Housing

Executives and board members in financial services are increasingly held accountable for the actions of their firms. Among their many responsibilities, they are required in particular to be engaged in their company’s efforts to adhere to the letter and spirit of laws that seek to ensure consumer protection.

As the regulatory landscape facing executives in the financial services industry has grown increasingly complex – and integral to their enterprises and their firms’ reputations – so too has the need to demonstrate and document the actions taken by their firms.

Gate House Chairman and Partner Brian Montgomery recently outlined the challenges facing executives in a piece for HousingWire. As he argued, even with the best of intentions, there are often inconsistencies and conflicting interpretations of what firms need or ought to do — and what executives need or ought to in order to stay apprised of their firm’s efforts.  One thing we know it that it will require vigilance and a lot of hard work to get it right.

Recognizing the important need in C-suites and executive board rooms, Gate House Strategies has launched a new subsidiary, Gate House Compliance, LLC, to provide fair lending and compliance management services. The firm, comprised of veterans in financial services and specialists in fair lending and consumer protection law and regulation (and support from CrossCheck Compliance’s deep bench of experts), will advise and support compliance regimes across multiple asset classes, including mortgage, student loan, credit card, and other secured and unsecured credit products.

The addition of Gate House Compliance is a timely and critical expansion of the firm’s ability to serve the growing needs of the industry. After careful examination, clients can choose services that complement their current compliance program, or on a subscription basis, they may utilize Gate House Compliance 365, a comprehensive system of ongoing support of fundamental services and a coordinated, dynamic approach to the management of regulatory risk.

The important policy goals our country require executives to be engaged. They need experience, perspective, and insight in order to do what is right and, and – when the path is made unclear by conflicting policies or interpretations – what is prudent for business.

The goal for Gate House Compliance is to put executives and firms ahead of the curve and ahead of the scrutiny that characterizes the current environment and road ahead. Vigilance and a team of experts with a steady hand will be a must.

Gate House Partner and Chairman Brian Montgomery shared his perspective on the regulatory landscape facing executives in the financial service industry — the need to act responsibly with respect to fair lending laws and to understand the complexity of it all – in a piece for Housing Wire.

“[M]ultiple agencies pursuing the same general goals sometimes creates inconsistencies or conflicting interpretations of policy, making it difficult for financial institutions to navigate uncharted waters, even with the best of intentions.” Montgomery wrote.

Montgomery, who served as Deputy Secretary of HUD and FHA Commissioner twice, emphasized the risks, particularly in the areas of lending and loan servicing: “Recent regulatory actions have targeted marketing practices, credit allocation and product offerings,” he said, with top executives more often being held accountable for their “company policies, procedures, operations, and culture.”

With risk to the firm not only financially but reputationally, the need to “identify gaps that may exist in their knowledge and experience and structure management teams accordingly” is paramount if they are to demonstrate to overseers that they possess a comprehensive approach to their compliance obligations.

Private industry participants have their work cut out for them as they go about the critical work of upholding the letter and spirit of our country’s fair lending laws, Montgomery said. Both private firms and government must work together at times, with private industry willing to serve as partners to government and the government for their part providing “transparency, open dialogue and technology improvements” to make our system work.

Few issues are more salient to the challenges our country faces today than the shortage of decent, safe, affordable housing.

As became abundantly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, our homes are the foundation of much of our lives, they have a profound effect on our health and well-being, and impact our education and productivity, as well as our ability to take advantage of opportunities in a free country.

As the coronavirus forced Americans to use their homes as safe havens, offices, and classrooms, it also put increased pressure on public and private housing markets that were already undersupplied and putting greater numbers of vulnerable citizens at risk.

And as the nation focuses on fairness and equity throughout our society and economy, it is evident that housing is integral to that fabric of American life, and, ultimately, the belief that everyone has a stake in its success.

Both in response to COVID-19 and in the Administration’s focus on infrastructure, we are seeing an unprecedented increase in funding for affordable housing.

The latest round of COVID-19 funding included over $46 billion for rental assistance, funds that will help individuals and families either get back on their feet or simply maintain life without the stress of whether there will be a roof overhead.

There is another staggering $200 billion being proposed in Washington through increase in the budget and infrastructure.

All of this is presenting tremendous possibilities, providing potential new funding sources for communities, developers, and public housing authorities. The increase in the Capital Fund for public housing authorities, for example, presents both private public sector partners with enormous opportunities over the next few years to improve the current affordable housing stock and to expand it as well.

These opportunities are coupled with enormous challenges to get it right in order to make a lasting impact on the lives of millions of people. We are already hearing the frustrations with trying to deploy this kind of money in a short period of time. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission gave notice to the largest landlords this week that the rules and tenant rights will need to be followed.

We have new and more administrative hurdles to spending this funding quickly and wisely. Stakeholders are going to need assistance to ensure they are following the rules and deploying the funds in an effective and efficient manner, a manner that not only helps the people intended to be helped but also ensure funds are spent in a timely fashion.

The timing of deploying funds will determine the ability of individuals, families, and communities to more fully recover and achieve goals that will impact their lives for many years.

-Hunter Kurtz, Vice Chairman and Founding Partner, Gate House Strategies