Blog: Q&A with Debra Still of Pulte Financial Services

March 30, 2022

“Since any sustainable change begins with strategy, and strategy begins at the top, we can certainly recognize the important ways women contribute and lead.”

Debra Still is President and Chief Executive Officer of Pulte Financial Services. As part of USMI’s Q&A series celebrating prominent women leaders in housing finance, Debra shared advice to others in this space, her thoughts on how the industry can ensure the unique borrowing needs of women, and how the industry can grow to ensure diverse representation at all levels. She has had a tremendous career, made truly positive impacts on housing, and has demonstrated women’s leadership at its highest levels.

 

Read more from women leaders

1. What piece of advice has stuck with you most and helped you become a leader in the housing finance space?
2. What’s your message for young women in the housing finance industry who seek a long and successful career?
3. We have seen a surge in the number of mortgage companies owned by women. What do you think women leadership brings to the table for the mortgage industry?
4. With women becoming an increasing share of the home purchase market, how do you think the housing industry can best respond to meet these borrowers’ homebuying needs?

Debra Still Biography

Debra W. Still, CMB, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Pulte Financial Services, which includes Pulte Mortgage LLC, PGP Title and Pulte Insurance Agency and employs over 1100 individuals throughout the U.S. Pulte Financial Services is a part of PulteGroup, America’s largest homebuilder with operations in twenty-five states and the District of Columbia.

Still has more than four decades of experience in the mortgage industry. She joined Pulte Mortgage in 1983, as Vice President/Branch Manager of the Maryland Division and subsequently held that position with the Dallas/Fort Worth Division. In June 1997, she was promoted to Executive Vice President, Production, and in October of that year was appointed to the Pulte Mortgage Board of Directors and named Corporate Secretary. Still became Chief Operating Officer in 1999, and in August 2004, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer. She was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Pulte Financial Services in 2010 overseeing Pulte Mortgage, PGP Title and PIA Insurance.

Still served as the 2013 Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association and is currently a member of the association’s Board of Directors, and a member of MBA’s Consumer Affairs Advisory Council. Still was awarded MBA’s Andrew D. Woodward Distinguished Service Award in 2014. As an active MBA member for more than a decade, Still has also served as Chair of MBA’s Residential Board of Governors (RESBOG,) Chairman of MBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Chairman of the Council for Residential Mortgage Servicing for the 21st Century, Chair of the Affordable Housing Subgroup on GSE Reform, and was Chair of the MBA Forward Task Force. She has also served on MBA’s Strategic Planning Committee, MBA’s Loan Origination Task Force, and Secondary and Capital Markets Committee. Still has testified before Congress multiple times. Still is presently the Chairman of MBA’s Opens Doors Foundation.

In 2011 and 2013, Still was featured in “Influential Women of the Housing Economy” by HousingWire Magazine and in 2011 was named one of “The Top Ten Women in Mortgage and Housing” by The Five Star Institute. In 2020, Still was recognized by the Denver Business Journal as “Most Admired CEO of 2020.”

In March 2018 Still was appointed to Chimera’s Board of Directors. Chimera Investment Corporation is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that is primarily engaged in real estate finance.

In September 2021, Still was appointed to the Board of Directors of Enact, Holdings, Inc, Enact is a publicly traded company and a leading U.S. private mortgage insurance provider.

Still is a graduate of Ithaca College, Ithaca, N.Y., with a Bachelor of Science degree and has completed graduate work in Finance at George Washington University, Washington, D.C.