203k licensed contractors

[Marie Edwards]

Hello BP Community: Need your help! I can't find a straight answer on whether or not we NEED a 203k licensed contractor when using the 203k loan. My boyfriend has formed good relationships with contractors in our area through his BNI groups and we'd like to use one of them. If the contractor knows our situation and is willing to work with this type of loan, can we still use them? We have to get a HUD consultant anyway, so would they be able to also help facilitate the process? Anyone have experience with this that they are willing to share? Thank you, Marie