While change at the top of the Mortgage Bankers Association was expected eventually, the trade group's board did not think it would happen this quickly.
Chairman Michael Berman said he recently heard that David Stevens might be leaving his position at the Department of Housing and Urban Development so he gave him a call. Still, the organization had always seen its chief executive, John Courson, as "a bridge" and was preparing a succession plan, Berman said in an interview Wednesday at the Regional Conference of the Mortgage Bankers Association in Atlantic City, N.J.
As part of that succession plan, the MBA was slated to form a search committee sometime this year to start the process. Then, Stevens became available and the situation accelerated. He got the job and starts June 1.
The MBA is looking for Stevens to make it a more member-driven organization. Berman said that the Federal Housing Administration chief is one of those people who has a great profile inside the industry and on Capitol Hill. According to Berman, "there is no one better qualified to lead the mortgage industry."
As for Courson, in his prepared remarks, Berman told attendees that the industry veteran did a phenomenal job at the MBA over the past three years.
Meanwhile, Stevens and Courson were scheduled to speak at the conference but were no shows.
