Maryland HUD Housing Counseling Agencies and How They Help
Losing ground on a mortgage in Maryland can feel isolating, but there are more resources here than in most states — and they're free to use. HUD-certified counselors, with a list of them below, work on your side, not the bank's, helping you document hardship, understand what your servicer is actually required to consider, and navigate whatever assistance programs apply to your loan type. Maryland also offers its own state-funded counseling network that covers counties where no local agency exists. For other state mortgage and foreclosure prevention options, see Maryland mortgage assistance programs.
Baltimore City
Baltimore has one of the most active concentrations of HUD-certified housing agencies in the mid-Atlantic, shaped by decades of neighborhood-level community development work across the city's distinct communities.
Comprehensive Housing Assistance Inc. (CHAI)
5809 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215. Phone: (410) 500-5300 — Website: https://chaibaltimore.org/.
Serves northwest Baltimore City and County. Foreclosure prevention programs and homebuying programs are available. Unique service: CHAI is unusual in combining HUD housing counseling with its own low-interest home improvement loan program — so counselors can sometimes offer a direct financial tool alongside the advice, rather than just referrals.
Belair-Edison Neighborhoods Inc.
3412 Belair Road, Baltimore, MD 21213. Phone: (410) 485-8422 — Website: https://belair-edison.org/
Serves Baltimore City and County. Foreclosure counseling available. Rooted in the Northeast Baltimore corridor, with deep experience serving homeowners in Belair-Edison, Gardenville, and surrounding communities.
Druid Heights Community Development Corporation
2140 McCulloh Street, Baltimore, MD 21217. Phone: (410) 523-1350
Focused on West Baltimore neighborhoods including Druid Heights, Upton, and Madison Park — areas where homeownership preservation has been central to community stabilization efforts.
Garwyn Oaks Northwest Housing Resource Center
2300 Garrison Boulevard, Suite 140, Baltimore, MD 21216. Phone: (410) 947-0084 — Website: https://go-northwesthrc.org/
Serves Baltimore City and County. Foreclosure as well as other homeowner counseling available. Specializes in the Garwyn Oaks, Forest Park, and Liberty Heights neighborhoods of northwest Baltimore.
Harbel Housing Partnership
5807 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214. Phone: (410) 444-9152 — Website: https://harbel.org/.
Serves the Harford Road corridor and surrounding Northeast Baltimore communities, with a long track record in homeownership counseling for working-class homeowners.
Latino Economic Development Corporation
Phone: (202) 540-7401 — Website: ledcmetro.org
Serves Baltimore City and Prince George's County. Foreclosure counseling available. Unique service: LEDC is one of very few HUD agencies in Maryland providing dedicated services to Spanish-speaking and immigrant homeowners — counselors are fluent in the specific financial and documentation challenges that community faces.
Southeast Community Development Corporation
3700 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224. Phone: (410) 342-3234 — Website: southeastcdc.org
Serves Baltimore City and County. Foreclosure prevention information on buying a home and other counseling is available. Anchored in Southeast Baltimore's Greektown, Highlandtown, and Canton neighborhoods — communities that have seen significant homeownership transitions over the past two decades.
Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore
1501 Guilford Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21202. Phone: (410) 327-1200 — Website: nhsbaltimore.org
Note: Provides pre-purchase counseling and homebuyer education.
Baltimore County
Diversified Housing Development Inc.
Phone: (410) 496-1214
Serves Baltimore County. Foreclosure counseling, including free or low-cost advice, is available. For Baltimore City and County, the agencies listed under Baltimore City — Belair-Edison, CHAI, Druid Heights, Garwyn Oaks, and Southeast CDC — also serve Baltimore County.
Suburban DC — Montgomery and Prince George's Counties
The DC suburbs contain Maryland's most expensive housing markets and some of its most economically diverse communities. Prince George's County has one of the largest concentrations of Black homeowners of any county in the country, and the agencies here reflect that demographic reality.
HomeFree-USA (serves Charles, Harford, and Prince George's Counties)
6200 Baltimore Avenue, Riverdale, MD 20737. Phone: (855) 493-4002 — Website: https://homefreeusa.org/.
Unique service: Founded specifically to close the homeownership gap for borrowers of color, HomeFree-USA is a HUD-approved national intermediary with strong roots in Prince George's County. Their foreclosure prevention counselors have specific experience navigating servicer communication on behalf of homeowners who have historically faced barriers in that process.
Housing Initiative Partnership (HIP)
Phone: (301) 916-5946 (Montgomery County) | (301) 699-6262 (Prince George's/Hyattsville). Website: https://hiphomes.org/
Serves Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. Foreclosure counseling available. Unique service: HIP operates as both a HUD counseling agency and a direct affordable housing developer, giving their counselors current, practical knowledge of local housing inventory and homeownership programs that purely advisory agencies may lack.
Sowing Empowerment and Economic Development (SEED)
6201 Riverdale Road, Suite 200, Riverdale, MD 20737. Phone: (301) 458-9808 — Website: https://seedinc.org/
Serves Prince George's County.
Latino Economic Development Corporation (also serves Prince George's County)
See Baltimore City listing above.
Housing Options & Planning Enterprises (HOPE) (statewide, based in Prince George's)
6188 Oxon Hill Road, Suite 700, Oxon Hill, MD 20745. Phone: (301) 567-3330
Statewide. Foreclosure counseling and information on mortgage help is available. One of Maryland's designated statewide providers, meaning they take clients from any county regardless of local agency availability.
Anne Arundel County and Harford County
Anne Arundel County Community Action Agency
251 West Street, Annapolis, MD 21401. Phone: (410) 626-1900
County-based community action agency serving the full range of Anne Arundel County municipalities from Annapolis to Glen Burnie.
Arundel Community Development Service (ACDS)
2666 Riva Road, Suite 210, Annapolis, MD 21401. Phone: (410) 222-7600
Unique service: ACDS administers several Anne Arundel County-specific homeownership programs including down payment assistance, making them a particularly useful contact for homeowners who may also be eligible for local loan programs to resolve delinquency.
Harford County Office of Community and Economic Development
15 South Main Street, Suite 106, Bel Air, MD 21014. Phone: (410) 638-3045
The county's official housing resource office, with counselors who have direct knowledge of Harford County-specific programs and resources.
HomeFree-USA also serves Harford County — see the Suburban DC section above.
Howard County
Making Change Center
Phone: (443) 518-7647 — Website: makingchangecenter.org
They offer pre-purchase counseling and financial education only.
Frederick County
Frederick Housing and Human Services
100 South Market Street, Frederick, MD 21701. Phone: (301) 600-1506 — Website: cityoffrederick.com
Operated through the City of Frederick, the primary local HUD resource for the county.
Southern Maryland — Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's Counties
Southern Maryland Tri-County Community Action Committee
8383 Old Leonardtown Road, Hughesville, MD 20637. Phone: (301) 274-4474 — Website: https://smtccac.org/.
Serves Calvert, Charles, Carroll, and St. Mary's Counties — a largely rural service area with few other housing counseling options. HomeFree-USA also covers Charles County.
Eastern Shore
Eight of Maryland's nine Eastern Shore counties are served primarily by three agencies — Shore Up!, Salisbury Neighborhood Housing Service, and Telamon — along with Maryland Rural Development Corporation, which covers the upper shore. The Eastern Shore's housing market is a mix of agricultural communities, watermen's towns, and coastal areas with seasonal price pressures.
Shore Up! Inc.
520 Snow Hill Road, Salisbury, MD 21804. Phone: (410) 749-1142 — Website: https://shoreup.org/.
Serves Queen Anne's, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties. Free or low-cost foreclosure counseling available. Shore Up! is the Eastern Shore's largest Community Action Agency and one of the most comprehensive social service organizations on the lower shore, integrating housing counseling with energy assistance, food programs, and workforce support.
Salisbury Neighborhood Housing Service
400 Snow Hill Road, Salisbury, MD 21804. Phone: (410) 543-4626
Serves Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties. Focused specifically on housing counseling and homeownership in the lower Eastern Shore, with in-depth knowledge of the Salisbury-area housing market.
Telamon Corporation — Salisbury Branch
917 Mt. Hermon Road, Suite 2, Salisbury, MD 21804. Phone: (443) 366-3594
Serves Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties. Access mortgage and foreclosure counseling. Telamon serves a predominantly agricultural and rural workforce population, with particular experience in USDA-backed rural housing loans common throughout the shore.
Maryland Rural Development Corporation (MRDC)
Phone: (410) 778-1100 — Website: https://mrdc.net
Serves Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, and Queen Anne's Counties.
Unique service: MRDC covers the upper and mid-shore counties where no other local agency operates — the go-to resource for homeowners in Caroline, Kent, and Queen Anne's Counties who need direct in-region assistance.
Cecil County Housing Agency
200 Chesapeake Boulevard, Suite 1800, Elkton, MD 21921 Phone: (410) 996-5245 — Website: https://www.ccgov.org/.
Serves Cecil County.
Habitat for Humanity Choptank
Phone: (410) 476-3204
Serves Dorchester and Talbot Counties. Does not currently offer foreclosure counseling — provides pre-purchase counseling and homebuyer education only.
Statewide Providers
These agencies serve clients from any Maryland county and are the primary resource for counties without a local HUD agency, including Carroll, Garrett, and Washington Counties.
Centro de Apoyo Familiar (CAF)
6801 Kenilworth Avenue, Suite 201, Riverdale, MD 20737. Phone: (301) 328-3292
CAF serves Maryland's Spanish-speaking and immigrant communities exclusively, with bilingual counselors who understand the documentation, remittance history, and credit-building challenges that are common for non-citizen homeowners navigating loss mitigation.
Housing Options & Planning Enterprises (HOPE)
6188 Oxon Hill Road, Suite 700, Oxon Hill, MD 20745. Phone: (301) 567-3330 — Website: https://hopefinancial.org/.
Money Management International (MMI)
Phone: (866) 889-9347 — Website: https://www.moneymanagement.org/.
MMI provides housing counseling by phone and online statewide, alongside credit counseling and debt management services.
St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center
321 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. Phone: (410) 366-8550
Serves Baltimore City and takes clients statewide. Unique service: St. Ambrose provides comprehensive housing counseling alongside direct financial assistance and legal referrals for distressed homeowners — one of the most full-service agencies in the state for homeowners in crisis.
Another full DHCD list with current contact details is at https://dhcd.maryland.gov/Residents/Pages/HOPE/CounselorsList.aspx. Or try the HUD's national locator by zip code: hud.gov/findacounselor or call (800) 569-4287
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