The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides a variety of insurance options for qualified loans on existing homes, home construction and repair, and is also responsible for regulation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the manufactured housing industry, has been without a permanent leader since April 2011. Carol J. Galante, who currently serves as Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing-FHA Commissioner, was nominated by President Obama on October 20, 2011, to lead the federal agency on a permanent basis. Although the Senate Banking Committee voted to send her nomination to the Senate floor, some conservative Republicans, charging that the Obama administration has not faced the probability of an FHA bailout, may attempt to prevent her confirmation. 

 

Born in April 1954, Galante earned her B.A. at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1976, and a Master’s in City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley in 1978. Early in her career, Galante worked in city planning and community economic development for the cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Richmond, California; and Santa Barbara, California.

 

She left government for the nonprofit sector in 1982, serving as executive director of Eden Housing, Inc., in Hayward, California, until 1987. In that year, Galante began a 22-year association with BRIDGE Housing Corporation, in San Francisco, the largest nonprofit affordable housing developer in California, as vice president, stepping up to head the company as president and chief executive officer in 1996 when founding president Don Terner died in a plane crash.

 

Galante ran BRIDGE until March 2009, when President Obama appointed her as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing programs, where she oversaw the largest ever expansion of the Multifamily portfolio. Galante moved up to acting FHA commissioner in April 2011.

 

In addition to her work in real estate development, ownership and management, Galante has held volunteer leadership positions including director of the Housing Partnership Network, California Housing Consortium, Center for Creative Land Recycling, Center for Housing Policy, and Urban Land Institute. Galante is a licensed realtor in California.

 

A Democrat, since 2004 Galante has made political donations totaling $5,100, all but $500 of it to Democratic candidates and causes, including $1,000 to John Kerry’s presidential 2004 campaign; $250 to Barack Obama’s 2004 Illinois Senate campaign; and $1,850 to Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Her sole Republican contribution was a 2005 donation of $500 to the American Leadership Council, a “leadership PAC” that gave more than $100,000 to Republican candidates during the 2006 election cycle.

-Matt Bewig

 

HUD's New Multifamily Czar Carol Galante to Focus on Rental Housing Financial Support, Sustainability Initiatives (by Chris Wood, MultiFamily Executive)