RESPA Lawyer Blog
The U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) made a number of surprising management changes last month including the shuffling of Ivy Jackson, the Director of the Office of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales to the Office of Insured Health Care Facilities. Ivy Jackson’s departure took the real estate industry by surprise and created uncertainty for state regulators who were relying on her to educate them the new RESPA regulations this year.
The Sterbcow Law Group would like to thank Ivy Jackson for her contributions over the years at RESPA. She will always be remembered as a federal regulator who was fair to the real estate industry and to consumer interests while at RESPA. Ms. Jackson’s work ethic, honesty, and experience will be missed.
HUD promoted Teresa Baker Payne to the position of Assistant Deputy Assistant Secretary and Barton Shapiro was named Acting Director of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales. Ms. Payne and Mr. Shapiro both bring experience to their new positions. Ms.Payne and Mr. Shapiro both are excellent choices for their respective roles at HUD.
BELOW IS THE EMAIL THAT WENT OUT TO ALL HOUSING EMPLOYEES
From: FHA Commissioner
Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010
To:
Subject: Office of Regulatory Affairs and Manufactured Housing Update
The issues within the housing market and current regulatory priorities must demand our highest attention and focus. Effective on April 11 as an initial step to bring additional risk oversight to functional areas within HUD, I have asked Bob Ryan, Chief Risk Officer, to oversee the Office of Regulatory Affairs and Manufactured Housing. Bob will provide leadership and direction to this important office and will integrate the operation into his risk management office once the final structure is completed and formalized through the Departmental clearance process.
Bill Matchneer, who has served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Regulatory Affairs and Manufactured Housing since January of 2009, will transition to the Office of General Counsel to provide expertise and legal counsel as it relates to RESPA and developing protocols for enforcement of the SAFE Act. His broad expertise and knowledge will bring an added voice and industry perspective to the office.
Ivy Jackson, who has been part of the RESPA team since 1991, including Director of the Office of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales since 2000, and helped shape the final RESPA rule, will take her vast HUD experience and leadership to the Office of Insured Health Care Facilities reporting directly to Roger Miller. With the unprecedented growth in HUD’s Insured Health Care portfolio, Ivy brings a unique skill set to the leadership team as they navigate the various challenges growth of this nature presents.
Teresa Payne will move to the Office of Regulatory Affairs and Manufactured Housing in the role of Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary. Teresa has been with the Department of Housing and Urban Development since 1996. She served as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel, worked in both the RESPA enforcement office and the RESPA policy office and served as co-counsel for the Department’s first successful administrative action against a landlord for violations of the Lead Based Paint Disclosure Rule.
Reporting to Teresa will be Barton Shapiro, Deputy Director of the RESPA Office, who has been part of the RESPA team for over 2 years and will step in as Acting Director of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales and James Beavers, who leads HUD’s efforts to ensure the industry is in compliance with the SAFE Act.
Mary Jo Sullivan, Deputy Director of the Office of Business Development, will step into the position vacated by Teresa Payne as Acting Director, Office of Business Development, and will report directly to Kevin Perkins, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations.
We appreciate your support of these realignment efforts as we work through the transition of responsibilities and assignments. If you have any questions about the changes described above, please discuss them with your manager, Bob Ryan, Joe Smith or me. Thank you.