Eric Stein

Eric Stein served as Special Advisor to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Melvin L. Watt from January 2014 through January 2019.  FHFA is responsible for the effective supervision, regulation, and housing mission oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System and serves as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Eric helped lead the development of FHFA’s policy efforts, advised the Director on policy issues facing the agency and its regulated entities, and chaired the agency’s Policy and Management Review Committee.

Eric previously served as Senior Vice President of Self-Help, a nonprofit community development lender that creates ownership and economic opportunity, and Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan research and policy affiliate organization dedicated to protecting homeownership and family wealth. Eric testified in Congress on predatory mortgage lending, foreclosure prevention and housing finance reform.  He worked at Self-Help for 17 years. 

From 2009 to 2010, Eric served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consumer Protection in the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  He was responsible for developing, and then working with Congress to enact, legislation that would create an independent agency designed to protect consumers of financial products and services, reform the mortgage market, and protect investors.  After enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in July, 2010, Eric led the transition team to stand up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  For his work, he was awarded the Treasury Department's Distinguished Service Award.

Eric was formerly executive director of CASA, a nonprofit organization that develops housing primarily for homeless persons with disabilities.  In addition, he worked for Congressman David Price and clerked for U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sam J. Ervin, III.  Eric holds a law degree from Yale Law School and a B.A. from Williams College.

Professional affiliations

US Department of the Treasury