Career moves

MortgageWire has learned that veteran e-mortgage expert Tim Anderson has been hired as president and chief executive of Houston-based SigniaDocs.Mr. Anderson will be charged with developing a platform based on mortgage investor guidelines that go beyond Fannie Mae electronic quality control guidelines to actually warrant compliance, leveraging Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization SMART Docs. He said he welcomes the opportunity to prove the value of electronic mortgages as a fundamental cure for flaws in the mortgage creation process revealed in the ongoing mortgage meltdown, which brought a cascade of buybacks related to compliance. Signia boasts of having built its system "from the ground up as three-tier, very secure, completely browser-based, backed by a wealth of experience" through a management team of mortgage industry veterans. Mr. Anderson was most recently employed by Stewart. SigniaDocs can be found online at http://www.signiadocs.com.

Merrill Lynch has named John Thain, a former Goldman Sachs executive with roots in the mortgage-backed securities business, as its new chief executive officer.Mr. Thain, chief executive and member of the management committee of NYSE Euronext and former president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs, is slated to take the post at Merrill starting Dec. 1. A number of news reports indicate that Mr. Thain was among those at Goldman who started an MBS business there in the 1980s and that he had been eyed for a leadership post at Citigroup, a Wall Street firm that -- like Merrill -- saw its top executive depart after a huge subprime-linked loss.

Fremont General Corp., Santa Monica, Calif., has put in place a new executive management team in the wake of the failure of a deal involving an investment in the company by Gerald J. Ford.The new chairman and chief executive is Stephen H. Gordon, the former chairman and chief executive of Commercial Capital Bancorp Inc., Irvine, Calif., until its sale to Washington Mutual Inc. in October 2006. Several other former CCBI executives are joining Fremont, including David S. DePillo, vice chairman and president; Richard A. Sanchez, executive vice president and chief administrative officer; Thea Stuedli, EVP and chief financial officer; and Donald E. Royer, EVP and general counsel. Mr. Gordon is the chairman and chief executive of Vitruvian Group LP, which in turn is the general partner of Vitruvian Financial Partners LP. The latter will focus on investing in regulated financial institutions in need of capital. Mr. DePillo developed the multifamily and commercial real estate lending platforms at CCBI and is the former vice president and director of multifamily banking at Home Savings of America. Mr. Sanchez is a former deputy regional director for the Office of Thrift Supervision. Fremont can be found online at http://www.fremontgeneral.com.

Reverse Mortgage Solutions Inc., a Houston-based servicer, subservicer, technology, and consulting firm, has acquired Mortgage Asset Systems LLC, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. As part of the acquisition, MA Systems president and chief information officer Kevin Gherardi has joined RMS as CIO and executive vice president. RMS said Mr. Gherardi has planned and implemented aspects of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's mortgage servicing system to support several reverse mortgage products as well as systems that support conventional mortgage products. The company can be found online at http://www.rmsnav.com.

Mortgage banking attorney Robert Lotstein and two other members of his firm have joined the Washington law firm of Buckley Kolar LLP.Grant Mitchell and Erika Jackson are moving along Mr. Lotstein to Buckley Kolar, which provides comprehensive legal services to the mortgage banking industry. The law firm can be found on the Web at http://www.buckleykolar.com.

Lawrence Yun has been named chief economist and senior vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors.Mr. Yun has served at the NAR since 2000, most recently as vice president and senior economist. He has been the chief forecaster at the NAR for several years, pioneering the development of the Commercial Leading Index after assisting in the development of the association's residential Pending Home Sales Index, the NAR said. The NAR can be found on the Web at http://www.realtor.org.

David M. Applegate has been named president of Radian Guaranty and Paul F. Bognanno has been appointed to the newly created position of vice chairman, according to Radian's Philadelphia-based parent company, Radian Group Inc.Mr. Applegate has more than 20 years of mortgage banking and residential real estate industry experience, most recently as chairman and chief executive officer of GMAC Residential and chief operating officer of GMAC ResCap. He was previously executive vice president and chief financial officer of GMAC Residential. Mr. Bognanno served as president and CEO of Principal Residential Mortgage Inc. for the past 11 years. Concurrent with his mortgage banking duties, Mr. Bognanno was a senior vice president at Principal Life Insurance Co. and chairman of the board of Principal Bank. Radian also announced that Mark A. Casale is leaving the company.

Matt T. Weaver, a former president of Capital Mortgage of South Florida, has announced the formation of The Finance Group Worldwide in Boca Raton, Fla., as a specialist in mortgages and other lending for shopping centers, restaurants, and multi-unit buildings.Mr. Weaver, who will be the president of the new company, is partnering with Athan "Tom" Prakas, president/broker of The Prakas Group Inc. restaurant and commercial brokerage firm. The Finance Group will provide commercial and Small Business Administration loans, equity financing, and noncollateralized restaurant financing. It can be found on the Web at http://www.financegroupworldwide.com.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros has resigned from the board of Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., to spend more time managing CityView, a company that lends money to urban homebuilders.According to a public filing, Mr. Cisneros' resignation letter is dated Oct. 18, but Countrywide did not issue a news release on his departure until Oct. 24. A HUD secretary during the Clinton administration, he joined Countrywide's board in 2001. In his letter of resignation he notes his "immense admiration" for Countrywide as a company. Countrywide can be found on the Web at http://www.countrywide.com.

Clear Capital, a property valuation outsourcing firm based in Truckee, Calif., has announced the hiring of Dave Shepard as vice president and Scott Richardson as director of product development to lead the company's new Appraisal Division.The pair will immediately begin a search for an appraiser staff and a network of experienced appraisers across the country, the company said. Mr. Shepard, a third-generation real estate professional with 35 years' experience as an appraiser, has built and led appraisal departments for the National Lending Center, Centex Home Equity, Goldman Sachs, and New Century, Clear Capital said. Mr. Richardson worked most recently for Collateral Risk Solutions managing the review and reconciliation of appraisal and other valuation products. He was previously the due diligence manager for Countrywide Securities. Clear Capital can be found online at http://www.clearcapital.com.

Joseph H. Badal will retire as senior executive vice president and chief lending officer of Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., effective Dec. 31.Mr. Badal, who will also leave his position as one of Thornburg's directors, will be succeeded as senior EVP and chief lending officer by Paul Decoff. Mr. Badal joined Thornburg as a founding director in 1993 and was named to his current positions in 2001, the company said. Mr. Decoff joined Thornburg in January 2007 after 13 years at Countrywide Financial Corp., where he was most recently managing director and chief operations officer at Countrywide Bank. Thornburg, a real estate investment trust, can be found on the Web at http://www.thornburgmortgage.com.

Luminent Mortgage Capital, San Francisco, a struggling real estate investment trust that invests in mortgage-backed securities, says its chief financial officer has resigned effective Dec. 31.The resignation comes a few weeks after Luminent disclosed that Deloitte & Touche had quit as its independent auditor. The company said Christopher Zyda, its CFO and senior vice president, resigned because he did not want to relocate to Philadelphia when Luminent closes its San Francisco headquarters and moves its operations there. Luminent has already named vice president and controller Karen Chang to replace Mr. Zyda. Meanwhile, Luminent recently sued HSBC Capital, alleging that the lender wrongfully confiscated about $24 million in mortgage bonds that served as collateral for lines of credit. Luminent says HSBC seized the bonds this summer in regard to what it calls an "unreasonable" $5.75 million margin call. HSBC "confiscated the bonds for itself at an artificially steep discount by exploiting an aberrational market," Luminent says. HSBC has declined to comment on the lawsuit. The REIT can be found online at http://www.luminentcapital.com.

The CtW Investment Group, a nonprofit pension fund advisory group, wants Angelo Mozilo to resign as chairman and chief executive of Countrywide Financial Group, saying his "insider" stock sales have destroyed shareholder confidence in him.CtW advises union pension funds affiliated with Change to Win, which has 6 million union members. William Patterson, executive director of CtWIG, wrote to Countrywide lead director Harley Snyder, calling on the company's board to fire Mr. Mozilo. Change to Win unions hold about 3.5 million shares of Countrywide stock. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently opened an informal investigation into Mr. Mozilo's stock sales, which have totaled about $300 million over the past three years. In past interviews, Mr. Mozilo has defended his disposition of stock, noting that all sales have been disclosed and pre-arranged. At deadline time, Countrywide's spokesman Rick Simon had not returned a telephone call and e-mail message about the matter.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an informal investigation into the stock sales of Countrywide Financial Corp. founder, chairman, and chief executive Angelo Mozilo, according to combined news reports.The company has declined to comment on the matter. Over the past three years Mr. Mozilo has exercised options and sold shares, but last fall he made changes in his stock selling program to accelerate sales. The stock sales have been made under a planned program referred to as 10b5-1. The North Carolina state treasurer -- on behalf of state pension funds that own Countrywide stock -- recently asked the SEC to investigate Mr. Mozilo's stock sales. This spring, in an interview with National Mortgage News, the Countrywide CEO addressed critics who had questioned his massive selling. He said if he kept all the shares, he'd have to pay taxes on them. "These critics expect me to hold my shares forever?" he said. Countrywide can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has announced the leadership of its 2008 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Board of Governors, which focuses on commercial/multifamily real estate finance policy issues and initiatives.The officers of the 30-member COMBOG are: Steven K. Graves, chief operating officer of Principal Real Estate Investors, chair; Daryl J. Carter, chairman and CEO of Avanath Capital Partners, vice chair; and David A. Roberts, president and CEO of Collateral Real Estate Capital LLC, vice chair. The announcement was made at the 94th Annual Mortgage Bankers Association Convention & Expo in Boston.

Robert H. Griffith, senior vice president at Bank of America, Charlotte, N.C., has been elected chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association's Residential Board of Governors, and Timothy C. Dale, executive vice president of BB&T, Wilson, N.C., has been elected vice chairman.The MBA also elected nine new members of RESBOG, the 57-member governing body for the MBA's residential/single-family members, which is responsible for identifying legislative and regulatory policies on single-family residential lending and for making recommendations to the MBA's board of directors. The announcements were made at the association's 94th Annual Convention & Expo in Boston. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Lidio V. Soriano has been named to the newly created position of executive vice president in charge of the retail banking and mortgage divisions of Oriental Financial Group Inc., San Juan, Puerto Rico.Mr. Soriano, 38, was previously head of Citibank's consumer mortgage operations in Puerto Rico. He also held several senior positions at Doral, including president of Doral Money, a New York-based subsidiary of Doral Bank specializing in commercial and construction mortgage. Oriental can be found on the Web at http://www.orientalfg.com.

Industry veteran Linda Simmons has been named to the newly created position of senior vice president of business development at Overture Technologies, a Bethesda, Md.-based developer of automated underwriting systems for the mortgage industry.Overture said the move is part of a plan to expand its market share in the mortgage segment. Ms. Simmons has over 20 years of executive experience in the mortgage banking industry. Before joining Overture, she was an associate partner for IBM Global Services' Business Consulting Services division. She was previously a partner with the Stratmor Group and a principal in Simmons Solutions. The company can be found online at http://www.overturetechnologies.com.

Lisa MacMillen has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.Ms. MacMillen has been the FHLBank's senior vice president and corporate secretary since 1998. She also served as general counsel from 1998 to 2005. The FHLBank can be found on the Web at http://www.fhlbsf.com.

Michael Pralle has joined J.E. Robert Cos., McLean, Va., as president and chief operating officer.Mr. Pralle will be responsible for driving the strategic growth of JER and managing the company's operations, as the company continues to expand its global investment platform, JER said. JER sources, underwrites, and manages real estate equity and debt investments in the United States, Europe, and some emerging markets. Mr. Pralle was most recently president and chief executive officer of GE Real Estate, managing a global portfolio of assets. His career at GE spanned 18 years. "Michael's network of relationships in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia will be of invaluable importance as we continue to strategically grow our business," said Joseph E. Robert Jr., chairman and CEO of J.E. Robert.