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Real Estate Executive To Head FHA

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The Washington Post

Published: March 23, 2009

WASHINGTON - David Stevens, president of the Long & Foster Companies Inc. real estate firm, is expected to be selected today to run the Federal Housing Administration.

Though the Obama administration declined to confirm the appointment Sunday, sources said Stevens has been undergoing the required background checks. These sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not have the administration's permission to speak publicly.

If confirmed by Congress, Stevens would be the only FHA commissioner in recent years with a strong background in single-family home mortgages.

After more than two decades in the financial services industry, Stevens has overseen every aspect of home financing, from originating mortgages to selling them on the secondary market. Stevens, 52, would be joining the FHA at a time when the agency has been thrust into a high-profile role.

Once the subprime industry vanished, the FHA volume of home mortgages exploded. In the fourth quarter of last year, the agency insured about 30 percent of all new mortgages, compared with about 2 percent three years ago. Since then, policymakers have questioned whether the FHA has the personnel and technology to handle the workload.

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