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This final rule follows HUD’s interim final rule. The interim rule extended the deadline by which participating agencies and counselors must comply with certification requirements in HUD’s Housing Counseling Program from August 1, 2020 to August 1, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 national emergency, which has caused the shutdown of the testing centers where housing counselors take the certification examination, a large number of housing counselors would have been unable to get certified by the end of the grace period, resulting in a loss of Federal funding for some HUD-approved housing counseling agencies and loss of the ability to provide counseling that is required or provided in numerous HUD programs. Therefore, HUD published an interim rule amending the time period in which to become certified to a new deadline of August 1, 2021. This rule makes the interim rule a final rule, without change.