HUD Warns Housing Counseling Agencies Not Take a Fee Split from Real Estate Brokers/Agents

A real estate trade publication recently reported that HUD's Office of Single Family Housing has warned housing counseling agencies that it is not permissible to take a fee split from real estate brokers or agents to defray the cost of counseling and that fee splits may violate the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). All HUD-approved housing counseling agencies, their affiliates, and branches were ordered to stop the practice immediately. The warning came in response to reports that some housing counseling agencies were receiving a share of real estate broker or agent commissions on short sales to pay for clients' foreclosure counseling sessions