Strategies

The financial services, mortgage, and affordable housing sectors are facing one of the most challenging environments in recent history. Rising regulatory pressures, economic volatility, and increasing barriers for first-time and underserved homebuyers have created unprecedented complexity. At the same time, the affordable housing sector is struggling to meet demand and deliver viable options.

Gate House Strategies is here to navigate these difficult waters.

We are a Washington, DC based advisory firm serving the Financial Services, Mortgage Lending and Servicing, Community Development, and Public Housing sectors. We equip private and public sector clients with insight, knowledge, expertise and strategic council needed to ensure compliance, mitigate risk, perform mission critical operations and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

Experience that Sets Us Apart

Prior to forming Gate House, the founding partners managed the major mortgage insurance programs at HUD, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including: 

• FHA’s 8 million loans, $1.3 trillion loan portfolio
• Fannie Mae’s 18 million loan, $3 trillion securities portfolio.
• Management of Freddie Mac’s enterprise-wide credit, collateral, and insurance policies.

Our extended team also has extensive experience working for industry regulators such as 

• Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
• Veterans Administration Loan Guaranty program
• Federal, state, and local disaster recovery programs
• Senior executive and board roles in leading private-sector financial and housing corporations

Our Value

With hundreds of years of collective experience across housing finance, policy, and regulatory environments, Gate House brings unmatched market expertise and long-standing relationships that help clients lead confidently—through stability and disruption alike.

The current environment in financial services industries is presents the opportunity for innovative firms to step up to the challenges that lie ahead.

Today’s market demands and Gate House delivers:

• A sophisticated understanding of markets and regulatory expectations
• The ability to anticipate and manage oversight from GSEs, CFPB, FDIC, FHFA, HUD, FHA, Ginnie Mae, VA, USDA, and DoJ. A strategic view of economic, policy, and technology-driven shifts

Gate House helps organizations remain compliant, competitive, and positioned for long-term success.

Our Clients Include

Clients across the financial services and mortgage ecosystem rely on Gate House to navigate federal, state, and local requirements, including oversight from major regulators and housing finance agencies.

We serve: 

• Mortgage Lending 
• Mortgage Servicing
• Investors
• Builders
• Insurers 
• Vendors
• Law firms representing Financial Services clients
• Property disposition and management

Our Services

The Gate House team brings leadership, policymaking, and hands-on operational expertise, with a current understanding of the changing industry and the governmental landscape. Our services include:

Mortgage Market Ecosystem (FHA, Ginnie Mae, GSEs)

We help organizations navigate the interconnected frameworks governing mortgage insurance, securitization, and federal oversight—and identify opportunities across the mortgage finance ecosystem.

Mortgage Origination, Risk Management, Compliance, and Quality Control

• Quality Control and Compliance including sample strategy, defect rates, and dispositions
• Mortgage credit and underwriting policies
• FHA policy and procedural adherence
• Strategic counsel on business risk, business growth, and line of business focus
• Market assessments aligned with corporate production risk strategies and objectives
• Early buyout strategies for Ginnie Mae issuers
• Risk support services – credit risk, operational and compliance risk, model risk, set-up of functions (lines of reporting, employee support, reporting), risk governance

Mortgage Servicing (Forward and HECMs) 

• Quality Control and Compliance reviews
• Servicing policies, procedures review and gap analysis
• Capacity evaluation and planning
• Loss mitigation claims, investor reporting, and property disposition process review
• Sub-servicer compliance reviews
• Audit recommendations
• Change management

Legislative and Regulatory Guidance

• Current political intelligence within financial services
• Engaging with HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CFPB and other overseers
• Policy analysis and market impact assessments
• Drafting policies and recommendations for legislators and regulators
• Support for regulatory audits and examinations
• Change management
• Strategic board advisory

Litigation Support   

Our team provides clients with expert perspective on the GSE/HUD credit and servicing policy environments, underwriting, loss mitigation, and claims often at the heart of compliance disputes with regulators.

• Expert perspective into GSE and HUD/FHA/Ginnie Mae credit and servicing policies, including whether originator/servicer policies and procedures comply
• Historical insights and knowledge of GSE and HUD home retention and loss mitigation processes
• Historical insights and knowledge of GSE and HUD policies, including those related to affordable housing, public housing, and programs affecting low- to moderate-income (LMI) borrowers and renters, elderly, and underserved communities.

For more details read our litigation support white paper.

Strategic Business Development

We partner with leading service and product providers to expand market reach and maximize opportunities across the mortgage and affordable housing sectors.

Our strategic insights and deep industry relationships help clients:

• Accelerate growth
• Enter new markets
• Strengthen partnerships
• Increase revenue

Disaster Recovery

We support jurisdictions receiving HUD disaster funding by improving compliance, optimizing benefits to the community, and identifying opportunities to optimize their full recovery and resilience for the future. 

• Compliance with HUD disaster funding/grant guidelines and requirements
• Identifying untapped funding opportunities for new projects
• Understanding new and current HUD funding sources

Industry Relations/Strategic Communications

Leveraging combined 150 years of housing and industry experience and unique insights to articulate and influence policy, shape public affairs, and drive change in the mortgage  and affordable housing markets; forging partnerships with GSE, trade associations, consumer advocates and media influences to achieve strategic results.