Industry Leaders Meet in D.C.

This week, The Five Star Institute hosted several meetings of mortgage industry leaders and government officials in Washington D.C., where leaders in both servicing and government engage in honest, open dialogue about the industry’s most pressing issues and challenges.

The Five Star Government Forum on Wednesday as well as the National Mortgage Servicers Association (NMSA) member meeting on Thursday  aimed to improve growth in the industry. The NMSA is a nonpartisan organization driven by top level executives and leaders to effect progress and change on the key challenges that face the mortgage servicing industry.

Five Star President and CEO Ed Delgado met with various leaders, policy makers, and agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to discuss the critical issues impacting the mortgage servicing industry.

“Clearly, there is much to be done in terms of resolving conflicts in policy and regulation that have hampered a full and complete recovery to the housing market,” said Delgado.

At the NMSA meeting, Delgado and the NMSA met with CFPB Director Richard Cordray. During the meeting, the director spoke on how to foster a more positive relationship between the industry and the Bureau.

“We had a productive meeting with Director Cordray and believe we have established the groundwork for broader collaboration with the CFPB on behalf of banks and non-banks,” said Delgado.

Thursday’s NMSA meeting comes on the heels of Wednesday’s Government Forum, where Delgado spoke with top industry professionals and their peers, including Freddie Mac’s EVP of Single-Family Business David Lowman, Vice Chairman of WL Ross & Co. LLC James B. Lockhart III, and had previously worked under Wilbur Ross, the 39^th United States Secretary of Commerce under Donald Trump. Attendees listened to top-level speakers and participated in panel discussions on the economy and the future of the market.

During the Forum, Collingwood Group Chairman Tim Rood spoke and led discussions on the state of the government and its effect on the industry.

“The Trump administration has its work cut out for it. While the Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, never before has a majority felt so unpredictable,” Rood said. “You don’t have to look much further than the recent attempt at rolling back Obamacare to appreciate how tenuous the Republican majority in Congress truly is. Sustainable and affordable homeownership is a bipartisan issue and it’s clearly important to this administration.”