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Preserving Homeownership: Addressing the Foreclosure Issue
June 12, 2007
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Dallas Field Office

Foreclosure stats in Texas frequently make front-page news. The state currently has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. What do these unsettling reports mean for the real estate market, for the economy and for affected areas across the state? What can community leaders do to deal with the foreclosure fallout?

"Preserving Homeownership: Addressing the Foreclosure Issue," a one-day conference, featured discussions with economists and industry professionals on the impact of foreclosure on Texas. Lenders and community leaders also shared innovative strategies for foreclosure intervention.

When

Tuesday, June 12, 2007
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Where

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
2200 N. Pearl St.
Dallas, TX 75201

More Information

Soraya Anderson, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Phone: (214) 922-5377
e-mail

Agenda

7:30 a.m.	Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m.	Welcome
8:45 a.m.	Session 1: Panel—Foreclosure: Framing the Issue Trends, patterns and the socioeconomic impact of foreclosures in the region.
	James P. Gaines Research Economist, Real Estate Center, Texas A&M University, College Station Preserving Homeownership: Addressing the Foreclosure Issue
	Elizabeth Mueller Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin The Problem of Foreclosures in Texas: Results of a State Study
	Olivia Yu Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Texas at San Antonio The Neighborhood Foreclosure Problem amidst Rapid Housing Development in San Antonio, Texas
	Wenhua Di (Moderator) Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
10:15 a.m.	Break
10:30 a.m.	Session 2: Panel—Industry's Response Insight from the homeownership industry.
	Steve Horne Director, Servicing Risk Stategy, Fannie Mae, Dallas
	Josh Fuhrman Director of Counseling, Homeownership Preservation Foundation, Minneapolis
	Michael Derstine Pricing Group Manager, Republic Mortgage Insurance Co., Winston-Salem, N.C.
	Stephanie Christie Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Carlsbad, Calif. Helping Customers Succeed Financially
11:45 a.m.	Session 3: Consumer Behavior Survey Why do borrowers risk losing their homes rather than reaching out to lenders/servicers?
	Amy Emmatty Director of Market Research, Freddie Mac, McLean, Va. Foreclosure Avoidance Research
Noon	Luncheon Keynote Address:
	Brian D. Montgomery Federal Housing Commissioner and Assistant Secretary for Housing, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C.
1:15 p.m.	Breakout Sessions
	Breakout Session I Preforeclosure Intervention Strategies and Partnerships
	Jerry Durham Vice President, Homeownership Retention, Countrywide Home Loans, Plano, Texas Keys to Preserving Homeownership
	Sharon Lundstrom Deputy Director, National Servicing Center, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Oklahoma City Preforeclosure Intervention Strategies and Partnerships
	David Little Executive Vice President, Customer Relations, EMC Mortgage Corp., Lewisville, Texas EMC Mod Squad
	Breakout Session II Addressing Fraud and Postforeclosure Solutions
	William H. Brewster Director of Antifraud Initiatives, Fannie Mae, Dallas Resources to Help You Combat Mortgage Fraud Fannie Mae Mortgage Fraud Update 2007 Mortgage Fraud Update (presentation)
	Cheryl Travis-Crawford Director of Real Estate Sales, HomeSteps Unit of Freddie Mac, Carrollton, Texas Preserving Homeownership: Our Solutions
	Richard Pine Vice President, Enterprise Home Ownership Partners, Dallas What Is EHOP-Dallas?
2:45 p.m.	Break
3:00 p.m.	Bringing It All Together Highlights from the breakout sessions.
3:15 p.m.	NeighborWorks America Foreclosure Intervention Campaign A sneak preview of the new national Ad Council media campaign to reach families facing foreclosure.
	Marietta Rodriguez National Director of Homeownership Programs, NeighborWorks America, Washington, D.C.
3:30 p.m.	Closing Remarks
	Alfreda Norman Assistant Vice President and Community Affairs Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Speakers

William H. Brewster
Director of Antifraud Initiatives, Fannie Mae, Dallas
Brewster oversees a Dallas-based unit that conducts Fannie Mae’s mortgage fraud investigations, analyzing and reporting mortgage fraud incidents and partnering with industry and law enforcement on antifraud efforts. These efforts include education, information sharing and expert-witness testimony. Brewster has also served as a manager in Fannie Mae’s National Underwriting Center. Before joining Fannie Mae, Brewster was a vice president at Columbia National Inc. and its predecessor, PaineWebber Mortgage Finance Inc. He was also assistant director of government agency relations at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. Brewster holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the State University of New York at Albany.

Stephanie Christie
Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Carlsbad, Calif.
Christie has worked in the financial services industry for more than 20 years. She started her career as a mortgage sales representative working with real estate agents and builders. She joined Wells Fargo in May 1999 as a senior vice president responsible for home equity lending in Wells Fargo banks nationwide. Currently she heads the retail nonprime mortgage business. Before joining Wells Fargo, Christie worked for Home Savings of America and Citibank. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Graduate School of Bank Management.

Michael Derstine
Pricing Group Manager, Republic Mortgage Insurance Co., Winston-Salem, N.C.
As pricing group manager for Republic Mortgage Insurance Co., Derstine oversees modeling and research, mortgage valuation and actuarial analysis. These areas are responsible for metropolitan area housing research, mortgage behavioral modeling, and insurance valuation and pricing. Derstine has been with the company since 2002, focusing on valuation and modeling of credit risk. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Messiah College and an M.B.A from Wake Forest University.

Wenhua Di
Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
As an economist in the Dallas Fed’s Community Affairs division, Di researches housing, poverty and economic development. She is also a clinical assistant professor of economics at the University of Texas at Dallas. She has served as a consultant to the development and research group of the World Bank and a research assistant and teaching fellow at Harvard University. Di has a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences and a master’s degree in environmental planning and management from Peking University. She received a Ph.D. in public policy with a concentration in environmental economics from Harvard University.

Jerry Durham
Vice President, Homeownership Retention, Countrywide Home Loans, Plano, Texas
Durham’s responsibilities at Countrywide focus on preserving homeownership for Countrywide’s 8 million-plus borrowers. He also serves on the national advisory board of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling as well as the NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions. Before Durham joined Countrywide, he spent 17 years as a congressional administrator for two members of Congress. He oversaw field operations in Texas’ Third Congressional District and became a noted resource on social services, banking, taxation and community development. Durham received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Baylor University.

Amy Emmatty
Director of Market Research, Freddie Mac, McLean, Va.
During her seven-year tenure at Freddie Mac, Emmatty has implemented a number of research programs, including a new companywide customer satisfaction program, customer research panels and tools for multicultural research. Before joining Freddie Mac, Emmatty worked at several research suppliers, where she managed multiple Fortune 500 clients. She received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in applied demography from Georgetown University.

Josh Fuhrman
Director of Counseling, Homeownership Preservation Foundation, Minneapolis
Fuhrman joined the Homeownership Preservation Foundation as director of counseling earlier this year. He has worked in the credit and housing counseling industry for more than 12 years, assisting consumers in financial crisis. Fuhrman spent the past 10 years as director of counseling for Auriton Solutions, a national nonprofit crisis counseling agency and one of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation’s three original counseling partners. Fuhrman earned a B.A. in communications and philosophy from the University of Minnesota.

James P. Gaines
Research Economist, RealEstateCenter, TexasA&MUniversity, College Station
Gaines’ research at the Real Estate Center focuses primarily on housing and land development issues. Before coming to Texas A&M, Gaines spent 16 years providing real estate consulting services at KPMG and Arthur Andersen. He served as president of the Rice Center, an urban research center affiliated with Rice University in Houston, and taught real estate courses at the University of South Carolina and Kent State University. Gaines received B.B.A and M.A. degrees in real estate from the University of Georgia, where he also earned a Ph.D. in real estate and finance.

Steve Horne
Director, Servicing Risk Strategy, Fannie Mae, Dallas
Horne’s current responsibilities at Fannie Mae include loss mitigation, foreclosure, bankruptcy and servicer oversight. Before joining Fannie Mae, he was executive vice president at Resurgent Capital Services and Sherman Financial Group, responsible for the company’s loan-servicing business. Horne directed the creation and development of Resurgent’s Chapter 13 business line into the nation’s second-largest purchaser and servicer of bankrupt credit card debt. He also served as chief operating officer for Consupago, Sherman’s consumer finance affiliate in Mexico City. Horne holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and English from Emory University and a law degree from George Washington University.

David Little
Executive Vice President, Customer Relations, EMC Mortgage Corp., Lewisville, Texas
Little joined EMC’s senior management team as executive vice president of customer relations in February 2007. With more than 24 years of industry experience, he plays a senior role in managing a staff of approximately 600 employees in customer care and default management. Little also oversees the company’s second site in Irvine, Calif. Prior to joining EMC, Little served as vice president of default services at Household International/HSBC North America. He holds a B.S. degree in business administration from Ferris State University.

Sharon Lundstrom
Deputy Director, National Servicing Center, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Oklahoma City
The HUD National Servicing Center in Oklahoma City provides servicing and loss mitigation program services for the entire United States. Lundstrom joined the agency in 2000, bringing more than 25 years of direct experience in both the private and public sectors. Before joining HUD, Lundstrom spent 11 years with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as director of its Financial Servicing Center in Denver. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business and information systems management from the University of Phoenix.

Brian D. Montgomery
Federal Housing Commissioner and Assistant Secretary for Housing, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C.
Montgomery oversees the $400 billion Federal Housing Administration insurance portfolio. He also manages HUD’s regulatory responsibilities for the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the housing mission of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the manufactured housing industry. Before joining HUD in 2005, Montgomery was deputy assistant to the president and Cabinet secretary, where he contributed to such policy issues as boosting homeownership, increasing access to affordable housing, and reforming RESPA and the GSEs. He is a former communications director for the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Montgomery holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Houston.

Elizabeth Mueller
Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin
Mueller teaches courses on city planning history and planning theory, affordable housing policy, community development, urban politics, qualitative research methods and research design. She also holds a faculty appointment in the school of social work. Mueller is an active researcher, focusing on community development and affordable housing. She is coauthor of “From Neighborhood to Community: Evidence on the Social Effects of Community Development,” the first study to systematically consider residents’ views of the work of community development corporations. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

Richard Pine
Vice President, Enterprise Home Ownership Partners, Dallas
EHOP-Dallas, Inc. is a wholly owned affiliate of Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., whose principal mission is to acquire, rehab and sell HUD- and FHA-foreclosed properties. As operational and policy head, Pine directs a staff of seven and controls an administrative budget of over $3 million. In prior positions, Pine served as construction manager for Enterprise’s Dallas office, working with the city of Dallas mortgage assistance program and consulting on construction projects with local community housing development organizations. Pine has over 20 years’ experience in construction, construction management, computer systems training and management, and database design. He holds a B.B.A. degree in finance and real estate from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Marietta Rodriguez
National Director of Homeownership Programs, NeighborWorks America, Washington, D.C.
Rodriguez is the national director of homeownership programs for NeighborWorks America, an initiative involving 159 nonprofit organizations that promote homeownership for underserved Americans. Over the past 10 years, the campaign has helped more than 100,000 people purchase homes. Before joining NeighborWorks America, Rodriguez was director of training and community outreach for Neighborhood Housing Services of Santa Fe, where she was responsible for designing, marketing and delivering pre- and postpurchase homebuyer education curricula in rural counties. Rodriguez has a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Spanish from Lake Forest College.

Cheryl Travis-Crawford
Director of Real Estate Sales, HomeSteps Unit of Freddie Mac, Carrollton, Texas
Travis-Crawford has served as a director in Freddie Mac’s HomeSteps unit for nine years. She oversees a team of approximately 100 real estate professionals managing the liquidation of up to 20,000 real estate sales annually throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam. Travis-Crawford has worked in the mortgage servicing industry since 1979. She has held wide-ranging positions with First Interstate Bank, First Deposit Corp. and World Savings. She received a bachelor’s degree from Mills College and an M.B.A. in resource management from Walden University.

Olivia Yu
Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Texas at San Antonio
Before joining the faculty of the University of Texas at San Antonio, Yu was program chair and assistant professor in the criminal justice department at Utica College of Syracuse University. Yu’s published works cover areas including law and ethics, white-collar crime, policing, punishment, public attitudes toward crime and deviance. She recently conducted research on the neighborhood foreclosure problem in San Antonio. Yu has a bachelor’s degree in English/English literature from the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in sociology from State University of New York at Buffalo.