Career moves

Attorney General Eric Holder this week appointed Michael Bresnick as the new executive director of President Obama's financial fraud enforcement task force, which includes mortgage oversight.

Matt Morris, who was recently appointed as chief executive of Stewart Information Services Corp., Houston, has created an executive team at the company.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week hired Manoj K. Singh as principal examiner for risk, in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Bank of America is continuing to lose top retail loan officers and managers to the competition, the latest departure claiming a handful of employees in the Columbia, S.C. area.

This week's showdown over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will likely be the first of many as Democrats prepare to make consumer protection a top campaign issue in the 2012 election.

Supreme Lending, a Dallas-based mortgage banker, has hired James E. Iley Jr., as the company's new senior vice president, national production manager.

Mike Hartman, the sales director of Allonhill for the past two years, has left the due diligence firm to "pursue other opportunities," the company said.

Rep. Barney Frank, the lead Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said late last week that the ongoing stalemate over the confirmation of a director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will not be resolved until at least 2012.

The law firm Ballard Spahr announced Monday that it has added a new mortgage banking practice, tapping three partners and one associate from Patton Boggs.

First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. added Mark Mayhook as managing director, capital markets.

HFF said that its Austin office has expanded with the addition of Robert Wooten as an associate director in the debt placement group and Kelsey Roop as an associate director in the investment sales group.

Real Estate Mortgage Network Inc. hired Justin Tucci in its Myrtle Beach office in the role of mortgage loan originator.

Lisa Lautner, Heidi Brunet and Nicole Perri have joined Berkadia Commercial Mortgage's senior housing and health care team.

CBRE Group Inc. said that Jim Rice and Nick Santangelo have joined CBRE Capital Markets, creating a new debt and equity finance team in Portland.

The PrivateBank named John P. Richardson managing director of commercial real estate in the Minneapolis office.

MortgageFlex Systems Inc. said that Phil Scialabba has joined its professional services team.

Capsilon named Sheila Plunkett vice president of sales, where she is responsible for spearheading sales and business development for the company.

Within minutes of Rep. Barney Frank's surprise announcement that he planned to retire next year, industry insiders and political analysts were focused on who would take his place as lead Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.

Default management vendor ServiceLink, Pittsburgh, on Tuesday named Chris Azur as its new president.

Walker & Dunlop, LLC, Bethesda, Md., on Monday announced that it has hired Dale Brem as vice president and deputy chief underwriter for the firm's FHA finance department.