--- title: Asked About Foreclosures, Ben Carson Heard 'Oreos' description: The internet pounced after Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson mixed up a common real estate term with an Oreo cookie. canonical: https://time.com/5593069/ben-carson-reo-oreos/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-05-21T22:08:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:34:26.685Z article:section: Politics og:title: HUD Secretary Ben Carson Was Asked About a Common Term Related to Foreclosure. He Heard 'Oreos' og:description: The internet pounced after Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson mixed up a common real estate term with an Oreo cookie. og:url: https://time.com/5593069/ben-carson-reo-oreos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74873c2460c0b5b1/69894a36096a9483576a51d6/carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5175 og:image:height: 2911 og:image:alt: Ben-Carson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: HUD Secretary Ben Carson Was Asked About a Common Term Related to Foreclosure. He Heard 'Oreos' twitter:description: The internet pounced after Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson mixed up a common real estate term with an Oreo cookie. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74873c2460c0b5b1/69894a36096a9483576a51d6/carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # HUD Secretary Ben Carson Was Asked About a Common Term Related to Foreclosure. He Heard 'Oreos' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law May 21, 2019 10:08 PM UTC  U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson attends CPAC 2019 February 28, 2019 in National Harbor, Maryland. U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson attends CPAC 2019 February 28, 2019 in National Harbor, Maryland. Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law May 21, 2019 10:08 PM UTC Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson didn’t seem to know what a congresswoman was talking about when she asked a question related to foreclosures during a congressional hearing on Tuesday. Instead, Carson apparently thought she was talking about Oreo cookies. Speaking at a House Financial Services Committee meeting on housing on Tuesday morning, Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat from California, asked Carson why more homes that are financed with loans through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) end up being foreclosed on than properties purchased with other types of loans. If a homeowner cannot pay their mortgage, a lender may seize the property and try to sell it in a foreclosure auction. When the property doesn’t sell at auction, it becomes Real Estate Owned (REO.) Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, former Republican presidential candidate and [conservative](http://time.com/4998263/governments-hesitant-defender/) who famously called poverty a “[state of mind](http://time.com/4793372/ben-carson-poverty-state-of-mind/),” didn’t seem to know the term. > [](https://twitter.com/RepKatiePorter/status/1130889201455685633) > [](https://twitter.com/SecretaryCarson/status/1130922949060571137) “Do you know what an REO is?” Porter asked Carson. “An Oreo?” Carson said. “No, not an Oreo. REO. REO.” “Real estate?” Carson said. “What’s the “O” stand for?” Porter said. “The organization…” “Owned. Real Estate Owned,” Porter said. She explained that REO relates to properties that go into foreclosure, instead of going to loss mitigation or other alternatives that are less likely to result in owners losing their houses. “So we’d like to know why we have more foreclosures that end in people losing their homes with stains to their credit and disruptions to their communities, and their neighborhoods at the FHA,” Porter said. Carson’s gaffe triggered an avalanche of tweets that weren’t particularly flattering to the HUD secretary. > [](https://twitter.com/arlenparsa/status/1130894441361940481) Carson himself tried to get in on the joke on Twitter, tweeting photos of himself sending a pack of Double Stuf Oreos to Porter’s office. “OH, REO! Thanks, \[Rep. Porter\]. Enjoying a few post-hearing snacks. Sending some your way!” Carson tweeted. > [](https://twitter.com/SecretaryCarson/status/1130922949060571137) Some noted that while Carson’s mistake was funny, the reality is more serious. “It would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic that people are losing their homes with FHA loans,” wrote one Twitter user. > [](https://twitter.com/mollylyons/status/1130921254247120897) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5593069/ben-carson-reo-oreos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5593069/ben-carson-reo-oreos/"},"headline":"HUD Secretary Ben Carson Was Asked About a Common Term Related to Foreclosure. 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