A former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau executive and his colleagues are now launching their own mortgage company, concentrated on “non-Qualified Mortgages.”
The company, Fenway Summer, will be led by former CFPB Deputy Director Raj Date with former CFPB Chief of Staff Gary Reeder leading the company’s consumer advisory business. The focus will be on those borrowers who do not meet the standards for “qualified mortgages,” as set by the CFPB under rules scheduled to go live in January 2014.
“Fenway Summer is devoted to rebuilding American consumer finance on a foundation of trust” Mr. Date said. “For too long consumer finance has been seen as a zero-sum game—where either banks would win or consumers would win. At Fenway Summer our work is guided by the principle that products designed to actually serve consumers will be profitable, sustainable, and earn customers’ long-term trust.”
The lender’s focus will be lending to borrowers who may otherwise have a difficult time qualifying for new mortgages under the current lending environment, its founders say.
“It is way too hard for good customers to get good mortgages,” Date said.
The firm comprises both an advisory business and a new business incubator that will focus at first on the residential mortgage market.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker