Power House

Brian Montgomery was confirmed as FHA commissioner in May by a vote in the Senate of 74 to 23. But this wasn’t his first trip to the HUD c-suite, this is his second run leading the FHA and he’s been serving the public sector in several roles for quite some time.Still, it’s a far cry from back when he thought he’d become a geologist, before housing “got into [his] blood,” as he tells HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney in our latest, exclusive podcast series: 6 Questions for 6 HUD Executives.What’s the biggest challenge facing the FHA today? Access to tech solutions, he explains, which is not surprising as some HUD systems are nearing 40 years of use. So what’s the solution, here? It’s a big one, Montgomery explains.All that and more, please listen and enjoy.Tune in on Monday, Oct. 15 for our fourth episode featuring Irving Dennis, HUD's chief financial officer.

Who brings housing hope to those deeply impacted by natural disasters? Who will help the 117,000 FHA-backed homeowners of Puerto Rico? In the second episode of exclusive podcast series, 6 Questions with 6 HUD Executives, Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney speaks with HUD Deputy Secretary Pamela Hughes Patenaude about disaster recovery, the impact of the opioid epidemic and the interconnected nature of the nation's housing policy.[Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com]

Welcome to the inaugural episode of HousingWire's new, exclusive podcast, 6 Questions with 6 HUD Executives. In this episode, Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney interviews Secretary Ben Carson about goals, motivations, the state of affordable housing and more.[Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com]

In this edition of In The Winner's Circle, Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney sits down with Ben Miller, SimpleNexus president and COO. SimpleNexus recently secured a multimillion dollar investment and Miller discusses how that money is fueling the expansion efforts at the firm.[Music by http://purple-planet.com]

In this edition of In The Winner's Circle, Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney sits down with Bob Brandt, VP of Marketing and Strategic Alliances at Optimal Blue. In this episode, Brandt discusses the three layers of analytics need for mortgage firms to be successful, both in mortgage lending and mortgage investing.[Music by http://purple-planet.com]

In the final installment of the Regtech Report, a podcast series sponsored by ComplianceEase, HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney talks with the CEO of LoanLogics, Brian Fitzpatrick, on the next wave of significant mortgage disruption: regtech. Fitzpatrick outlines the roadblocks facing the full end-to-end implementation of the digital mortgage. According to Fitzpatrick, regtech can help us get there in ways that "traditional fintech has failed."[Music by http://purple-planet.com]

In the fourth episode of the Regtech Report, Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney speaks with Chuck Cross, SVP at Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Cross explains how state regulators are building a tech-based system for compliance in the financial services sector and that tech implementation is a win-win.[Music by http://purple-planet.com]

September marks the first official retirement days of two mortgage lending titans. In an exclusive interview with Jacob Gaffney, David Stevens, former head of the Mortgage Bankers Association, and Brad Blackwell, former EVP of housing policy and homeownership growth strategies at Wells Fargo Home Lending, reflect on their careers, friendship and where they think the industry is headed.[Music by http://purple-planet.com]

For the third installment of the Regtech Report, a five-part podcast series sponsored by ComplianceEase, HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney chats with Debbie Hoffman, the founder and CEO of Symmetry Blockchain Advisors, about how regtech and blockchain fit in the mortgage finance space together.[Music by http://purple-planet.com]

For episode #2 of HousingWire’s Regtech Report, Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney is joined by Jason Roth, co-founder and chief technology officer of ComplianceEase, which is also our sponsor. During the conversation, Roth explains common defects and errors in mortgage lending that are now handled by humans that will eventually be automated. He also touches on regulators reach on regtech implementation.[Music by http://purple-planet.com]

While regtech is a relatively new concept in the mortgage industry, it has already gained a great deal of traction in other parts of banking and financial services. Craig Focardi, a senior banking analyst at Celent, talks with HousingWire about what makes regtech different from mortgage tech and how you shouldn't be afraid to make the leap into adopting new technologies.[Music by http://purple-planet.com]

In this episode of In The Winner's Circle, HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney sits down with Mat Ishbia, CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. In a fast-paced and energetic discussion, Mat explains why "100% of our focus is on mortgage brokers," what is next for the company, and the VA lending headache some lenders are experiencing.

At the Mortgage Bankers Association Secondary conference in New York City, I sat down with Freddie Mac to discuss the latest trends in the secondary market. To put it simply – times are tough for lenders as they face increased seasonality changes and fierce competition.

In the newest episode of "The Winner's Circle", Casey Crawford, the CEO of Movement Mortgage, reflects on his childhood, NFL career and how he builds morale at Movement. But games and sports no longer provide his strongest passions. In fact, he believes minorities need to be encouraged to buy homes much more than they are today. "The low rate of black homeownership is a problem," he says. Here’s what he is doing to fix it.

In this episode of In the Winner’s Circle, Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney talks with Kevin Dahlstrom, the chief innovation and marketing officer at Mr. Cooper, about the lending and servicing giant’s new app featuring artificial intelligence, how AI can save customers more than $500 a month, and what it was like to spearhead the company’s rebranding effort.

Speaking to HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney on his podcast series In The Winner’s Circle, the CEO of data aggregator Finicity, Steve Smith gave some advice to mortgage lenders who wish to stay competitive. Calling the role of the digital mortgage as in the “early adoption” phase of mortgage lending, Smith said: “Lenders need to adopt a digital-or-bust mentality” in an industry that is “ripe for new solutions.” Finicity is making significant inroads into the mortgage lending space. The company recently announced integrations with BeSmartee's digital lending platform, MortgageHippo's digital lending platform and Ellie Mae’s Encompass platform. They also announced a partnership with Advanced Data where Finicity asset reports are included as part of Advanced Data’s suite of fraud prevention and enhanced verification tools for mortgage lending. Smith talks about this and also elaborates on the importance of customer-data protection, how lenders use tech to save valuable time and the early role blockchain technology is also playing in the industry. Listen and enjoy!

This week, HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney is joined by Reporter Kelsey Ramírez and Online Editor Caroline Basile to discuss the CFPB's final amendment to TRID's Know Before You Owe rule, disappointing GDP results, mortgage rates, and Freddie Mac's expansion of its 3% down program.

In this latest episode, Jacob speaks to David Schroeder, SVP of Quicken Loans Mortgage Services. Here, David breaks down potential homeowners into 3 different types of buckets and describes the methods to get them to close, quickly and efficiently. David also talks about opportunities for mortgage brokers and credit unions to work with Quicken Loans Mortgage Services and the growth of its broker channel. He also touches on tech advances in mortgage lending and what that means for Quicken’s customers and their expectations of service.

Executive Vice President Rick Sharga is back at Carrington Mortgage Services. Here he joins Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney for the podcast series In The Winner's Circle, which focuses on the people who crush it daily in the mortgage finance space. Sharga explains why the new nonprime is nothing like the old subprime and how they plan to reach millions of Millennials and turn them into homeowners. Plus, Sharga shares his thoughts on automation in the real estate and mortgage lending spaces.Will Realtors one day be replaced by robots? What about at Carrington, are there tech advances that Rick can share? Get those answers and more in the latest In The Winner's Circle podcast.

In the Winner’s Circle is a new podcast series from HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney. Gaffney chats with executives about the innovations that are leading to successes in their businesses and within the mortgage industry. In this first episode, Gaffney talks with Kate Adamson, head of mortgage at Plaid, a San Francisco-based fintech provider that has set its sights on the mortgage space.