In his first address to members as the Mortgage Bankers Association chairman, CMG Financial President and CEO Chris George made one thing clear about the association’s policy toward reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The push would be inclusive.
“We are going to talk and work through the system until we get our agencies out of conservatorship. When I say our, I mean it,” he told MBA convention attendees in prepared remarks at the annual show in Washington D.C. “These are American institutions owned by the American taxpayer, and as such unless we become obsessed with getting them back on solid footing we will be in limbo for another 10 years.”
By not controlling the narrative, he said, customers will suffer.
“When has lack of choice ever been good for the consumer?” he asked. “Yes, we have to protect the taxpayer and have made many changes that have done just that over the last 10 years. We have to see this though however, for the sake of the next generation of homeowners. Our children, our grandchildren. Your job? Help me when we call.”
George discussed his entry into the mortgage profession at the age of 19, and what keeps him working for the thousands who make a career in the mortgage industry.
“I continue to keep coming back to one word that describes the hundreds of thousands of folks who call this industry their career. When you think about your home, it really serves as the back drop to almost every major event in yours and your families’ lives,” he said. “Some folks feel such a connection to their home that it actually becomes part of their family and is handed down from one generation to another. We get to step into our customer worlds while they contemplate making one of the most important decisions of their life. It is what has drawn me to serve within the California MBA and the national MBA.”
Technology and innovation will be priorities in George’s year as chairman, he said, following Colonial Savings President Dave Motley, a speaker at the 2017 National Settlement Services Summit.
“First, and rightfully so, we have been very focused on defending and re-assembling our industry after the housing crisis,” George told MBA convention attendees. “We had to be in a defensive mode. Of course, we still have work to do refining the rules of our industry, things like LO comp and QM upgrades.
“We will continue to do that. However, we have to stop exclusively looking in the rearview mirror and to start looking out the windshield as to the innovation our industry is in dire need of,” he added.
The next generation of homebuyers have different desires and expectations in the marketplace, he said.
“The future homebuyers of today were teenagers when the housing market crashed. Their expectation is not to have their grandparent’s mortgage process. They expect us to be relevant like the rest of the technologies that they are using on a daily basis,” George said. “The loans we are making today are better documented, better disclosed, better appraised, and better understood than any other time in the 36 years I have been in this industry.”
Still, the new chairman raised the caution that underserved markets and industry diversity are areas which need attention and resources to address today.
“We can’t lose sight of our overall mission – serving low to moderate and underserved markets. It is time we deliver on the promise that we have been talking about for decades; technology will bring to our industry a lower cost to produce thereby making credit more affordable to everyone, regardless of the color of your skin or where you are looking to live,” George said. “Not reckless lending with no regard to good credit standards. No … thoughtful lending practices that are reflective of the diverse lending markets we serve.
“If we want to better serve a growing and more diverse customer base, then we need a more diverse employee base,” he added. “There is no such thing as accidental diversity. To be diverse is to be deliberately diverse. Intentionally inclusive. We have made progress here on the diversity side, yet there is more work to be done, especially on the inclusion side.”