Please note that the variety of services provided varies somewhat from agency to agency, depending upon the local needs. Please contact the Association member agency near you for information regarding their specific services.

Housing Consumer Education Centers (HCECs):
HCECs are offered through the Association?s network of agencies. HCECs offer answers to a wide range of questions about all types of housing problems. Tenants, landlords, prospective buyers and homeowners can access information designed to maximize housing stability, strengthen investments, and minimize disputes. HCECs emphasize self-reliance through knowledge and skill-building, enabling renters and owners to make smart choices and solve their own housing problems.

To find out more about the Housing Consumer Education Centers, please visit our website at: www.masshousinginfo.org .To find the Housing Consumer Education Center near you, please visit our website or call 1-800-224-5124.

Rental Assistance:
Rent subsidies help low- and moderate-income households pay their rent by using government funds to cover the difference between about 30% of their income and the actual cost of the rent. Association members administer more than 15,000 federal rent subsidies on a regional basis, and 2,000 state rental vouchers, primarily in communities without local housing authority programs.

Housing Development and Management:
Association members have developed more than 6,000 units of affordable family, farm worker, elderly, and handicapped rental housing, new single family housing, single person occupancy units, transitional housing for the homeless, housing with supportive services, and community residences for the disabled.

Homeownership:
Members help first time homebuyers through pre-purchase counseling and help in obtaining low-cost mortgages and repair funds from state, federal, and local programs. They help buyers access government-owned and bank-foreclosed properties and also assist homeowners at risk of foreclosure. They run sweat equity programs in rural areas making homeownership possible for households with modest incomes, by obtaining low-cost federal mortgages and using buyer labor to reduce construction costs.

Housing Services:
Members offer tenants, landlords, and homeowners individual counseling and mediation to resolve housing difficulties. They offer information on and help in applying for financial assistance for rent, energy, and other emergency needs. They offer training in property management and landlord law, in the form of workshops, manuals, and financial counseling.

Homeless Services and Shelters:
Association member agencies provide assistance to help families avoid homelessness. Housing search staff help families in emergency shelters locate permanent housing, and members operate 11 shelters for more than 100 families and 88 individuals. In addition, the members provide transitional housing and support services to families who have survived domestic violence.

Technical Assistance:
Member agencies help community groups, towns, and housing authorities development affordable housing programs. Mechanisms include assistance with concept development, grant writing, staff training, and other start-up support. Members also work with banks to develop programs that address local credit needs. Members help small towns bank together to apply jointly for federal housing funds, thus bringing millions of dollars in rehabilitation funds to areas that would otherwise have been unassisted.