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Gate House Vice Chairman Hunter Kurtz joined @ConsultQuadel President and @Forbes_Books contributor Katie Goar for her podcast series “Change Makers with Katie Goar, Finding the right solutions for the affordable housing community” to share his insights on affordable housing through the lens of his experience in public housing and community development. Based on his experience as former HUD Public & Indian Housing Assistant Secretary, his career serving in other significant roles at HUD and Michigan state government in Detroit, and his current work with Gate House Strategies, in Part 1 of the series, Hunter discusses his career path in affordable housing, specific challenges and solutions to solving current supply constraints in affordable housing including through programs like “Faircloth to RAD” (the Rental Assistance Demonstration program), the importance of graduating renters on public assistance into market rate units, combatting veteran homelessness through programs like the HUD-VASH program, and what it will take generally to improve the shortage of affordable housing in America.
In Part 2 of the series, Hunter discusses the work of Gate House’s new subsidiary, Gate House Digital, including our colleague Dain Ehring’s perspective on the emergence of Artificial Intelligence in mortgage lending, the receipt of the “Sammies Award” by his former HUD colleague’s for their mutual work preventing homelessness of foster youth aging out of the program, his work with public housing authorities and the success of PHAs during the height of the Covid pandemic, and being part of “the rebirth of a great American city,” Detroit, where he resides today.
In a recent piece published by DS News, Gate House Digital CEO/President Dain Ehring discusses the role of Artificail Intelligence (AI) in mortgage lending decisions.
Amidst significant momentum for the technology, Dain shares his insights on its increased usage within the mortgage market and opines that the “genie is out of the bottle.” Rather than looking backward, he argues it is time to push forward, albeit deliberately, in the name of expanding credit to qualified unbanked applicants, fair lending, and common sense.
While acknowledging a need for sound guardrails, Ehring strikes a cautious note against government’s preference for ambiguity in the guidance, a trend that stifles innovation and product development in the private sector, and often leads to capitulation to the legal risks of their ingenuity, and ultimately, producing “increased fees, fewer services, and diminished access to affordable credit for aspiring homeowners.”
“Without a thorough and prudent understanding of their appropriate role for the agencies, they could produce harmful unintended consequences,” Dain writes. “…Washington, D.C., must be careful not to wield a rusty axe, when a surgeon’s knife is more warranted.”
Dain warns that our oversight agencies need “not become a drag on the very thing most of our policymakers and government leaders want: mortgage financing available to families in need of affordable, quality housing, thereby creating more equitable homeownership.”
In a note of optimism for AI’s future in mortgage lending, Dain explains that “artificial neural networks” are helping to overcome the objections of its skeptics and critics. Can AI be “be free of bias” as the top regulator suggests, Dain asks: “Compared to what?”
Washington, DC: Gate House Strategies, LLC is pleased to celebrate one year as a firm. Launched May 5, 2021, the Gate House partners had high expectations there was a need for the experience and expertise the Gate House team could provide both as a trusted advisor in the housing market and as a driver of change in the industry to which our professionals have dedicated their careers. We saw an opportunity and opening to provide guidance as well as services that would add tremendous value to our clients’ businesses.
“We are tremendously proud of the work we are doing with our clients and business partners, and we are extremely excited about the future and the many possibilities for us to grow together,” said Brian Montgomery, Chairman of the firm. “For every new door that we walked through, three more have opened. We are seizing upon every opportunity to leverage our knowledge and experience to help others and to develop into one of the leading advisors and service providers in the industry,” Montgomery added.
“Gate House Strategies continues to grow, we continue to unlock opportunities that we could not have imagined just one year ago,” added Hunter Kurtz, Vice Chairman of the firm. “We are looking forward to driving our clients and Gate House to new levels in the coming year.”
In one year, Gate House has been deeply involved in solving for many of the most complex challenges facing the mortgage market today and at all levels and in all segments of the loan lifecycle. Working with mortgage originators, servicers, developers, specialized default managers, field services companies, and many of the most innovative technology companies in this industry, Gate House is headlong into helping to transform the marketplace and advise firms who continue to assist struggling borrowers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gate House is heavily engaged in the end-to-end digital transformation within the mortgage industry, on both the transactional side of the single and multifamily sectors as well as many related ancillary services and aspects of the market. We are pleased to announce the formation of Gate House Digital as we enter our second year. A subsidiary of Gate House Strategies LLC, Gate House Digital will provide tremendous focus to prop-tech and fin-tech, a growing and sought-after area of Gate House’s business expertise. Gate House Digital will be led by our colleague Dain Ehring, a veteran of Silicon Valley and pioneer in the digital mortgage space.
“I am honored and excited to lead Gate House’s effort to impact the digital revolution taking place within today’s housing and mortgage market,” Ehring said. “There is tremendous value that our team can bring to the process and to the innovators who will take the industry to a new level from end-to-end, and in many aspects of the market that support real estate finance.” et
“Gate House Strategies continues to grow, we continue to unlock opportunities that we could not have imagined just one year ago,” added Hunter Kurtz, Vice Chairman of the firm. “We are looking forward to driving our clients and Gate House to new levels in the coming year.”
In one year, Gate House has been deeply involved in solving for many of the most complex challenges facing the mortgage market today and at all levels and in all segments of the loan lifecycle. Working with mortgage originators, servicers, developers, specialized default managers, field services companies, and many of the most innovative technology companies in this industry, Gate House is headlong into helping to transform the marketplace and advise firms who continue to assist struggling borrowers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gate House is heavily engaged in the end-to-end digital transformation within the mortgage industry, on both the transactional side of the single and multifamily sectors as well as many related ancillary services and aspects of the market. We are pleased to announce the formation of Gate House Digital as we enter our second year. A subsidiary of Gate House Strategies LLC, Gate House Digital will provide tremendous focus to prop-tech and fin-tech, a growing and sought-after area of Gate House’s business expertise. Gate House Digital will be led by our colleague Dain Ehring, a veteran of Silicon Valley and pioneer in the digital mortgage space.