Patrice Ficklin, the founding director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Office of Fair Lending & Equal Opportunity, is rejoining Fannie Mae, several industry sources announced. Ficklin has served as the only fair lending director for the bureau since its inception, overseeing the enforcement of the fair lending laws within the CFPB’s jurisdiction and coordinating joint agency efforts with the Department of Justice to address redlining and racial bias in home valuations.

“Patrice’s leadership has shaped the CFPB’s fair lending program from the agency’s beginning. I’m grateful for everything she has done to fight discrimination and make our markets fairer,” CFPB director Rohit Chopra said in an email, according to National Mortgage Professional.

During Ficklin’s time at the bureau, the Office of Fair Lending undertook enforcement actions across the consumer finance industries, recovering millions in penalties to help harmed consumers. Of note, the CFPB fined Citibank for intentional, illegal discrimination against Armenian Americans applying for credit cards and Bank of America and Freedom Mortgage for violations of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

Prior to joining the bureau in 2011, Ficklin served as Fannie Mae’s associate general counsel for over a decade, where she advised clients in the single-family business and credit policy divisions on predatory lending, fair lending, and fair housing issues. She is returning to the enterprise as its new fair lending officer.

Ficklin’s resume also included time as counsel at the civil rights law firm of Relman, Dane, & Colfax, where she helped to support the efforts of civil rights groups and assisted mortgage lenders and servicers in complying with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.