Carson Pushes Back on “Ridicule” Over REO Acronym

May 22, 2019

The U.S. Department of Housing & Development’s (HUD) Office of the Inspector General has determined there was no misconduct by Secretary Ben Carson in connection to the attempted purchase of a $31,561 dining set for his office

U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson responded to the brouhaha over his appearance before the House Financial Services Committee yesterday regarding his perceived confusion on the topic of real estate-owned properties, more commonly known as REO.

In an interview with The Hill, Carson stated that his exchange with Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) highlighted the bureaucratic penchant for using acronyms.

"She asked me what the ‘O’ is," Dr. Carson said. "We throw around acronyms all the time, particularly in government. You don’t really think about, 'What do the letters mean?' Of course, I know what an REO is. Of course, I know what the foreclosure portfolio is."

Carson also defended his invitation for Porter to speak with HUD’s staff on REO rates, noting that she was an expert on the subject “10 or 15 years ago,” but might not be up to speed on current HUD activities.

"At that time, we did have a lot of REO properties, we had over 65,000 of them. Now we have only about 6,500 and we do everything we can to keep families who are affected from foreclosure," he said. "That’s why the number is down so low.

Photo credit: Getty Images/Tracey Patterson

I think that she obviously is thinking about the way things used to be and has no idea what’s going on now."

While Carson good-natured poked fun over his initial confusion to Porter’s inquiry, mishearing REO and asking if she was inquiring about the Oreo cookie, he also took umbrage at the social media attacks on him after the exchange.

"They try to take those moments to ridicule people because they’ve probably read Saul Alinsky’s book and they know that’s one of the rules," he said, referring to Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals, a 1971 book by the community activist and political writer. "I just hope for the sake of our young people, and for the sake of our nation in general, that we can move beyond the silliness and actually begin to address the problems.”

About the author

Phil Hall

Link copied

Published

May 22, 2019

C-Suite Strategies

First Federal Sells TPO Division To Mortgage Forward

Deal includes QRL Financial as First Federal sharpens focus on retail mortgage lending

First Federal Bank has agreed to sell its third-party origination (TPO) division, including QRL Financial, to Mortgage Forward.The companies announced they have signed a definitive agreement for Mortgage Forward, a credit union service organization (CUSO) within the Great La...

Tech

Friday Harbor Integrates AI Pre-Underwriting Platform With MeridianLink Mortgage

Integration brings AI-powered pre-underwriting platform into MeridianLink's loan origination system

Friday Harbor has integrated its AI-powered pre-underwriting platform with MeridianLink Mortgage, allowing lenders to access the technology within MeridianLink's loan origination system.The integration synchronizes loan data between the two platforms and is intended to help ...

Aug

San Diego, CA

More from

Regulation and Compliance

UAD 3.6 Deadline Nears; First American Earns Verification

First American's ACI Sky Workbench gains verification ahead of the Nov. 2 implementation date for the GSEs' updated appraisal reporting requirements

Regulation and Compliance

Jun 08, 2026

MISMO Introduces New Loan Boarding Standard

Wrapper Files support standardized data transfers between origination and servicing systems, with potential savings of $60 to $160 per loan

Regulation and Compliance

May 29, 2026

The GLBA Compliance Gap Your AI Deployment Just Opened

Old statutes, new models, and the vendor contract you signed before machine learning became operational

Regulation and Compliance

May 26, 2026

FHA Keeps Tri-Merge Credit Reports While Expanding Approved Scoring Models

HUD says FHA lenders will continue using three-bureau credit reports even as the agency adopts newer scoring models aimed at increasing competition and modernizing mortgage underwriting

Regulation and Compliance

May 26, 2026

House Passes Amended 21st Century Road To Housing Act

The House version softens a controversial provision aimed at large institutional investors

Regulation and Compliance

May 21, 2026

New York Cash-Home Tax Proposal Could Push Wealthy Buyers Back Into Mortgages

As all-cash deals surge nationwide, a proposed 1% levy on $1M+ purchases in NY may reshape jumbo lending, borrower strategy, and origination opportunities

Regulation and Compliance

May 19, 2026

Popular