Faith Schwartz clearly embodies the term Class Act. She has traveled far from her roots in small-town northeastern Pennsylvania to become a nationally recognized and respected leader and expert in housing finance. Schwartz has played a firsthand role in shaping industry best practices and policy during her exemplary career. Her list of awards and accomplishments is long and demonstrates a history of partnership and service to both the industry and the consumers we support.
“I contemplate a housing environment where everyone has the opportunity to participate, create generational wealth, and make the world a better place for those to come. We are not there yet. It is my purpose and intent to work with industry and political leaders to move the ball forward. It is incumbent upon our generation to make a difference for those who follow.
Mortgage is my career and I am blessed for it. Helping others achieve the dream of homeownership is a true calling. I did not know, when I started some 30-years back in the capital markets for Dominion Bankshares Mortgage Corporation, I was embarking on a career to make a difference for others through housing finance.
My early start in the business led me through the entire mortgage lifecycle to become an influencer of the important public policy surrounding homeownership and the creation of generational wealth. Each aspect of mortgage can be improved and modernized. Innovation opportunities remain and I am fortunate to provide insightful thought and analytical guidance to the future state.”
Faith is recognized as a pragmatic visionary who excels and is able to apply proven business principles in new and innovative spaces. She is a decisive leader who demonstrates a strong EQ and understanding of the room, the leaders, and the stakeholders to reach and customize solutions.
“Even as a focused leader, I enjoy having fun along the way. I grew up in the mortgage business, starting with the capital markets and COO oversight roles. I take my long history in the mortgage business seriously and have learned a great deal about operating through many cycles.
I have been the only woman in the room for a long time and while that is less true today, it still happens. I think my strength as a leader is being confident and comfortable in my own skin while staying authentic to the facts and issues I speak about and staying respectful to the diverse array of opinions.
I do my homework and speak about issues I am close to. I have learned a great deal from the emerging growth companies that remain innovative, yet I maintain my guiding principles of how to run a successful company:
Hire the right people, they are your best asset
Don’t hire “yes men or women”
Strive for operational excellence, you owe it to your clients and customers
Lead with strong morals and ethics
Maintain confidentiality
Give people a chance, believe in them
Be Trustworthy
Acknowledge mistakes
Share often and broadly any new learnings
Help others along the way, never say no to a request to meet if someone is looking for a job
Speak up
Ask for what you want.”
Faith’s favorite part of her work is people. Having begun in secondary marketing to securitize production and buy and sell mortgages, the networks she’s created remain alive and well today even decades later. “In this business,” Schwartz shared, “We were always great friends, no matter how fiercely we competed. I find the camaraderie contagious and continue to stay connected to hundreds, perhaps thousands of individuals I have met in my career. It is unique, fun, and hard to give up!”
It is clear Faith Schwartz loves and is committed to her career. Yet she values family even more saying, “Hands down, my greatest success is my family. My marriage and three wonderful children bring me great joy and represent far and away my greatest accomplishment. My husband, Erich Schwartz, and I met at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC years ago and were married in 1992 a few years later. Erich is recently retired and now teaching in the law school part time at UT Austin. We split our time among DC, MD, and TX.
We have three children, Erich Jr., Katherine, and Jack. They are all in their 20s and gainfully employed. We raised the kids in Washington DC, traveled a great deal to have family time, and are close knit as a family. There are 23 first cousins in the family so we have a lot of weddings we are starting to attend!
As challenging as it is, I strive to have a happy, healthy family with a balanced work life. In this way, I seek to enjoy life and offer help to those in need, and those who are less fortunate or need a helping hand.
I endeavor to be a life-long learner. For example, COVID-19 taught me I can be productive without being on planes 24/7. In my opinion, companies that do not recognize this seismic shift in migration and the workforce may be at risk of losing their resources.”
And with this, the conversation with Faith returned to the passion that takes second place only to family,
“I founded Housing Finance Strategies (www.housingfinancestrategies.com) to deliver quality and make a difference in the future of housing finance; to raise the bar on professional advisory services with an emphasis on mortgage modernization and inclusive policymaking. For my company to be successful, we have to live my values and deliver quality performance. We have made good strides in executing my plans, but we have unfinished business. I expect Housing Finance Strategies to be synonymous with outperforming expectations, being known as the ‘go-to’ advisors in mortgage and possessing extraordinary talent.
I cannot envision a point in time when I step away from the mortgage industry. It is my intention for Housing Finance Strategies to leave an indelible mark on our future. We advocate and pioneer mortgage modernization efforts, and we keep a close eye on the consumer because this is where our business starts and ends.”
Our discussion expanded to explore where the industry is headed in the foreseeable future.
“I think we will continue to see further consolidation given the dramatic shift in volumes and purchase money business. With limited housing stock, I do not see the business thriving without finding more solutions for the affordable first-time homebuyer programs. Tech will continue to evolve the business, finding new ways to qualify borrowers.
Capital is king and the companies that figure out the end-to-end solutions coupled with attention to data privacy, consumer accessibility, and usage will be the companies that thrive in the future. More brick-and-mortar focused organizations will be at some risk, in my opinion, of losing traditional customers who start to evolve into a digital solution. Many companies may get caught flat footed in this area. Customer acquisition and cost containment will be a big focus in the coming years.
While no one likes to compete on price alone, good reputations are not enough to meet the requirements of customer acquisition which is often online. None of my children write checks, for instance. The Millennials are driving purchases and they are used to Amazon!”
Everything about Faith Schwartz is a Class Act. Our conversation turned to fintech and the future of technology solutions in the industry.
“On appraisal, I see a fully digital process though we continue to lag in the valuation space in integrating 3-D scanning on all homes. We need to incorporate on-site 3-D scanning for the digital footprint, condition of property, and views from each room. I see independent staff conducting this inspection with advanced nimble technology, driving the information to a desk appraisal or hybrid appraisal which will scale the offerings.
With the modernization of mortgage lending, I envision getting to source data sets, normalizing the data, and appending it to consumer digital data sets. These steps will enable a very strong and stable mortgage industry. By creating digital identity, income, asset, employment, trended credit, and digital valuation leveraging AVM’s, 3-D scanning, and E notary and closing, I see blockchain and ledger technology leading the way for the future in mortgage.
This capability will wring out inefficient expenses and offer much more certainty in mortgage lending leveraging standard uniform data sets. While the capabilities are all here, harnessing and leveraging this information is going to coincide with regulatory and investor guidelines and over time, this should continue to evolve.
Given the remarkable focus on Valuation Bias in the system, this will strengthen the hand of lenders, investors, and appraisers who need to work objectively across the industry as decisions are made on valuation. The 3-D digital scan of the property, inside pictures, and views from all windows, should be part of all property footprints. This represents progress in our industry and we will get there one day!
I have been delighted to be a board member and advisor to Class Valuation as it continues to evolve its business model as an AMC. The education around their business and advancements through technology fits in nicely with my policy orientation and modernization of the mortgage business. As someone who loves the business, one of the goals has been to decrease the cost of origination and loan servicing. I see this technology as part of that solution for the consumer, lender, and downstream investor. Class is a leader in property tech and is leading the way in innovation in this space. They think deeply about their customers, the clients, the appraisers, and the policy issues around what it means to be an AMC. It is a privilege to be part of the Class family.”
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Schwartz considers this quote from Margaret Mead to be a guide by which she and others are reminded to be respectful of others and how important it is to gather opinions and input to harness the ideas to help fine-tune your institution or product offering to drive business.
“I enjoy bringing diverse sets of people together to find some common themes to move an issue forward. And I am fortunate to have lived this quote through my work as Director of the HOPE NOW Alliance.
Professionally, I will always treasure the challenging work of leading the industry out of the housing crash of 2007 as the Director of the HOPE NOW Alliance. It was a career inflection point as many moved on from what quickly became a troubled industry. And I felt the tension among all of the players from government leaders to mortgage company executives to troubled homeowners at risk of foreclosure. The acrimony and finger-pointing on all sides rose to a fever pitch but slowly and carefully we were able to slowly course-correct by directing all of our efforts to sustaining homeownership.
As Director of HOPE NOW, I traveled to the communities most impacted by the crisis and met with at-risk homeowners. I led the team in organizing around the federal government, nonprofits, and advocacy groups to ensure there was protection and a trusted third party for borrowers to have at their side when meeting on their loan workouts. We developed a new waterfall on modifications with the help and support of the FHFA, GSEs, and Treasury. We developed datasets on performance and made them available to the public and Congress in an effort to transparently report on progress or shortfalls.
The coordination and communication that was required on behalf of the industry was significant and key to any successes we had. For all participants, leadership was necessary at all levels of a company, non-profit counseling agencies, and government agencies. The spotlight was always on and developing a path forward with many disparate parties was challenging but also rewarding.
Faith Schwartz has an amazing clarity around her purpose and vision. Hers is a vision both being shared and implemented. It is fitting that hers are the final words in this article, words which clearly share the heart of her vision.
“Focus, focus, focus on execution. The greatest business lesson comes from how I think about success. In any project, I analyze the opportunity and choose three-to-five focus areas and visualize the steps to get them done. All the while, I do what I say I will do: stay transparent, deliver best-in-class reporting, and communicate well.”