When you talk to Bob Mulderig about his work, one thing is abundantly clear: The man loves his job. His enthusiasm for his role as acting deputy assistant secretary of HUD’s single-family housing program is palpable.

“I think this has got to be one of the best jobs in government,” he says. “It’s a really fascinating place to work, but it’s also a place that has helped, by last year’s standards, 4,000 people close on their homes every business day of the year. There aren’t too many people who can say they are involved in an organization that makes such a positive contribution to this country every day of the year.”

In May 2016, Mulderig took over for former DAS Kathleen Zadareky, who left office for the private sector. He had been working as a deputy for Zadareky since joining HUD in early 2015.

He has a long history in the affordable housing sector, where he was worked since 1990 on both the local and state levels in the Baltimore area. In 2011 he joined the U.S. Treasury Department, working for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which supports community banks and other financial organizations involved in community development through grants and tax credits. When he assumed his role last year, the industry was still grappling with the effects of Financial Assessment and other policy changes that have caused a significant dip in volume.

But Mulderig says despite taking over during this state of flux, he felt prepared for the job. “We have an incredibly strong staff, a relatively small group of people pulled from a couple of different offices here in headquarters as well as the homeownership centers, and they are the primary HECM team,” he says. “And of course we have an industry that is extremely committed… Since I became acting, my job has been to do what is necessary to support the staff and be in touch with the industry in any way I can to help bring the policy changes that were already in play across the finish line.”

While he enjoys the work, Mulderig says it’s not without its challenges. “I have to tell you in all honesty, if the excitement of the job is working with the private sector, it is also a challenge because there are so many different constituencies,” he says. “We know every day that we don’t exist without the lending community, it’s simply the reality.”

“We are dependent on our industry partners and must make sure that all the constituencies are well satisfied between industry and advocates, and especially our consumers. It’s a challenge, but I can’t say that it’s an unhappy one.”

Mulderig has overseen the release of a much-anticipated proposed rule that would allow condominiums to secure FHA financing. Released in September, the rule would establish guidelines for FHA approval and reinstate the spot approval process in unapproved condominium developments.

“We recognize that the condo world is one of the key avenues for affordable homeownership, especially for more urban areas where house prices have been on the rise. For a lot of people, a condominium is going to be the first place where an affordable home can be found,” Mulderig says. “The condominium market is very key for FHA and it just makes sense for us to do what we can to expand credit access in the condominium world, because it’s really important that we make every opportunity available.”

HUD has sought feedback from interested parties regarding the proposed rule, a process Mulderig says the agency takes very seriously. “I cannot tell you the incredible care that is given to every single comment. I have seen so many different versions of the documentation of every comment and the disposition of every comment and the weighing of both sides when people make opposing comments,” he says. “Really, nothing is missed. The staff is so diligent in making sure that all comments are not only read and understood, but also really weighed in terms of their potential impact on any rule that we ever propose.”

With all feedback considered, Mulderig says he hopes the proposed rule will move to final in the coming weeks. “We are hopeful that the final rule will be issued before the end of the administration, but we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed and see what happens.”

When asked if the industry could expect more change down the road, Mulderig says the program will likely continue to evolve. “We never stop thinking and analyzing what is the next best thing to do,” he says. “Do I anticipate continued change? We never believe our work is done at FHA. I say that very seriously. And with guidance and support from the secretary we work every day to expand access to credit while at the same time mitigating risks to the Fund.”

But Mulderig says it’s impossible to know what exactly is in store for the HECM market. Will a strong proprietary market ever take hold? It’s hard to know, he says, but he would consider it a welcome development.

“It is never FHA’s intent to be the only game in town. We have always taken the posture that we are the niche program—all of our programs are niche programs—we’re there to serve underserved borrowers, and that’s on both the forward and the reverse sides. To the extent that there are other products out there, it’s not a matter of taking any market share away from HUD’s HECM program, it’s really more of how can we make sure there are as many opportunities for borrowers as possible,” he says. “I’m sure we could learn things from a proprietary market… We can always learn from what other players in the real estate financial market are doing.”

When it comes to the product’s decidedly low penetration rate, Mulderig says it’s important to bring the focus back to helping consumers.

“I tend not to focus on individual percentages… The key thing is making sure that the word is getting to borrowers who could use the program and for whom it would be the right answer for their financial situation.”

“Good education with the community is important,” he says, adding that conversations about the borrower’s experience are also essential. “The whole focus [of the recent NRMLA conference] was creating a better borrower experience, and there was a lot of really healthy discussion about helping potential participants in the reverse mortgage program understand what the implications of the program are, how it can best serve them, and what they need to know about what the long-term impact of it is for their families. We can do a certain part of that in government, but a lot of that is how well the industry educates consumers as to how the program can best serve them.”

And, of course, making sure lawmakers have a solid understanding of the program is also essential to its long-term viability. With an administration shift on the horizon, Mulderig says he remains committed to working with leaders in Washington to ensure that they fully understand the importance of the HECM program.

“We look forward to working with members of Congress and new leaders in the executive branch in making sure that everyone understands the benefit of the reverse mortgage program,” he says. “It truly is a remarkable benefit to certain seniors for whom taking equity from their home makes a significant difference on how they are able to be sustained on a daily basis.”

Mulderig says the HECM’s ability to bring access to credit to a very specific and important segment of the market makes it a valuable part of FHA’s offerings. “We are very committed to the program at HUD… We’ll always continue to evaluate the program and to consider how we can make sure that it best serves the borrowers who need it,” he says. “Of those 4,000 people who close on their homes every day, about 200 of them are HECM borrowers… that is something we must never lose sight of.”