OriginationNews reports that two years after leaving affordable housing developer Bridge Housing Corporation to run the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) multi-family program, Carol Galante is operating the entire agency. After David Stevens left the FHA to head the Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA), Galante has become the acting commissioner. She now oversees FHA’s single-family program, is working on a program to sell government-backed foreclosed properties in bulk to investors to rent out, and a program to allow underwater borrowers to refinance at lower mortgage rates. “There are a lot of folks underwater who are still making their payments,” she adds. Galante is overhauling the reverse mortgage program to adapt to seniors’ needs of paying increasing property taxes and homeowners insurance. One of her goals is to make credit more accessible for new homeowners. “On the single-family side, FHA needs to be an important source of financing for underserved communities, and low-and moderate-income borrowers,” she says.
