Description

Job Description

About CHES, Inc.

CHES, Inc. (Credit & Homeownership Empowerment Services, Inc.) is a Kansas City, Missouri based HUD approved (Department of Housing & Urban Development) housing, financial and credit counseling, coaching and empowerment organization. Founded in 2010, CHES, Inc. has assisted over 5,000 families achieve their goal of financial growth and stability. 

Mission 

Dedicated to empowering low-to-moderate income individuals and families with the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary for long-term financial & homeownership success.

Vision

CHES, Inc. maintains an aggressive pursuit to be a market leader by providing real and sustainable housing and financial solutions. CHES, Inc. will continually seek new opportunities to provide quality and innovative services to the communities we serve, through qualified and compassionate professionals who create and restore the realization of dreams.

For more information about the organization visit

Job Summary

The Housing Counselor provides comprehensive individual counseling and group education workshops on a wide range of homeownership topics, including financial capability, pre-purchase, foreclosure prevention, and credit building.  This individual maintains a professional, cordial, and helpful attitude towards all customers and is knowledgeable on the entire homeownership process. They are responsible for a wide range of administrative duties to support the organization.  

Role and Responsibilities

• Provide accurate and timely responses to customer inquiries.
• Demonstrate ability to function independently and make independent and sound judgments.
• Interact with lenders/servicers and advocates for homebuyers in an effort to obtain the best mortgage products available to preserve homeownership for existing homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
• Provide customers with information on all aspects of the home buying process and requirements.
• Run credit reports and review reports with customers.
• Process purchase assistance grants.
• Assist the Homeownership Manager in designing and delivering homebuyer education and coaching programs.
• Conduct workshops with the families on budget/finance, home maintenance, etc.
• Counsel customers regarding their overall financial situations related to purchasing a home, foreclosure prevention and sustaining home ownership, and financial capability goals.
• Conduct online and face-to-face homebuyer education and follow-up phone consultations.
• Assume and manage a caseload of customers whose situations require intervention or negotiation with a mortgage lender. In such cases, negotiate appropriately with lenders for loss mitigation, short sale, etc.

Qualifications and Education Requirements

• 2-4 years of experience in a related field preferred. An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may be considered.
• Experience in housing counseling, foreclosure prevention, homebuyer education, underwriting, lending, or real estate coupled with experience in mortgage banking, preferably in processing, originations, and loss mitigation.
• Ability to communicate effectively orally, and in writing both English and Spanish.  Candidate must be Bi-lingual.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite software, with strong Microsoft Excel or Access skills and ability to extract and, run reports from databases for software programs.
• Ability to prioritize and coordinate multiple work activities in a fast-paced team environment and meet critical deadlines.
• Working knowledge of predatory lending and be able to counsel customers to avoid such loans.
• Excellent filing, record keeping, and organizational skills demonstrated across a range of administrative processes and procedures.
• Ability to support the production and distribution of complex grant and financial monitoring reports.
• Ability to analyze and translate mortgage documents, including profit and loss statements, HUD documents and tax information to determine optimal outcomes for borrowers.
• Dependable, dedicated, and flexible about working some evenings and/or weekend hours.
• Note:  Must be able to self-identify areas where more training/coaching is needed. 

Licenses, Certifications

Received HUD Housing Counselor Certification or pass within 2 months of hire.  Complete other assigned trainings in area-specific subjects as required by organization. 

Physical requirements

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Regularly spend long hours sitting and using office equipment and computers.
• Ability to work from office location on a regular basis.
• Regularly use headphones and earpieces.
• Regularly see details of objects that are less than a few feet away.
• Frequently bend/stoop to file and maintain files.
• Occasionally lift 5-10 pounds.

Job Type – Full-Time

Pay:  $18.00 to $22.00

Benefits:

• Dental Insurance
• Life Insurance
• 401K
• Vision Insurance 
• Health Insurance
• Short-term Disability
• Long-term Disability

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Technology

Technology drives our business and allows us to provide world-class customer service to our customers and internal staff.  To remain competitive in our industry we must utilize our technology to its fullest potential.  The Housing Counselor must embrace all aspects of our technology and commit to using it as a part of the daily process.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. CHES, Inc reserves the right to change or revise duties and responsibilities as needs arise. This document is not a written or implied contract of employment.