FHA Chief Stevens to Head Mortgage Bankers Group
David Stevens, who announced his resignation as FHA commissioner last week, will take over as president and CEO of Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association, the trade group announced. Stevens, who was appointed to FHA in mid-2009 and helped design the Obama administration’s response to the mortgage crisis, will step down at the end of this month. He will replace John Courson at MBA.

“David Stevens is uniquely qualified to lead the association in its next chapter,” says Michael Berman, MBA chairman. “Most recently he has had a tremendous impact at FHA, as that program faced its own unprecedented challenges. He also brings a wealth of industry experience in mortgage lending that will help him further build MBA’s position as the industry’s leading voice in advocacy, communications, education and research.”

Prior to being confirmed at HUD, Stevens had been president and chief operating officer of real estate firm Long and Foster Companies. He started his professional career at the World Savings Bank, where he began as a loan officer. He later served briefly as executive vice president at Wells Fargo, and spent seven years as senior vice president at Freddie Mac, where he created and ran the small lender channel.

Stevens told news outlets that he wants to remind policy makers that the goal of the organization, whose members have come under “broad brush” criticism for the mortgage crisis, remains fundamental to the country for its role in making home ownership possible. “It's important to restore balance," he says in a quote that appears in Wall Street Journal coverage of his announcement.

Stevens has spoken regularly with REALTORS® as FHA chief. His remarks often aimed at challenging lenders to close a “trust gap” that had opened up between them and consumers and lawmakers because of lending practices during the housing boom and the way they've handled foreclosures, short sales, loan modifications, and tightened underwriting standards for creditworthy borrowers since the mortgage crisis.

— Robert Freedman

For more on Stevens’ remarks to REALTORS®, search “Stevens” at the Speaking of Real Estate blog.