Senate bill would boost funding for Minnesota's homebuyer counseling program (HECAT) to $2 million annually

Senator Mohammed presented Senate File 1533 seeking to raise annual funding for the Homeownership Education, Counseling and Training (HECAT) fund to $2,000,000. The sponsor framed the request as support for the education and counseling services that prepare first-time and first-generation homebuyers to obtain and sustain homeownership.

Multiple witnesses described how HECAT-funded counseling and education operate across Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities. Roxanne Young Kimball, president of the Minnesota Homeownership Center, said the statewide intermediary currently receives no administrative funding from HECAT and requested a 10% fee allowance to sustain statewide services such as counselor certification, curriculum (HomeStretch), file audits, and a statewide technology tracking system. She told the committee HECAT counselors reached roughly 8,000 households for home-buyer readiness counseling and another 2,000 households through foreclosure prevention counseling in the last biennium. Jeff Wills and other local counselors described individual client success stories, credit-building outcomes and demand increases; a counselor with Bridging Cities of Saint Paul said demand has increased about 150% in the last year and that 81% of their clientele identify as BIPOC.

Witnesses told the committee that HECAT services are third-party neutral and offered in multiple languages, and that the program is particularly important for households lacking intergenerational wealth and those facing barriers to mortgage readiness. Noah Hobbs (One Roof Community Housing) and other rural counselors highlighted the program's role in Great Lakes and Northeastern Minnesota service areas and indicated consistent year-over-year growth in clients served.

The committee laid Senate File 1533 over for possible inclusion; no final appropriation or roll-call vote occurred during the hearing.