Learning from the Past to Avoid New Mistakes.(Credit Counselor)

Byline: Amilda Dymi

Recently many conversations around me have been about learning from past housing mistakes, figuring out what lessons from the crisis to embrace. One simple word to wrap it all up is "learn." Start early and keep it up over the years.

In Pittsburgh, Dollar Bank recently celebrated the 10th annual "Mortgages for Mothers" workshop. The bank's VP for community development Mona Generett has seen the benefits of the program over the years. "There are no shortcuts when it comes to buying a home," she said.

"For the past 10 years we have been holding these free workshops to teach would-be borrowers the right way to reach homeownership. At our workshop we explain to potential borrowers the complexities of the mortgage process and help them design a plan to buy a house within their means." The workshop usually attracts over 300 female heads of households.

In April, the Department of Housing and Urban Development celebrated "Fair Housing Month" with a national education project intended for students from the fifth to eighth grades. Its aim is to give teachers, parents and their children a basic understanding of the Fair Housing Act. HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity and its partners would visit schools across the country to instruct students about their fair housing rights. Bryan Greene, HUD's general deputy assistant secretary for FHEO, called it crucial that future generations of renters, homebuyers, landlords, Realtors and lenders know about the Fair Housing Act and know what to do when faced with housing discrimination.

Discrimination is just one potential risk that makes people interested in counseling.

According to Suzanne Boas, president of CCCS of Greater Atlanta, demand for our counseling services is rising significantly as people try to avoid foreclosure and bankruptcy, as well as cope with rising food and other costs.