LONG ISLAND HOUSING PARTNERSHIP
Orientation Counseling Packet

In order to register for your First Time Homebuyer’s Orientation you must complete this online packet in its entirety.  Once you complete and submit this packet, you will receive the link to register for the virtual Orientation session.  At the bottom of this page you will be asked to enter your contact email address.  You must use the same email address to complete your registration.

 

 

You are registering for a virtual Orientation session with the Long Island Housing Partnership (LIHP) in its capacity as a certified HUD counseling agency. We look forward to meeting with you to inform you of the process of homeownership and to determine where in the process you might be.


 

The virtual Orientation session will last approximately 2 hours and must be attended by all parties who will be involved in the home buying process. Please plan your day accordingly and sign-on a few minutes early into the LIHP virtual waiting room where you will be checked in to the Orientation session. Many other families are also looking for guidance in the home buying process and the demand for our services is very high. Therefore we ask you to be respectful of the time and call the office immediately if you need to reschedule at (631)435-4710.

 

Thank you,

LONG ISLAND HOUSING PARTNERSHIP, INC.

Client Contact Details 
NOTE:  MUST MATCH REGISTRATION DETAILS IN ORDER TO BE ADMITTED ON DAY OF ORIENTATION!






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Demographic Information







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Counseling Readiness/Qualifying Questions









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PROGRAM DISCLOSURE FORM

NOTE: If you have an impairment, disability, language barrier, or otherwise require an alternative means of completing this form or assessing information about housing counseling, please talk to your housing counselor about arranging alternative accommodations.

 

 

About Us and Program Purpose: The mission of Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc., and Affiliates (“LIHP”) is to provide housing opportunities for those who, through the unaided operation of the market, cannot afford safe and decent homes. We accomplish this mission through development, technical assistance, community lending, education and advocacy. LIHP is a nonprofit, HUD- approved housing counseling agency. We provide free housing counseling and education services, including: Mortgage Delinquency & Default Resolution Counseling, Pre-purchase Counseling, Rental Housing Counseling, as well as Financial, Budgeting, & Credit Repair and Pre-purchase Homebuyer Education Workshops. We serve all clients regardless of income, race, color, religion/creed, sex, national origin, age, family status, disability, or sexual orientation/gender identity. We administer our programs in conformity with local, state, and federal anti-discrimination laws, including the federal Fair Housing Act (42 USC 3600, et seq.). As a housing counseling program participant, please affirm your roles and responsibilities along with the following disclosures and initial, sign, and date the form on the following page.

 

Client and Counselor Roles and Responsibilities:

 

Counselor’s Roles & Responsibilities

Client’s Roles & Responsibilities

  • Reviewing your housing goal and your finances
  • Preparing a Client Action Plan that lists the steps that you and your counselor will take in order to achieve your housing goal.
  • Preparing a household budget.
  • Your counselor is not responsible for achieving your housing goal, but will provide guidance and education in support of your goal.
  • Neither your counselor nor agency employees, agents, or directors may provide legal advice.

  • Completing the steps assigned to you in your Client Action Plan.
  • Providing accurate information about your income, debts, expenses, credit, and employment.
  • Attending meetings, returning calls, providing requested paperwork in a timely manner.
  • Notifying your counselor when changing a housing goal.
  • Attending educational workshops as recommended.
  • Retaining an attorney if seeking legal advice and/or representation in matters such as foreclosure or bankruptcy protection.

Termination of Services: Failure to work cooperatively with housing counselor and/or LIHP will result in the discontinuation of counseling services. This includes, but is not limited to, missing three consecutive appointments.

 

Agency Conduct: No LIHP employee, volunteer, or agent shall undertake any action that might result in, or create the appearance of, administering counseling operations for personal or private gain, provide preferential treatment for any person or organization, or engage in conduct that will compromise our agency’s compliance with federal regulations and our commitment to serving the best interests of our clients.

 

Agency Relationship: LIHP has financial affiliation with HUD, the Housing Partnership Network (HPN) and the New York Mortgage Coalition (NYMC). As a housing counseling program participant, you are not obligated to use the products and services of LIHP or our industry partners.

 

Alternative Services, Programs, and Products & Client Freedom of Choice: LIHP works with New York State, Suffolk County Consortium and the Towns of Huntington, Babylon and Islip as well as the Nassau County Office of Economic Development has input into the Consolidated Planning process. LIHP’s counseling activities, housing development programs and associated supportive services are consistent with the recommendations in the Consolidated Plans.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, LIHP also provides Alternative Services and Programs:


  • The Regional Lending Consortium (RLC)-This program provides financial assistance through LIHP. The mission is to provide financing of affordable housing developments and commercial developments that are part of economic development programs. In order to originate loans to affordable housing developments and commercial re-developments through a bringing together of financial institutions, governmental agencies, and developers. Emphasis focuses on low and moderate- income households and communities.
  • The Employer Assisted Housing Program- This program was introduced as an economic initiative to assist Long Island employers to recruit and retain qualified employees. LIHP is working with employers such as: North Shore Long Island Jewish Health Systems, Association for the Help of Retarded Children (AHRC) and Our Lady of Consolation. These  employers offer monetary benefits to their employees which can be augmented with additional funds from the county, state, and/or federal government.
  • The Nassau County Down Payment Assistance Program (NCDPAP)- This program is administered by the Long Island Housing Partnership in coordination with the Nassau County Office of Economic Development. Under provisions of a federally funded program, Nassau County will provide eligible first-time homebuyers with grant assistance towards down payment/closing costs provided that the applicant puts a minimum down payment into the purchase transaction. Homes purchased must be pre-existing or newly constructed residences located within the boundaries of Nassau County. They must be single-family dwellings (includes townhouses, condominiums, co-operative apartments and manufactured homes) occupied as a principal residence. The appraised value of a HOME assisted property to be acquired by a first-time homeowner must not exceed the required limit on the value of a single-family unit. In addition, Nassau County Home Inspectors must approve all HOME assisted properties before any grant funds are provided.
  • The Town of Babylon Down Payment Assistance Program (TOBDPAP)- This program is administered by the Long Island Housing Partnership in coordination with the Town of Babylon. Under provisions of a federally funded program the Town has set aside HOME Investment Partnership Funds provided by the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Down Payment Assistance Program. The Town will match the first time homebuyers’ down payment, dollar for dollar, up to a certain amount to be determined and the applicants may choose to utilize part of these funds towards closing costs.

  

As a housing counseling client, you are not obligated to participate in any of these services. You are entitled to choose whatever services and/or products best meet your needs.

 

Referrals and Community Resources: You will be provided a community resource list which outlines regional services available to meet a variety of needs, including utility assistance, food banks, and legal aid assistance, among others. This list also identifies alternative agencies that provide services, programs, or products identical to those offered by LIHP. 

 

Home Inspection: I/we acknowledge that I/we received a copy of ‘For Your Protection: Get a Home Inspection’ and ’10 Important Questions to Ask Your Home Inspector’. INITIALS        _ /    

 

Errors and Omissions and Disclaimer of Liability: I/we agree that LIHP, its employees, agents, and directors are not liable for any claims and causes of actions arising from errors or omissions by such parties, or related to my participation in LIHP counseling; and I hereby release and waive all claims of action against LIHP and its affiliates. I have read this document, understand that I have given up substantial rights by signing it, and have signed it freely and without any inducement or assurance of any nature and intend it to be a complete and unconditional release of all liability to the greatest extent allowed by law. If any provision of this document is unenforceable, it shall be modified to the extent necessary to make the provision valid and binding, and the remainder of this document shall remain enforceable to the full extent allowed by law. Please note that representatives of LIHP do not provide tax or legal advice and that you should consult your tax advisor or attorney for such guidance.


Quality Assurance: In order to assess client satisfaction and in compliance with grant funding requirements, LIHP or one of its partners, may contact you during or after the completion of your housing counseling service. You may be requested to complete a survey asking you to evaluate your client experience. Your survey data may be confidentially shared with LIHP  grantors such as  HUD. By signing this Disclosure Statement I give LIHP authorization to share my information with HUD and other third parties, as applicable.

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TRANSLATION SERVICES

  

It is the policy of the Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc. (LIHP) to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to all individuals in any encounters with LIHP.

 

If you have mobility or other impairment, or require language assistance, please let us know so that we may take steps to meet your needs. You may contact the agency by regular mail at 180 Oser Ave., Suite 800, Hauppauge, NY 11788, email info@lihp.org, or by phone @ 631-435-4710.

 

If you are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing or have a speech disability, please use New York Relay 7-1-1 for assistance to place a free call or TTY/TDD.

 

Translation Services Available

 

 

Long Island Housing Partnership has English speaking counselors who are also fluent in Spanish.

 

If you require assistance in another language, we offer translation services through our relationship with Language Line, a personal interpreter service. Please inform the counselor or receptionist that you would like to access these services and we will contact the company on your behalf to arrange for a translator.

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PRIVACY POLICY

The Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc. (LIHP) is a HUD approved counseling agency and member of Housing Partnership Network (HPN) and as such is committed to assuring the privacy of individuals and/or families who have contacted us for assistance. We realize that the concerns you bring to us are highly personal in nature. We assure you that all information shared both orally and in writing will be managed within legal and ethical considerations.  Your “nonpublic personal information,” such as your total debt information, income, living expenses and personal information concerning your financial circumstances, will be provided to creditors, program monitors, and others only with your authorization and signature on the Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Agreement (if applicable). We may also use anonymous aggregated case file information for the purpose of evaluating our services, gathering valuable research information and designing future programs.

 

Types of information that we gather about you:

  • Information we receive from you orally, on applications or other forms, such as your name, address, social security number, assets, and income;
  • Information about your transactions with us, your creditors, or others, such as your account balance, payment history, parties to transactions and credit card usage; and
  • Information we receive from credit reporting agency, such as your credit history.

 

You may opt-out of certain disclosures

1.    You have the opportunity to “opt-out” of disclosures of your nonpublic personal information to third parties (such as your creditors), that is, direct us not to make those disclosures.

2.    If you choose to “opt-out” we will not be able to answer questions from your creditors. If at any time, you wish to change your decision with regard to your “opt-out” you may call us at (631) 435-4710 and sign the disclosure disclaimer.

 

Release of your information to third parties

1.   So long as you have not opted-out, we may disclose some or all of the information that we collect, as described above, to your creditors or third parties where we have determined that it would be helpful to you, would aid us in counseling you, or is a requirement of grant awards which make our services possible.

2.   We may also disclose any nonpublic personal information about you or former customers to anyone as permitted by law (e.g., if we are compelled by legal process).

3.   Within the organization, we restrict access to nonpublic personal information about you to those employees who need to know that information to provide services to you. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information.

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DISCLAIMER

The Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc. (LIHP) is a HUD approved counseling agency and a member of Housing Partnership Network (HPN) providing counseling to residents of Nassau and Suffolk Counties in the following general areas: Housing counseling/affordable development, Pre-occupancy/Pre-purchase and Pre-rental counseling, Mortgage default counseling, rent- delinquency, rent-occupancy, Post-occupancy, Home improvement, rehabilitation and money management counseling, and FHA mortgage assignment counseling.

All applicants for LIHP’s counseling services agree to provide LIHP with true and accurate information and documentation upon which LIHP will base its counseling, information provided and referrals. It is expressly understood that the advice, counseling information opinion provided to the applicant by LIHP, its agents, servants or employees shall not replace the applicant’s own independent inquiry and investigation to determine his/her course of action.

The counseling services provided by LIHP, its agents, consultants, servants or employees does not constitute legal, accounting, or tax preparation advice and the applicant is strongly advised to consult legal counsel prior to taking any action which may effect his/her rights or interest in real or personal property and/or if applicant has been served with any legal papers affecting his/her rights or interest in real or personal


Applicant shall hold LIHP harmless from any liability with regard to the counseling services provided to applicant.

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HUD Home Inspection
HUD Fact Sheet Page 1
HUD Fact Sheet Page 2
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NOW THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR ORIENTATION COUNSELING PACKET, THE NEXT STEP WILL BE TO COMPLETE THE REGISTRATION FOR THE ZOOM VIRTUAL SESSION.  

ONCE YOU HIT SUBMIT BELOW, YOU WILL BE REDIRECTED TO THE REGISTRATION PAGE FOR THE SESSION.  COMPLETE THE REGISTRATION AND CONFIRMATION EMAIL WILL BE SENT TO YOU WITH THE ACCESS LINK FOR THE ORIENTATION SESSION.