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22 | TH E M R EP O RT FEATURE compliance systems updates associ- ated with the increased regulatory burden imposed by Dodd-Frank, have nearly doubled the cost to originate a loan over the last 10 years. These higher costs have dis - proportionately impacted smaller mortgage lenders. Understandably, the indus- try remains hyper-focused on originating low risk loans with a difficulty to achieve goal of zero underwriting defects. Despite the proliferation of regulations and measures intended to improve the mortgage market with consumer safeguards, the housing market re - covery remains sluggish, and too many American workers continue to lose access to the wealth-accu- mulating tool of homeownership. While I admire the efforts of the current Administration to prevent a complete housing collapse, in particular expansion of the HAMP program, the policies of the last eight years have resulted in histori - cally low homeownership rates, plummeting middle-class wealth, higher rents, and limited access to mortgage credit. Collectively, these policies have left homeownership out of reach for many Americans and have triggered increased pressure on rents and the rental housing supply. The press and Washington, D.C. insiders often limit the concept of housing finance reform to GSE reform, but the need for change extends far beyond that. A well-functioning housing sector is essential to a strong economy and the security of families and indi - viduals including senior citizens and persons with disabilities. To restore housing to its traditional role as an engine of economic growth and op - portunity, the incoming Trump Administration should pursue policies designed to make the path to homeownership possible again for fully-informed prospective buy - ers who have the ability to carry a mortgage. Furthermore, despite the addition of millions of previously- owned single family homes to the rental stock and an increase in multifamily development, the apartment supply is not even close to meeting the demand. Rental housing faces obstacles of rising rents layered on stagnant household incomes, construction debt not serviceable with "afford - able" rents, and the 10 percent increase of affordable rental units being quickly overwhelmed by the 40 percent rise in the number of low-income renters competing for those units. 4 Having served as Federal Housing Commissioner from 2005- 2009, including six months into the Obama Administration as a hold-over appointee, I understand the difficulties entailed in shifting the sails to change a decades-old agency's operational direction. I am encouraged that a real estate de - veloper turned President-elect will take the opportunity to carefully examine and assess the housing finance system, and maybe also review the impact, or lack thereof, that the roughly $150+ billion in federal community development funding has had on inner cities and infrastructure. The contentious and dra - matic election is over, it is time to settle down, and, as President Franklin Roosevelt said on the eve of his re-election in 1936, "we will keep our sleeves rolled up." I am hopeful the incoming Trump Administration and a new Congress will work together and take action to expand the path to sustainable homeowner - ship, increase the supply of rental units for Americans with limited means, and continue the recent progress toward ending home - lessness, especially for veterans. I have hope, and look forward to seeing a prominent developer, now President-elect, bring the U.S. residential real estate market out of its stupor, all part of making America's housing great again, for everyone. BRIAN MONTGOMERY is the current Vice Chairman of the Collingwood Group, a Washington, D.C.-based business advisory and risk manage - ment firm. He previously served as Federal Housing Commissioner at HUD from 2005-2009 including six months into the Obama Administration and served as acting HUD Secretary in January 2009. Prior to his HUD service, Montgomery served as a Deputy Assistant to the President in the Administration of President George W. Bush from 2001-2005. 4 Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, The State of the Nation's Housing 2015, June 2015. "The press and Washington, D.C. insiders often limit the concept of housing finance reform to GSE reform, but the need for change extends far beyond that. A well-functioning housing sector is essential to a strong economy and the security of families and individuals including senior citizens and persons with disabilities."