This Op-Ed appeared in American Banker on December 17, 2015. By Scott Olson The Federal Housing Administration can count 2015 as another successful marker in its management of the post-crisis period. But looking ahead to 2016, the FHA should be dubious about calls for it to reduce its mortgage market footprint. FHA has continued to fulfill its mandate of insuring loans with an emphasis on families

Here’s how to do it CHLA shares plan for recapitalizing GSEs   This Op-Ed appeared in HousingWire on November 20, 2015. by Scott Olson   Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are back in the news. Administration officials recently said they have no plans to end the GSE Profit Sweep or recapitalize them. And Freddie Mac reported a $501 million loss, causing their reserves to drop to $1.3 billion. It is now seven

This Op-Ed appeared in American Banker on June 24, 2015. By Scott Olson Recent reports of nonbank mortgage lenders’ growing market share of government-backed loans have raised concerns among some policymakers and industry observers. Some critics argue that nonbank lenders are less capitalized than banks and that their loans to riskier borrowers could therefore pose a greater danger to the financial system in the event of a downturn. But

This letter appeared  in the “Letters to the Editor” of The Washington Post on January 20, 2015. by Scott Olson On behalf of the Community Home Lenders Association (CHLA), the first national association to call for lower FHA premiums, we write to respond to your editorial. The main beneficiaries of lower premiums are not “bankers and real estate agents” – but the 375,000 renters who