Housing Activist Named FHA Commissioner

The White House has announced another key appointee to a federal housing post. Julia Gordon has been named Assistant Secretary for Housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This position also serves as commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

Gordon is currently president of the National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST) which  works to provide local community-based programs an opportunity to acquire vacant, abandoned, and distressed properties to redevelop. The Trust has implemented the transfer of $1.5 billion in real estate to local organizations over the last 10 years, much of it "first look" properties from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's foreclosure inventories.

Gordon's name may be familiar to MND readers. We have frequently covered her remarks when she has testified before congressional committees on the secondary market, mortgage servicing, and FHA lending practices.

Prior to joining NCST, Gordon served as the Senior Director of Housing and Consumer Finance at the Center for American Progress (CAP) and managed the single-family policy team at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. She received her bachelor's degree in government from Harvard College and her J.D. from Harvard Law.

The White House also announced the appointment of Dave Uejio as Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD. Uejio has been serving as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since the current administration began.

Both appointments require Senate confirmation.