WASHINGTON — Lindsey Johnson, President of the U.S. Mortgage Insurers (USMI), today issued the following statement on President Trump’s intent to nominate Dr. Mark Calabria for Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director: 

“USMI applauds the nomination of Mark Calabria to serve as the next FHFA Director. Dr. Calabria is a respected housing finance expert and longtime public servant who understands the intricacies of the housing and mortgage finance markets. His extensive housing experience in both the public and private sectors, including his role in crafting the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, will allow him to immediately tackle the important issues facing our housing finance system. Dr. Calabria has been a long-time advocate for greater taxpayer protection against mortgage credit risk, including promoting the greater use of private mortgage insurance to further insulate the federal government and taxpayers from mortgage related risks. We are confident that as FHFA Director, Calabria will continue to recognize the importance of private mortgage insurance in the conventional mortgage market and work to ensure that private capital plays its appropriate role in enabling access to homeownership for low-down payment borrowers while also protecting the federal government and American taxpayers against mortgage credit risk.

“We look forward to working closely with Dr. Calabria to grow the role of permanent sources of private capital in shouldering more risk in front of taxpayers in the housing market. For more than 60 years, private mortgage insurance has played a leading role in promoting affordable and sustainable homeownership and we look forward to building upon our success in the future.”

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U.S. Mortgage Insurers (USMI) is dedicated to a housing finance system backed by private capital that enables access to housing finance for borrowers while protecting taxpayers. Mortgage insurance offers an effective way to make mortgage credit available to more people. USMI is ready to help build the future of homeownership. Learn more at www.usmi.org.