HUD's New Lean Funding Program Comes at Auspicious Time, Says Cambridge Chairman

CHICAGO, IL--Timing for the introduction of HUD’s new Lean funding programs immediately following Labor Day in September 2008 could not have been more auspicious, finance expert Jeffrey A. Davis (top right photo) suggests.

“Although no one planned it that way, the timing was essentially simultaneous with the global financial meltdown and changes in worldwide capital markets. Fortuitously, HUD Lean came into existence at an extremely critical and vital time when the industry needed it most,” he observes.

Davis is Chairman of Cambridge Realty Capital Companies, one of the nation’s leading FHA-approved HUD 232 healthcare lenders. Counting both conventional and FHA-insured transactions, the company has closed senior housing/healthcare loans totaling more $3 billion since the early 1990s.

In developing its new program, Davis says that HUD’s goals in adopting the Lean concept and strategies have focused on the development of a standardized product and a more effective, fair and reliable way of delivering it.

In a significant shift, responsibility for processing HUD loans moved from HUD field offices to FHA’s Office of Insured Health Care Facilities (OIHCF) in Washington, D.C. Effectively, the agency now provides a single source for program and policy development and a more consistent and user-friendly platform for borrowers and lenders.

“It’s a much more efficient system than in the past when HUD lenders had proprietary relationships with different HUD field offices in different areas of the country. Such arrangements made it extremely difficult for national lenders to operate either competitively or effectively in all markets.

“With the changes made, HUD has effectively leveled the playing field by creating a single set of rules for all players,” Davis said.

Contact:, Evan Washington, Phone: (312) 521-7603, Fax: (312) 357-1611, E-Mail:, ew@cambridgecap.com,    http://twitter.com/CambridgeCap