The Washington Post is reporting that current Federal Housing Administration (FHA) head David Stevens, who only last week announced he was leaving FHA, is going to be the new head of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

When Stevens was first nominated to head FHA, I have to admit I was concerned. FHA has a long history of prioritizing the interests of the mortgage industry over that of the taxpayer. And here was a guy right out of the real estate industry (former Freddie Mac exec). My expectations weren’t exactly high. Maybe because of that, I’ve been largely impressed. As FHA Commissioner, Stevens has taken eliminating fraud seriously, as well as avoiding a taxpayer bailout of FHA (so far).

All that said, it is hard to imagine that in under a week’s time, he interviewed with and was hired by the Mortgage Bankers Association. So while there’s no evidence that he was looking at an MBA job while carrying out his duties running FHA, there is certainly the appearance of such. The appropriate thing to do would be to leave FHA before getting a job with the very industry that FHA regulates and subsidizes.

Again I think Stevens has done a far better job at FHA than many of his predecessors, and I don’t believe he played a role in the financial crisis, but I do believe the cozy relationship between the mortgage industry and our federal government did play a huge role in the crisis.