Patty Arvielo on leadership, housing access, and industry change

HousingWire

In this episode of Power House, Zeb Lowe sits down with Patty Arvielo to discuss her journey from a teenage data entry clerk at TransUnion to one of the most influential leaders in mortgage.   Arvielo shares how she learned every layer of the business early on and ultimately built New American Funding into a nationally recognized lender. What began as a business opportunity to better serve Latino homebuyers evolved into a long-term mission to expand access to homeownership for underserved communities.   The conversation also explores the realities of today’s housing market, from supply constraints and affordability challenges to the outsized role of local policy in shaping outcomes. Arvielo breaks down her leadership philosophy of putting people over profits, and why protecting culture, even at the expense of production, has been central to building a durable organization.   This episode offers a candid look at leadership, advocacy, and what it takes to create lasting impact in housing.   Related to the episode:   ⁠Zeb Lowe’s LinkedIn⁠  https://www.linkedin.com/in/zebulon-lowe-a02353a4/  ⁠Patty Arvielo's LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattyarvielo/  PattyArvielo.com  https://www.pattyarvielo.com/  New American Funding  https://www.newamericanfunding.com/   The Power House podcast brings the biggest names in housing to answer hard-hitting questions about industry trends, operational and growth strategy, and leadership. Join HousingWire’s Zeb Lowe every Thursday morning for candid conversations with industry leaders to learn how they’re differentiating themselves from the competition. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.

Transcript

00:00Welcome back to Powerhouse. Today, I'm sitting down with Patti Arviello, CEO and co-founder of New American Funding.

00:06Patti's impact isn't measured by headlines. It's measured by the people she's helped move closer to homeownership,

00:12especially in communities the industry has too often overlooked.

00:15We talk about her origin story, what shaped her drive, and when this work became more than a career.

00:22We also talk about what it really takes to build an infrastructure around programs built to serve underserved communities.

00:29And we dig into the hard stuff, holding the line on people over profits during margin pressure, leading individuals at

00:37scale,

00:37and the decisions that made the company stronger through the toughest years.

00:42If you're a loan officer, team leader, or executive trying to build something that lasts and actually matters, you're going

00:49to get a lot out of this one.

01:01Patti, thank you for joining me.

01:03Thanks for having me.

01:05Yes, ma'am. So you and I have met briefly, but we've never really spoken.

01:09And I wanted to take the opportunity in this conversation to just have a conversation, get to know you, pick

01:17your brain,

01:18kind of understand what makes you tick, because you're a seminal figure in the industry.

01:22I have folks that I worked with at a previous mortgage company that now work at NAF,

01:27and they've got, honestly, they've got nothing but the best things to say about you.

01:30So I'm genuinely curious about, you know, what motivates you and why.

01:34You okay with that?

01:36Yeah, I'm good. Shoot.

01:37Okay. All right. Good. All right. We'll dive in.

01:40I'm always interested in people's origin stories in this industry.

01:44I've met people who either cross industry-wise or inherited their place in the industry because of a family legacy

01:52of sorts.

01:53But the majority of the people in the industry, from my perspective, that really seem to be making a difference

01:58where it counts,

01:58they really sort of stumble into the industry almost by chance.

02:02And I know that you've told this story a thousand times, but I'm asking if you can relay it again,

02:07just your origin story.

02:08How did you get into the industry? Because you got in really kind of young, right?

02:12Yeah, really young. Yeah, I stumbled across a data entry clerk position at TransUnion Credit when I was 16.

02:21So, and that was because I paid the most per hour.

02:25You know, it was better than flipping burgers or working at what was then Jemco, which is like a target

02:32type place, which I did that too.

02:34So I found an entry-level clerk position in putting derogatory trade lines on the mortgage factual report.

02:42Fun. Okay. And then when did the transition into something more happen?

02:47When I found out that the person ordering the reports made more money than me.

02:51And that person worked in a mortgage company.

02:53So it was really just climbing the rung, you know, the rung of the ladder and looking upwards to see

03:01what type of positions that I resonated with that made more money per hour than I was making when I

03:07was 16.

03:08But honestly, I stumbled around, you know, I was young.

03:11I was a junior in high school.

03:12And by the time I was 19, I did walk onto a college campus and I quickly walked off.

03:21And I was already kind of just in debt enough that I was like, I can't even go to college

03:27if I wanted to because I still have to work.

03:29So at 19, I stumbled across a broker shop called Pacific Hills Mortgage in Orange County.

03:36And he, that gentleman said, well, here's a box of cards.

03:40Go ask realtors for loans.

03:42So that was the beginning journey of my sales career.

03:46When did you realize that it actually could become a career?

03:49Oh, my gosh.

03:50It was so funny because one of the top producers at that broker shop works with me at NAF still.

03:57He's still a top producer.

03:59Yeah, it's funny.

04:02You know, he's probably about eight years older than me.

04:06I know that because I just ran into him the other day.

04:08We were discussing our ages.

04:10But so I had these like 27, 28-year-old, mostly men, one gal working there making really good money.

04:18So right then I had that vision and that mirror for me to be able to see what the future

04:24looked like.

04:24I don't think at 19 I got taken very seriously by realtors.

04:28I mean, I don't know that, you know, a realtor would trust their livelihood to a kid.

04:33But I definitely stayed, you know, stayed on point.

04:37And eventually, a couple of years later, after stumbling around, a gentleman gave me a turndown loan.

04:45Well, shoot, kid.

04:46You know, if you can do this loan, you'll get all my business.

04:49So that was when, you know, you got a paper file and I went right in my car and I

04:54went to the broker shop and I'm like, hey, John, the owner of the broker shop, can we do this

04:59loan?

04:59We ended up being able to do it, restructuring it.

05:01I did come from an operations background, so I was pretty good at not just selling loans, but actually how

05:06to manufacture them.

05:08So that was my first kind of realtor that gave me a try.

05:12And, you know, as I matured in the business and I was taken much more seriously, I began to gain

05:19traction.

05:20But I was by no means a top producer.

05:22I still kind of went back and forth as the market changes from being a loan processor to a loan

05:29originator.

05:29You know, when the market was tough, I went back and got a processing job.

05:33And when the market was good, the loans were falling out of the sky, was young and ambitious and went

05:38out and tried to get loans.

05:39So I kind of went back and forth between two.

05:43OK, so I've heard you speak on this before, but your greatest or one of your greatest accomplishments, you know,

05:50it's not the awards or the growth necessarily.

05:52It's the awareness that you bring to the to the needs of the underserved communities.

05:57And I'm curious, as we're talking about your your career trajectory and your growth, where in your journey did that

06:03become a core area of focus?

06:06Because, you know, I'm sure obviously it was always there, but there's, you know, that old adage that you have

06:10to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.

06:13Like you're talking about, you navigate to survive in the industry.

06:16So this area of focus, this passion of yours for the underserved communities, where did that come about in this

06:24journey?

06:24So it actually came about because the market turned.

06:28Right. So I was, you know, going out at my office when I started to really get some, you know,

06:36some traction.

06:36I went and got an early position at Countrywide in a branch in Fountain Valley, California, and I started out

06:42as a loan specialist.

06:43It was well below my knowledge level, but I knew that it was a platform that I could achieve success

06:49in.

06:50And within a year, the branch, I was the branch manager, I outproduced pretty much everybody in the branch.

06:55Right around then, the market decided to shift just like it does, right?

06:59All of a sudden, the faucet's on, it just goes off, and then volume drops 50 percent, like a matter

07:04of 24, 48 hours.

07:07Fountain Valley borders a town in California, Santa Ana.

07:10It's primarily Latino, and I kind of noticed that those realtors were still busy.

07:17And so I thought to myself, I was about 25 years old.

07:22I had a baby, one on the way, and I decided, you know, I speak pretty good Spanish.

07:27I love my culture.

07:29And so I started going to those real estate offices and started to ask for loans.

07:34And what they were impressed was, was here's this, like, girl that didn't look Latina, but I was Latina, and

07:41that I actually very much knew that how they saved money, how they spent money.

07:46I was just really culturally in tuned with them.

07:48They were impressed that I had such a knowledge of manufacturing the loan.

07:52I knew how to process it, underwrite it, fund it.

07:56So that traction took off.

07:58Like, literally, I was starting to get a lot of business out of Santa Ana real estate offices.

08:04And Angelo Muzzillo, legend in our industry, but he noticed that our branch's volume was higher.

08:13It was a down market than most branches in the purchase volume.

08:17So he came down and asked what I was doing.

08:19And I said, listen, I just started going after Latino business in Santa Ana.

08:24And long story short, a lot of people don't know this, and Angelo actually had Countrywide was a top lender

08:30to Latino, the Latino market for a really long time.

08:34But it was really honestly, the business case to doing that business was primarily what it was.

08:41But then the second I started to do it, I'm like, oh, these are my people.

08:45Like, I loved it so much.

08:46And, you know, the desire for homeownership is just so on another level in that community.

08:52So I just found a passion and became very passionate about the obstacles to homeownership for this community.

09:00And it very much is the same, you know, the way that they save their money, the way they work,

09:04the way they pull their money together.

09:06So it's all the gift down payment issues that still are around today.

09:10We're around in the early 90s.

09:12But, yeah, it was a business case to doing business in the community.

09:15Then I'm like, oh, my God, these are my people.

09:17I love it.

09:18Right.

09:19Well, and so NAF has expanded into, I guess, I don't know, initiatives or programs.

09:24But there's NAF, I think it's Black Impact and NAF Heroes and NAF Pride.

09:29But building that infrastructure out and making it a successful, the only term I have for it really that I

09:36can think of is an initiative or program.

09:38Yeah.

09:38Making that successful, I'm curious to know what, both internally and externally, what struggles did you face?

09:45And did you, how much did they vary, I guess, from community to community, if that makes sense?

09:53So, yeah, you actually said the word.

09:55We call them communities.

09:56You know, we all want to be long.

09:59We just all do.

10:00We all want to be with our people.

10:01We all, whether you're a man, you like to be with guys, or whether you're a woman, you want to

10:06be around other women.

10:07And I found that communities that were passionate about different things became better and bolder and bigger when we were

10:16pulling them together.

10:16So we actually call them NAF communities.

10:19And it's just really where people were speaking the same language, our desires are the same, and our passions are

10:25the same.

10:25I mean, we just want to deliver product to certain communities or talk about certain aspects of our community that

10:31maybe we're winning in or struggling in.

10:33I think the biggest obstacle has been regulation and the philosophies around DEI the last few years.

10:40That's, you know, it was a big struggle, especially when the current administration took place.

10:45It was just scratching DEI.

10:47And I've always said at NAF, and I say it internally, not externally, I've never had a policy procedure around

10:55what I do, right?

10:56It's not like there's anything in writing at NAF that says, this is what we're going to do, and this

11:01is a policy and procedure, or this is, you know, anything internal.

11:05I'm a people person.

11:07I love being Latina.

11:09I'm like, that's my passion.

11:10So I initially started Latino Focus because of me.

11:13And then when you have a Latina leader and a woman leader in a male-dominated industry, I am diverse.

11:20I am whatever DEI.

11:23But I always said this wasn't a government initiative for NAF.

11:26This was a purposeful community-building initiative where people who had the same aspirations and the same passion to deliver

11:34to different communities were able to come together.

11:36So the biggest struggle has been the narrative that the country has put around the importance of these communities within

11:43organizations and externally to serve the country, which is primarily diverse.

11:48We all come from different backgrounds.

11:50So, yeah, that's been the biggest struggle.

11:53Okay.

11:54But still, you know, the homeownership gap between white Americans and the black and Hispanic Americans is still quite vast.

12:01And, you know, you've been doing this for decades at this point.

12:04So what do you see that's actually moved the needle?

12:07And I think you already kind of touched on this in your previous answer, but what frustrates you is holding

12:12us back?

12:14Well, you know, I think a lot of people don't understand that one of the biggest bipartisan wins came around

12:20the housing proposal that was brought up by Senator Scott and Elizabeth Warren.

12:28I mean, that was the first time in about a decade that parties have come together to push an initiative.

12:34You know, let's see if, you know, we can get it through to the president.

12:37But I see that as a huge win.

12:40So I still see that much more people, no matter what background, no matter what party they belong to, still

12:45believe in the fact fundamentally that housing is a critical need and an underserved need.

12:51There's lack of housing for our population growth and the desire to own a home.

12:56So I don't think I find that very exciting.

12:59And I think it's a big story to tell when, you know, the parties come together, we can do great

13:03things.

13:05Obstacles still, yeah, I mean, we can get this Housing Act passed.

13:09I'm hoping that, you know, building won't become so cumbersome and so unaffordable for different factors of the country.

13:18I sit on the board of Century Communities.

13:22They are a, you know, I think top five home builder in the country.

13:26I've been on their board for about five years.

13:28So I learn a lot about the home building industry and the issues they have there, especially spanning across the

13:34country and different issues around building in certain cities, towns.

13:38So I really, you know, hoping that affordability comes in, repurposing comes in.

13:43We have a lot of buildings that aren't being used anymore for, you know, in-office work.

13:47We can repurpose.

13:48So I'm actually excited for the future, especially if we can get this signed by the president.

13:54And then we can really move as an industry to, you know, take initiative.

14:00As far as lending goes, you know, we still have access.

14:03We still have obstacles, especially now with gig workers and a lot of, you know, minority homebuyers wanting to get

14:11in.

14:11And I think last year, though, the Hispanic homebuyer percentage did go up.

14:17I saw Gary Acosta announce that really being excited a couple months ago.

14:22So we are making moves, but the barriers to entry still exist.

14:26And I think that there's a lot of sustainable lending to be done.

14:30And we just need the support of maybe, you know, the non-QM is help, except for the down payment

14:37requirements generally are just a little out of line.

14:39But I think Fannie, Freddie and our government program still serve a big need around this type of lending.

14:45And I think the regulatory environment's lightened up maybe too much, but, of course, makes that type of lending a

14:52little easier for other people to do.

14:55Right, right.

14:56Let me ask you this, you know, because from all the conversations that I've had and, you know, from my

15:04analysis of the market and our problems,

15:06is that if we have more homes, first, inventory, everything goes back to inventory, inventory, inventory.

15:12And at that end of itself, it's like there are – it's so complicated, a myriad of things that are

15:17holding us back.

15:18Do you land more on the side of – you know, it really is a local problem first with zoning.

15:26And, you know, there's like the new urbanist greenfield movement where you can repurpose the, you know, buildings,

15:32but then that goes and does – that's a tax issue that still is a zoning issue.

15:35Or do you land more on the federal side where it's a federal regulation issue or federal policy issue?

15:44I mean, I know it's obviously both, but which side do you lean to?

15:47Oh, I think it's a local problem.

15:48I mean, Rick and I have been trying to build a house in Corona Del Mar, California.

15:51We're on our ninth year.

15:57I mean, between the –

15:58I'm not laughing at you, but that's why.

16:00I mean, between the city and the Coastal Commission, nine years.

16:03I just built a house in Mexico, and it took less than two years.

16:07I mean, there's just really – it's ridiculous.

16:10It is definitely local policy, state policy.

16:13I mean, that's really the problem.

16:15Federally, we can come out federally,

16:17but then you have every single state and their philosophies and their ways of not doing good business.

16:23That's really preventing us from growing.

16:25Well, let me ask you – I want to talk to you about your operating position and your leadership philosophy.

16:32I know that you've got your team kind of operate under a people over profits type philosophy.

16:39And, again, that's one of those things where you – obviously, you walk the walk,

16:44but it's easy to walk the walk when times are good.

16:46You know, the past couple of years, margin pressures change – can change people without a real conviction for that.

16:53So, Mike, I'm curious, what does it cost you or what has it cost you or NAF to really hold

16:58that line

16:59over the last couple of years when things have been, you know, rough?

17:03I don't think it's actually – every single time we go to the table to really get rid of a

17:07cancer in the organizations,

17:09you know, really somebody's not aligned or, you know, just not moving us forward.

17:16Years ago, Christy and I would sit and think about the impact and be scared,

17:22but I will tell you it's 100% of the time, 100% every time we've made a decision to

17:29part ways with volume,

17:30meaning that somebody driving the volume, originating the volume, 100% of the time has been for the betterment of

17:37the culture, 100%.

17:40We sit around and we talk about the memories we had and whether these particular people in the organization,

17:46how miserable they made us and other people and whether, you know, it was a $2 billion region

17:52we had to part ways with the leader or, you know, $50, $80 million producer

17:57that just was not aligned with our philosophies, every single time we come out ahead.

18:03So there isn't a time.

18:04Now, does it mean that we're the biggest? No.

18:07Or the best? Probably.

18:09I always say we're not the biggest, but we're the best.

18:11But, I mean, Rick and I have been – the last four years have been pitched so many different companies

18:16to acquire.

18:17And fundamentally, it's really – the risk is in keeping the company together, right?

18:24And it's so few companies have our philosophy around people first.

18:29I mean, really, it's just profit, profit, profit.

18:33Well, the stability in the longevity of our platform has been because the people stay.

18:39Our true team stays.

18:41I mean, Christy's been with us since she was an underwriter.

18:43Our COO was a – I think an LOA or a processor.

18:47I mean, we really have raised our leadership team with us.

18:52So, yeah, absolutely always – listen, we have a philosophy.

18:56You can be an asshole for a day, just not an asshole.

18:59It's just too much, and life is too short.

19:02Well, there is one, for sure, one best list that you're on.

19:06It's repeatedly you guys are on one of the best workplace lists.

19:09Yeah, many of you.

19:10Fortune covers us.

19:12Inc. Magazine's mentioned it.

19:14We have, for women, for advancement of diversity for millennials.

19:20I mean, we have a very advanced platform where, you know, people are like, are you getting into AI?

19:25Am I getting into AI?

19:26If it's not touching every single department at this point, you have a problem.

19:29It's moving so fast.

19:30So, I don't think the industry knows us as advanced as we are.

19:35We just don't really – we're an internal communicator, not an extort.

19:38Like, Rick is very, very introverted in an odd way.

19:42He very much doesn't come out and talk to the industry, but the guy is, like, brilliant, you know?

19:48I mean, I'm married to him, but he's quite honestly one of the most brilliant mortgage minds I've ever met,

19:52and I've been at the table with many of them.

19:55Well, so maintaining that culture, so much so that, again, your NAF is repeatedly on this best workplace list.

20:03You've got thousands of employees all the way down to the LOs.

20:08You've got hundreds of locations.

20:10How do you maintain that consistency of culture to where it's – like I said, it permeates everything?

20:17Yeah, it's really – you know, I'm kind of calling everybody.

20:20It's like, what's Patty's role now?

20:22Well, you know, I was the operator.

20:23I was the underwriter at NAF.

20:25I was a processor at NAF.

20:26You know, I'm 61 now, and I've been doing – I've been in the mortgage business for 44 years.

20:33So what brings me joy is the people part of this business.

20:36It brings me joy and heartache at the very same time.

20:39I've controlled the emotional part of what I do in this industry,

20:42but I treat every single person I come across with as an asset, no matter what position they have.

20:50They choose to work at NAF.

20:51This industry is pulled on recruiting, right?

20:54Leave NAF.

20:55Leave NAF.

20:55We're better.

20:56So my narrative needs to be strong.

20:59My cell phone number is accessible to every single team member at NAF, 5,700 team members.

21:04You can get my cell number.

21:06You can text me.

21:07I'm very open on the fact that I think we are a better company when I hear from you.

21:14Your advice, your knowledge is key to our growth.

21:19I'll give you an example.

21:20Rick loves telling this story.

21:23We had somebody in post-closing, right, post-closing department.

21:26I don't know, maybe 15, 20 people in that department.

21:28This person took it upon himself to create AI tech that streamlined the way post-closing was done

21:37and presented it to Rick.

21:38This is a kid.

21:40And he was able to speak up and present it to Rick and completely redo how we do post-closing.

21:46If you don't have an organization where people can speak up to the very top,

21:50you're losing out on a lot of very, very positive growth and positive information

21:57because it doesn't come externally.

21:58We're not stealing it from other companies.

22:00It actually comes from homegrown knowledge, people who know how we work,

22:05how easy it is for us to move around and pivot.

22:08This was a kid.

22:10I mean, it's like you told Rick.

22:12And Rick, and this in the last two months has completely changed the way we do post-closing.

22:16So if you can't have your team members speak to the top of the house, you have an issue.

22:21We are not in a white ivory tower.

22:23It is not easy being a CEO and a founder.

22:26I share the journey that it may look really sexy and really fun.

22:31It must be so great every day.

22:33I have the same problems as every single living human being on the planet.

22:39I deal with adversity.

22:40I deal with heartache.

22:42I deal with kids going the wrong way and pulling them back.

22:44I deal with all the same things.

22:46So I share the commonality of where I sit versus like a receptionist.

22:51We're in the same journey.

22:52Thanks for listening to part one of this interview.

22:54On Thursday, we'll be back with part two.

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