VA

‍Washington, DC: Gate House Strategies, a Washington, DC-based mortgage advisory and strategic consulting firm, has added Michael Frueh, recently retired as the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs, as Senior Advisor.

“We are excited to have Mike Frueh join us to strengthen our analysis of the current housing landscape, GSE and government lending issues, and an array of timely market concerns facing our clients,” said Brian Montgomery, Chairman of Gate House. “Mike is respected throughout the industry, bringing both private and public sector expertise that is directly relevant to the challenges today.  His deep experience will help Gate House continue to provide the highest levels of insight.”

“Gate House has quickly built a reputation throughout the industry for its acumen in mortgage finance and government lending programs. I am delighted to join the team to provide my perspective at a time when industry participants need guidance, particularly challenges in serving our nation’s Veterans,” Frueh said.

Frueh was appointed Acting Under Secretary in January 2025 after serving the prior four years as Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits. In this capacity, he oversaw the administration of benefits programs for veterans, including education, home loan guaranty, insurance, disability compensation, pension, fiduciary services, veteran readiness, employment, and transition assistance, managing a workforce of approximately 35,000 employees and an annual budget of $210 billion.

He led the VA Loan Guaranty Service for many years, overseeing a portfolio of over 3.8 million home loans valued at $1.2 trillion, with responsibilities including loan originations, servicing, loss mitigation, and claims management. Mr. Frueh also served as VA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning and Performance Management and Chief of Staff for the Veterans Benefits Administration. 

Mike currently serves on the Board of NASA Federal Credit Union, as Treasurer, Chairman of both the Compensation Committee and Enterprise Risk Oversight Committee, and member of both the Executive Committee and the Asset Liability Committee. He gained extensive experience in the mortgage banking and structured finance industry, working with firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers in the structured finance group, Bankers Trust’s asset securitization group, and Andersen Consulting’s commercial practice.

Mr. Frueh received a Presidential Rank Award as a Distinguished Executive in 2017. He holds an MBA from The George Washington University, and a B.S. in Mathematics from Pepperdine University.

Gate House Strategies: The Gate House Strategies family of companies operates within the Financial Services, Mortgage Lending/Servicing, Consumer Lending/Servicing, Community Development, and Public Housing sectors, providing strategic advisory services, insights, and actionable intelligence based upon decades of experience and rigorous, methodical and informed current market analysis. Gate House’s deep industry and policy knowledge sets clients apart as they lean into the future and lead. Gate House Strategies offers specialized advisory and operational services that help both public and private sector clients ensure compliance, mitigate risk, perform mission critical management functions for large portfolios, and take advantage of strategic opportunities.

The Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program is going away. The House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity is considering a bill proposing a partial claim for VA loans to be put on par with other government-insured loans. The VA lacks the authority to implement a permanent partial claim program without congressional authorization. At the 2025 Five Star Government Forum this week, Gate House partner Keith Becker told conferees: "The funding would require a passage through full committee, a full House floor vote and Senate approval. That's not impossible, but it's a tall task." Becker added: "In the legislative process, policymakers would also need to keep in mind the timeline needed by servicers to implement any new partial claim program."