Boatman Patterson spent two years on CalHFA’s Board of Directors before then-Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed her as Executive Director in 2014, just as the Agency was starting to recover from the Great Recession housing crisis. Boatman Patterson oversaw that recovery and led CalHFA to the most successful period in its 46-year history.
Under her guidance, CalHFA enjoyed record-breaking production numbers, improving from less than $100 million in lending the year before she took over to nearly $5 billion last fiscal year. Between first mortgages and down payment assistance for low- and moderate-income homebuyers, and affordable units created and preserved by multifamily lending and bond issuance, CalHFA helped 60,000 California families find a place to call home during Boatman Patterson’s tenure.
“I cannot say enough about what Tia Boatman Patterson has meant to CalHFA. Her strong positive influence has been felt throughout California and the nation when it comes to affordable housing,” said Michael A. Gunning, Acting Chairperson of the CalHFA Board of Directors. “Tia’s tenacity, her leadership ability to build successful collaborative relationships and innovative ideas have turned CalHFA into a model for all other housing finance agencies in the country.”
Boatman Patterson was reappointed last year by Governor Gavin Newsom, for whom she also served for a year as a Senior Housing Advisor. She was a five-year Board Member for the National Council of State Housing Agencies, including two terms as Board Chair, and served on national affordable housing advisory councils for the National Housing Conference, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (which she chaired from 2016-2018) and the UCLA Ziman Center.
Boatman Patterson leaves behind a legacy of innovative programs, including CalHFA’s popular MyHome Down Payment Assistance, which served thousands of first-time homebuyers last fiscal year, two-thirds of whom were people of color; the national award-winning Mixed-Income Program, which creates new multifamily units for Californians at a broad range of income levels with quicker development times and less cost; a Special Needs Housing program that allowed counties to continue financing housing for individuals with serious mental illness experiencing homelessness after the MHSA housing program ended; and a first-of-its-kind-in-California Bond Recycling program made possible through a partnership with Apple Inc.
Her unwavering dedication to Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing was central to the design of these programs – and all of CalHFA’s operations – and was felt beyond the Agency as she helped influence the incorporation of these principles into the entire state’s housing finance system during a 2020 update of the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee Guidelines.
“Tia’s spirit of innovation and her commitment to housing equity has helped to make CalHFA one of the premiere housing finance agencies in the country,” said Lourdes Castro Ramírez, Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, which oversees CalHFA. “Our loss is the country’s gain, and I’m sure the Office of Management and Budget will benefit greatly from her deep passion and deep knowledge of housing.”
Additionally, Boatman Patterson’s determination to push California’s housing finance agencies into a more collaborative model resulted in a groundbreaking partnership with the State Treasurer’s Tax Credit Allocation Committee to create a joint application for developments looking for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and CalHFA financing.
The Governor has named Don Cavier as Acting Executive Director until a permanent replacement is appointed. Since 2015, Cavier has served as CalHFA’s Chief Deputy Director under Boatman Patterson.
