The Wall Street Journal is reporting that David Stevens will be named the next chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Stevens, currently serving as commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration will succeed John A. Courson in May.
“This is an opportunity to provide leadership and a clear vision, a renewed sense of direction for the MBA and its members,” Mr. Stevens said in an interview Tuesday with the WSJ.
Mr. Stevens spent nearly his entire career in the mortgage industry before heading the FHA. He is viewed as a logical choice to help make the organization more relevant because he is well-regarded and well-connected within government and the industry. He emerged as a key adviser on housing-finance policy during a two-year stint in the Obama administration.
As part of the Obama administration’s ethics rules, Mr. Stevens won’t personally be allowed to lobby or influence former colleagues for at least two years. Mr. Stevens will also take additional steps that go beyond those requirements to recuse himself from any contact with the MBA or its members until he departs the FHA at the end of the month.
“We think it’s important to ensure that there’s not even an appearance of conflict of interest,” said a spokesman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
