Ginnie Mae Chief Alanna McCargo on capital standards, inclusivity
As the first Senate-confirmed woman to head Ginnie Mae, and someone who has dealt with a variety of business and public interests throughout her career, Alanna McCargo says she’s taking an inclusive approach that considers the needs of borrowers and the housing-finance industry.
In an interview with National Mortgage News on International Women’s Day, McCargo noted the importance of increasing access to Ginnie Mae for small nonbanks in order to narrow a gender gap in homeownership. She’ll be keeping that in mind as she revisits the capital proposal that some companies have criticized as being exclusionary.
McCargo also expressed interest in working within the mortgage-finance system to address other business challenges that may be hurdles to the Biden administration’s affordable housing aims.
Sammy Mayo Jr
From per-unit costs that discourage the creation of smaller balance loans to operational challenges in processing modifications as forbearance ends, McCargo noted the importance of balancing stakeholder needs while preparing for a return to a more “normal” market environment. The latest numbers show that monthly issuance has returned to where it was pre-pandemic, and that default-related prepayments have fallen to the lowest level since April 2020.
In that light, a comment McCargo made about Ginnie Mae’s work with other housing agencies on the capital plan has broader applicability as it returns to long-term planning.
“It’s not easy, but I do believe we have to strike…the right balance,” she said.
What follows are further excerpts from the interview with McCargo, edited for clarity and length.
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