CHIP was organized as a public/private partnership in 1994. Representatives of local lenders, Realtors, municipalities, public housing authorities, and nonprofit organizations formed the CHIP Board of Directors and cooperatively developed the CHIP program.

CHIP's outreach efforts are proactive, recognizing that many potential homebuyers are not reached by traditional forms of marketing by housing and credit professionals. CHIP therefore schedules outreach seminars and distributes printed information at convenient neighborhood locations.

CHIP's resources consist of:

• the expertise and commitment of its volunteer Board members.
• the talents of its class instructors.
• the relationship it has nurtured between the private and public housing resources represented in the organization.
• the trust and confidence it has built with business and government.
• the relationship it has nurtured at the neighborhood level.

CHIP offers its homebuyer education program either through a series of classroom sessions or through an on-line counseling program.

CHIP Classroom Program

CHIP's classroom education program follows the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) model. It consists of approximately 9 hours of instruction and covers topics such as Budgeting, Credit, Home Selection, Home Financing, Caring For Your Home, and Predatory Lending and Post-Closing. CHIP utilizes volunteer instructors who are local housing and credit professionals.

CHIP On-Line Program

CHIP offers an on-line homebuyer education program at a cost of $75.00.  For information on this program, please refer to the "Online Counseling" page on this web site.

*CHIP is a non-profit West Virignia Corporation that is Tax-exempt under Section 501c(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

For more information about CHIP, you may e-mail your questions to chip@swave.net.