Career moves

The American Securitization Forum will be looking for a new executive director in the wake of current executive director George Miller's decision to resign next month. The ASF said deputy executive director Tom Deutsch will temporarily become acting executive director when Mr. Miller steps down on Dec. 16 and also will be considered as a candidate for the permanent executive director post, among others. Mr. Miller said he is leaving to pursue other interests. He plans to remain connected to the securitization industry, but not in an industry association capacity. The group said it will have a new permanent executive director in place by the time its annual meeting takes place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 next year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is in the midst of reshaping its government affairs duties, and plans to hire a new senior vice president to oversee what it calls "advocacy." The new title has yet to be cast in stone, but MBA has hired the search firm of Lochlin Partners, Washington, to assist it in finding someone with legislative and policy experience. Steve O'Connor, who currently serves as senior vice president of government affairs, will take over as SVP of public policy and industry relations. A spokesman for the trade group said Mr. O'Connor and the new hire will have duties that overlap to a certain degree. Over the next two years Congress likely will decide the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a decision that will have a major impact on residential lenders. During his career, Mr. O'Connor has worked in government affairs for the National Association of Realtors and Freddie Mac.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research has hired Chris Flanagan -co-head of securitized products at JPMorgan Chase - to head its U.S. mortgage and structured finance group. Mr. Flanagan will be responsible for analytics and modeling across all of the company's mortgage and structured finance groups. In addition to serving as co-head of securitized products research at JPMorgan Chase, Mr. Flanagan also was in charge of research on asset-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and commercial mortgage-backed securities there, duties he has held since 2000.

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.

iServe REO, which helps lenders dispose of their residential real estate assets, has named William Mueller its new chief executive effective immediately. iServe is a subsidiary of National Asset Direct, Inc., San Diego, an advisory firm that caters to the distressed loan market. Mr. Mueller joins iServe from National Default Servicing where he was vice president of REO.

NetMore America, Inc., Walla Walla, Wash., a fast growing mortgage banking firm, has named David Shirk chief information/compliance officer. According to the company, Mr. Shirk brings 20 years of experience to the newly created position. For the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, NetMore originated more than $1 billion in new home mortgages - a 300% increase compared to the same period in 2008. For fiscal year 2010, the mortgage banker is projecting loan production of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion. According to the Quarterly Data Report, NetMore ranks 75th among all home funders.

George Schwartz, a former managing director for Bank of America, has been named executive vice president and division president of default services at ServiceLink, a unit of Fidelity National Financial, Jacksonville, Fla. Mr. Schwartz will be responsible for such items as loss mitigation, title, closing and escrow, valuations, asset management and disposition. Mr. Schwartz has more than 25 years' experience in the areas of default administration, loss mitigation and mortgage servicing. Prior to his tenure at Bank of America, Mr. Schwartz served as senior vice president, loan administration at Cenlar FSB, director of servicing management at Fannie Mae and EVP of real estate operations at FNRS Financial Corp. For more information about ServiceLink, visit http://www.servicelinkfnf.com.

Peter Graves will be the new celebrity spokesman for reverse mortgage lender American Advisors Group, Irvine, Calif. The television campaign will launch on Oct. 12, 2009 and coincides with the reverse mortgage originator's release of a new informational DVD, brochure and website launch. Mr. Graves is best known for his role as Jim Phelps, the team leader on the television show "Mission Impossible." His new role might be just as difficult as some of Mr. Phelps' activities. Consumer advocates such as the National Consumer Law Center are decrying marketing tactics used by reverse mortgage lenders such as the use of celebrity spokespeople. In the past, Senior Lending Network used the late Jerry Orbach and Robert Wagner; Generation Mortgage used the late Jack Kemp, former pro football player, member of the House of Representatives, vice presidential candidate and Housing and Urban Development secretary; while James Garner was a spokesman for Financial Freedom.

Robert Grosser, former chief executive of Cityscape Financial, an early high flyer of the subprime business of 1990s, has been named president of Luxury Mortgage, Stamford, Conn. Luxury is buying Homestar Direct, a mortgage firm that Mr. Grosser formed in 1999 after the publicly traded Cityscape filed for bankruptcy protection. Homestar's origination platform focused on consumer direct marketing utilizing diverse channels to reach target borrowers. Homestar is becoming part of Luxury in an asset acquisition transaction. Mr. Grosser will work with Luxury's CEO David Adamo on the overall day-to-day management of the firm with a focus on the following areas: new business opportunities, regulatory/compliance, accounting, human resources, vendor management, facilities management, capital planning, capital raising, strategic planning and risk management. Cityscape was based in Elmsford, N.Y.

The SAFE Act is putting nondepository mortgage lenders at a disadvantage to banks when it comes to hiring new loan officers, according to Scott Stern, chief executive of mortgage cooperative Lenders One. The Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act passed by Congress in July 2008 requires LOs joining an independent mortgage company to go through prelicensing and continuing education requirements mandated by the states. "It is a huge barrier to hiring new loan officers," Mr. Stern said, because LOs hired by banks don't face prelicensing and continuing education requirements and don't pay licensing fees. Like stockbrokers, he said there should be one nationally recognized prelicensing course and one nationally recognized continuing education course for all loan officers. "We believe all lenders that meet with consumers should be licensed," the Lenders One CEO said. Mr. Stern is forming an advocacy group called the Community Mortgage Lenders of America that has membership commitments from 140 mortgage banking companies and community banks. He has lined up BuckleySandler LLP to serve as regulatory counsel for the new trade group and the Glaser Group to be its Washington lobbying arm.

Vital Financial has named long-time mortgage technologist Cy Brinn as a principal. Previously, he was the president of Metavante Lending Solutions. Going forward, using Mr. Brinn's market knowledge, Vital will find, analyze and structure private equity and venture capital investments in areas including mortgage technology. Mr. Brinn is also a finalist for the 2009 Mortgage Technology magazine Steve Fraser Visionary Award, which goes to a technology visionary and evangelizer. The award ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 11, at the annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association being held San Diego.