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Cary Sternberg has been appointed president of the newly formed asset management company Excellen REO, a subsidiary of Titanium Holdings Inc. He plans to gear up this month by hiring asset managers to start servicing assets by January 2010. Mr. Sternberg, a former senior vice president in American Home Loan Servicing Inc.'s real estate-owned department, has over 40 years of experience in asset preservation, management and liquidation. According to Titanium, Mr. Sternberg will manage the strategic direction of the company, overseeing day-to-day operations, creating policies and procedures and establishing the internal growth of the company. The company plans to develop a base network of real estate agents nationally that could grow as large as 1,200 agents. Many of those agents are slated to come from Titanium Solutions' housing retention consultants with past REO experience. All brokers and agents will be required to have passed the REO practices and advanced valuation courses and will be using the RES.NET software system, according to the company.

Michael Brennan, co-founder and former president and CEO of First Industrial Realty Trust, has formed Brennan Investment Group LLC, a new Chicago-based industrial real estate investment firm. BIG will opportunistically acquire, develop and operate industrial properties in select major metropolitan markets throughout the United States. The firm's managing principals will co-invest with private and institutional capital, pursuing single asset and portfolio acquisitions, including acquisitions of debt. "We established Brennan Investment Group at one of the most opportune periods the industrial real estate market has ever seen," said Mr. Brennan, who will serve as chairman and managing principal of BIG. "The industrial real estate sector is a large, stable and diversified investment class offering a compelling opportunity for both current income and appreciation."

Donn C. Costa has been named acting president of Golf Savings Bank, Mountlake Terrace, Wash., a savings bank focused on single-family mortgage originations. He has been with Golf Savings since 1994 and has served as its executive vice president since 2006 when it was acquired by Sterling Financial Corp., Spokane, Wash.. Mr. Costa will work closely with Sterling's acting chief executive, Gregory Seibly, who was appointed as acting CEO of Golf Savings as well. Golf Savings Bank currently employs more than 600 people in 32 mortgage offices and retail banks across the Pacific Northwest.

DebtX, the loan market place whose list of clients includes the government, has named Bill Looney president of U.S. loan sales. Promoted from his position as executive vice president, he will continue to manage all of the firm's loan sale operations, including oversight of residential and commercial auctions. He has worked for the Boston-based company since 2000. He joined the then-upstart from the law firm of Looney, Cohen, Reagan & Aisenberg where he represented banks and investment bankers on commercial loan sales and related matters.

Huntington Bank, Columbus, Ohio, has hired James J. Plum as senior vice president and director of consumer lending. For the past five years, Mr. Plum has led home lending programs for Citizens Financial Group, most recently serving as president of Home Lending Solutions for RBS Citizens. He has worked as a banking executive in Cincinnati since 1990 and has worked in residential lending since 1996. In addition to his most recent role for RBS Citizens, he has served as executive vice president for both Home Lending Solutions and National Home Equity for Citizens Financial Group. He has also held leadership roles with Provident Financial and Bank One. Mr. Plum is a member of the National Secondary Markets Advisory Board for Fannie Mae and also serves on the Lender Advisory Council for LendingTree.com.

PHH Corp., has named Jerome J. Selitto, a former mortgage insurance executive at Amerin Guaranty Corp., president and chief executive, effective immediately. Mr. Selitto brings to PHH -- the nation's eighth largest lender -- nearly forty years of experience in mortgages and investment banking. His most recent position was as a senior consultant and then member of the senior management team of mortgage industry software provider Ellie Mae. George Kilroy, who in June had stepped in on an interim basis as acting president and CEO, will continue to lead the company's fleet management business. Mr. Selitto was CEO of DeepGreen Financial, an online home equity lender that he helped found. (DGF later closed the business.) From 1992 to 1999 he was the vice chairman and a founder of mortgage insurance company Amerin, which later merged with Commonwealth Mortgage Assurance Corp. and is now known as Radian Guaranty.

BankUnited, Miami Lakes, Fla., has named Raymond S. Barbone executive vice president, mortgage services. In his new role, he will oversee loan administration and servicing, default administration, real estate owned disposition and mortgage modification efforts. Most recently, Mr. Barbone was a group senior vice president for operations at ABN AMRO Mortgage Group in Jacksonville, Fla. Prior to joining ABN AMRO, he spent 14 years with Atlantic Mortgage & Investment Corp., where he served in a variety of positions including controller and senior vice president, loan administration. He has served on the Freddie Mac Servicing Advisory Board and the Fidelity Information Services Mortgage Advisory Board.

Thomas J. Hammond is retiring as chairman of both Flagstar Bancorp Inc. and its subsidiary Flagstar Bank FSB, Troy, Mich., the latest step in the ownership shift in the company. On October 1, Mr. Hammond's son, Mark Hammond, stepped down as president and chief executive, and was replaced by Joseph P. Campanelli. Mark Hammond remains as vice chairman of the company. In a statement, Thomas Hammond said, "It has been approximately 10 months since the acquisition of Flagstar Bank by the new majority owners. The new CEO has strong banking experience and understands the decisions necessary for Flagstar to be competitive in this business environment." Flagstar's board will meet shortly to elect a new chairman.

Tim Mankus, a 22-year veteran of Wells Fargo & Co., who ran the mega-bank's mortgage trading desk, is out in the cold after a shakeup at the company. Gary Westphal, who reported to Mr. Mankus, was appointed to a new role where (according to one company official) he will oversee an array of mortgage activities that includes trading and "spans the full length of asset sales from pricing through pooling and delivery." As part of this shakeup the bank named Mohan Chellaswami to head its global market risk effort. Mr. Westphal will carry the title senior vice president of capital markets, the same title he held prior to Mr. Mankus' departure. A spokesman for Wells' mortgage group gave no reason for the reorganization. Mr. Mankus, who was based in St. Louis, could not be reached for comment on his cell phone.

Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America's residential mortgage division, increasingly is being talked about as a candidate for the bank's CEO slot, according to industry officials. However, Ms. Desoer declined to answer questions about the post. A spokesman for the bank's mortgage division in Calabasas, Calif., said she was asked the question by certain members of the media at last week's Mortgage Bankers Association convention in San Diego but repeatedly declined to discuss the issue. One source close to the unit described Ms. Desoer as a "dark horse" candidate. He noted that if she leaves the mortgage division it "would create a bit of musical chairs in the old CW [Countrywide] organization." BoA's current CEO, the embattled Ken Lewis, is scheduled to retire at yearend. Ms. Desoer has been managing the bank's mortgage and insurance division for more than a year. Bank of America ranks second in residential originations but first in servicing, according to the Quarterly Data Report.