MBA Chooses Former American Home Funding Chief Exec for Top Job

Beset by rapid change in their business, mortgage bankers have turned to one of their own to head the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Paul S. Reid, former chief executive of American Home Funding, Richmond, Va., and a former president of the trade group, will be executive vice president of the MBA. Mr. Reid, 49, will start work in mid-December, the MBA said Wednesday.

"For the next 10 to 15 years, the industry and the association cannot hope to be in better hands than Paul Reid's hands," said Marc C. Smith, chief executive of Crestar Mortgage Corp., who announced the hiring to reporters and staffers at the group's Washington offices. Mr. Smith is the current president of the trade group.

Praising Mr. Reid as an effective communicator and a diplomat, Mr. Smith said those skills would help the MBA strengthen its voice on behalf of lenders and homebuyers.

"I got to see Paul doing this during a presidential election year," Mr. Smith said, referring to the 1996 election when Mr. Reid had been president of the MBA.

Housing "was a nonissue in the race for the White House," Mr. Smith said, but thanks to Mr. Reid's efforts, it was debated as an important national issue.

For his part, Mr. Reid said his priority would be the ongoing effort to take stock of the MBA's future role.

Mr. Reid said he wants to be proactive on Capitol Hill, to work closely with state organizations of mortgage bankers, and to help lenders negotiate the technological revolution in the mortgage business.

"Our members need help" to cope with "swirling" change, Mr. Reid said. "We need to listen much more to them."

Other mortgage bankers agreed that Mr. Reid's experience running a company is a big plus in his new post.

"Paul has been out there slugging it out," said Terrance G. Hodel, vice chairman of North American Mortgage Co., Santa Rosa, Calif., a subsidiary of Dime Bancorp. "He's got the knowledge, and he's got the credibility."

Mr. Reid has been the front-runner for the job for several months-he knows the industry, he's well liked, and he wanted the job.

Mr. Smith wouldn't comment specifically on why Mr. Reid was chosen over other candidates vetted by Korn Ferry, the executive search firm. First runner-up for the job was Steve Bartlett, a former House member from Texas and a former mayor of Dallas.

But he said the search committee considered familiarity with technology and the needs of member companies as factors in the decision. On both counts, Mr. Reid would have outscored the former representative.

The industry that Mr. Reid will represent is changing rapidly-profit margins are thin, the big players are getting bigger, and the use of expensive technology is growing.

Mr. Reid knows something of this change firsthand. He lost his CEO job to the industry's consolidation trend this year. American Home Funding, a subsidiary of Rochester Community Savings Bank, was sold-along with the thrift-to Charter One Financial, Cleveland in October.

The MBA will have to remain relevant amid all this change. Two other groups-the Consumer Mortgage Coalition and the National Association of Mortgage Brokers-now represent mortgage originators and servicers.

Mr. Reid and Mr. Smith said they plan to market MBA membership to mortgage brokers and subprime lenders.

To fill a broader role, Mr. Reid said he might need "more firepower"-a bigger staff and a bigger budget.

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