Former officials from multiple housing-oriented agencies and companies have joined together to create a new firm offering financial services and specialists in fair lending, consumer protection law, and regulation to its clients. Gate House Compliance, a subsidiary of Gate House Strategies, will serve clients across multiple asset classes in financial services, including mortgage, student loan, credit card, and other secured/unsecured credit products, the company stated.
“We’ve put together on one platform a combination of compliance experts and services that we believe is the first of its kind,” Brian Montgomery, former Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) deputy secretary, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner, and co-founder/chairman of Gate House Strategies, said in a release.
Another founding partner of Gate House Compliance is Michael Waldron. Waldron also founded Compliability Solutions, LLC and was a chief compliance officer at Community Loan Servicing, LLC, formerly known as Bayview Loan Servicing. He brings more than 25 years of experience to the new advisory firm.
Paul Hancock, K&L Gates civil rights attorney, is also working with Gate House Compliance. Hancock previously led the Department of Justice’s fair housing and fair lending enforcement program and has experience in the private sector representing financial services companies and trade associations. In these roles, Hancock assisted in improving compliance and defending lawsuits at all levels of the federal judicial system.
“The Gate House Compliance team brings together persons with remarkable levels of expertise in financial services, both from experience within government and in the private sector,” Hancock said.
Gate House Compliance and CrossCheck Compliance, a nationwide regulatory compliance and risk management consulting firm, have allied to provide the former operational and analytical support. CrossCheck Compliance Partner Michael Forester said Gate House Compliance offers compliance risk management services customized to the needs of C-suite executives of financial institutions and their boards of directors.
“Today government agencies regulating the financial services industry expect C-suites and boards of directors to pay close attention to the letter and spirit of the law,” Waldron said. “We formed Gate House Compliance to empower decision makers with the structure and insight that reflects their commitment to compliance and risk mitigation.”
Gate House Compliance offers:
- Fair lending and servicing assessments.
- Consumer protection compliance to avoid claims of unfair, deceptive and abusive acts and practices.
- Compliance monitoring, targeted reviews, reporting and governance, including checklists and tools.
- Risk mitigation strategies, policy, data integrity/analytics, regulatory and legal reporting.
- Compliance management system reviews.
- Examination and audit support.
- Litigation support and legal strategies.
- Enforcement and consent order support.
- Intelligence on government policies, actions, examinations, conflicts, and industry trends.
- Equity, discrimination, deceptive advertising, credit access, offerings, redlining and pricing reviews.
- Guidance on black box modeling, algorithms, and artificial intelligence.
The firm also developed a new management system, Gate House Compliance 365. The offering provides lenders, on a subscription basis, a comprehensive approach for helping senior executives and board members navigate the increased scrutiny and risks they face from the array of today’s fair lending rules and regulations.
“The ‘365’ in the name refers to the ongoing and comprehensive nature of the system’s support, even daily if necessary, that the new firm will provide from our team of senior financial services executives and former regulators,” Montgomery explained.
“Our collective team possesses the experience and knowledge needed to deliver results for lenders in their compliance ecosystem,” he added. “Gate House Compliance offers all the tools and services required to provide clients with a strategic process and review regimen that will mitigate regulatory risk.”
Other team members at Gate House Compliance include Liz Scholz as senior advisor in compliance, risk, and client strategies, and Jack Bobbitt as support for the firm’s operations. Scholz held an executive role with the Federal Housing Finance Agency for 12 years, leading activities in examination, regulatory policy, and board monitoring of the government sponsored enterprises. Bobbitt brings decades of experience in sales, marketing, operations management, and business development to Gate House Compliance from his previous work as assistant secretary for administration at HUD.
Other partners in Gate House Compliance includes Gate House Strategy partners and more former HUD and other housing organization officials: Hunter Kurtz, former HUD assistant secretary for public and Indian housing; Dror Oppenheimer, a 30-year veteran of Fannie Mae; Keith Becker, a 26-year veteran of Freddie Mac; and Michael Marshall, former HUD acting assistant secretary for policy development and research.