Building a Resilient, Data-Driven Underwriting Culture

Lawrence Washington, Senior Director-Underwriting & Credit (Targeted Affordable Housing), Freddie Mac

I currently serve as Senior Director and Co-Head of Targeted Affordable Housing Underwriting at Freddie Mac. I oversee a multi-billion-dollar national platform and lead underwriting, credit and execution across a 50-plus-person team.

Day to day, my role is about driving innovation and discipline—making sure we deliver well-structured debt solutions that expand affordable housing while maintaining strong risk management. We partner with more than 20 lending institutions across the country and I serve as a senior credit and operational decision-maker.

At the same time, I focus heavily on building the frameworks that keep the business running efficiently, all aimed at maximizing execution and minimizing risk. Ultimately, my goal is to help the team operate as one cohesive, high-performing enterprise and to continue finding ways to bring more affordable housing supply to the market.

Adapting Frameworks in Shifting Credit Conditions

Freddie Mac has a long history of performing through all market cycles because we’re consistent, deliberate and grounded in data. Our team works across platforms to synthesize relevant data, as well as incorporate feedback from our Optigo lenders and other partners, to maintain a real-time pulse on what’s happening across the market.

Maintaining credit quality while supporting growth requires knowing your product, your borrowers, your markets and your audience.

We are continuously evaluating signals and engaging across teams to ensure that if an adjustment is needed, it’s made thoughtfully. Our credit framework is built to adapt, but it’s also built on discipline. That’s what allows us to serve the market reliably through every cycle.

Disciplined Underwriting that Protects Quality and Growth

At Freddie Mac, we maintain the credit discipline of a clear framework, grounded in data, experience and consistency— but can lean in when the fundamentals make sense.

What helps us stay disciplined is the strength of our partnerships. The lenders we work with are some of the best in the industry—they know our standards, they understand our appetite and they bring us opportunities that they genuinely believe align with our credit principles. That alignment matters.

Our mission is to deliver affordable housing solutions and that naturally means we’ll regularly encounter new or evolving forms of risk. The key is making sure every transaction is supported by sufficient credit enhancement, firm structure and thoughtful risk mitigation.

Maintaining credit quality while supporting growth requires knowing your product, your borrowers, your markets and your audience—not just from a credit perspective, but from a legal, regulatory and market standpoint. When you deeply understand those factors, you’re able to make decisions that are informed, not reactive.