Agencies funded by the federal Office of Housing and Urban Development to provide prepurchase and mortgage default counseling, home equity conversion (reverse mortgage) counseling and information about the HUD rent assistance program for current and prospective purchasers and tenants.

Programs that make an arrangement which allows older adults who have equity in their homes to obtain cash from their homes without selling them in order to pay for home health care and other needed services and avoid institutionalization (or to use for other purposes). The individual may either obtain a reverse annuity mortgage which provides an annual income for the individual and may also include a lifetime tenancy, or sell and lease back his/her home on a basis that guarantees lifetime tenancy. The institution providing the annuity receives title to the house or cash from the sale only when the older person dies or moves away. In the sale-leaseback arrangement, the title to the house is transferred to the lender immediately. Most of these programs provide counseling regarding the general benefits of reverse mortgages, and some may evaluate an individual's personal financial situation and recommend a reverse mortgage if it would be to the person's advantage.