ANN B. SCHNARE, Special Consultant

Ann B. Schnare is a Special Consultant to Criterion Economics specializing in housing and mortgage markets, subprime lending, consumer credit, fair lending, policy and regulatory analysis, and litigation support. She has extensive experience in the mortgage industry, having served as Senior Vice President for Corporate Relations and Vice President for Financial Research and Housing Economics at Freddie Mac from 1993 to 2000. She has also held a number of senior management positions in the consulting industry, and was the Director of the Center for Housing and Public Finance at the Urban Institute. In addition, Dr. Schnare was Chair of the Center for Housing Policy from 2000 to 2006, and continues to serve on its Board.

As Senior Vice President for Corporate Relations at Freddie Mac, Dr. Schnare was a member of the Operating Committee and reported directly to the CEO. Her responsibilities included industry relations, issues management, public policy development, corporate communications, and philanthropic giving. She also served on executive management committees for Credit Policy, Affordable Housing, and Multifamily Finance. As Vice President of Housing Economics and Financial Research, Dr. Schnare was responsible for the development and maintenance of key business models (for example, default and prepayment behavior, capital allocation, pricing), economic forecasting, and housing and mortgage market analysis. Before joining Freddie Mac, Dr. Schnare was a Senior Vice President at ICF Incorporated, where she established and managed the firm’s Housing and Community Development practice.

Dr. Schnare’s current work includes a mix of business consulting, policy research, and litigation support. She has supervised the development of a scoring model and automated underwriting system for borrowers with non-traditional forms of credit, assisted clients in projecting the performance of nontraditional and subprime loans, and evaluated mortgage pricing and underwriting policies for potential disparate impact. She has developed position papers on a variety of issues related to RESPA, the GSEs, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, FHA, private mortgage insurance, the Federal Home Loan Banks, and the real estate brokerage industry. She has served as an expert witness on cases involving yield spread premiums, the pricing of mortgages, and the rescission of mortgage insurance.

Dr. Schnare has authored numerous reports and articles designed for academics, policy markers, and industry leaders. Her articles have appeared in the Housing Policy Debate, the Journal of Urban Economics, the Journal of Housing, and a variety of trade publications. She has contributed to several books and conference volumes, and co-authored Beyond Bricks and Mortar, a seminal work on the relationship between housing assistance and welfare policy. She was a member of the Policy Advisory Committee for Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, and currently serves on the boards of the National Housing Conference, Volunteers of America, and Child Trends. She has been a Weimer School Fellow at the Homer Hoyt Institute since 2000.

Dr. Schnare holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and a BA, summa cum laude, from Washington University in St. Louis.

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