Career moves

Leading mortgage originator and industry trainer Greg Frost will now originate loans for First Houston Mortgage, Houston.He will maintain his position as president and chief executive of Albuquerque, N.M.-based Frost Mortgage, and his company will now originate loans for First Houston. He has a 9% market share in Albuquerque, and the company will retain its name for marketing purposes. Most recently, Frost Mortgage had been affiliated with the now-bankrupt First Magnus Mortgage, Tucson, Ariz. Mr. Frost is also vice president of new product development for LoanToolbox.com. "At this time of market instability, I wanted to go with a lender that has a great reputation," Mr. Frost said. "First Houston has the processes and technology that complements our own. For example, they have a truly paperless system, a wide variety of lending products, and a conversion support level that simplifies the way we do business." First Houston Mortgage can be found online at http://www.firsthouston.com.

David W. Berson, longtime chief economist at Fannie Mae, has been named chief economist and strategist of The PMI Group Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif.Mr. Berson's responsibilities will include domestic and global market research and planning, support of government relations, and public policy and strategic environmental planning, PMI said. He will also act as a PMI spokesman on topics related to global economic housing as well as mortgage market conditions and policy. At Fannie Mae, where he was vice president and chief economist since 1989, Mr. Berson advised the company on national and regional economic, housing, and mortgage policy and conditions. Mr. Berson previously held senior management positions at Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates and teaching positions at the University of Michigan, Claremont McKenna College, and Claremont Graduate School. PMI can be found online at http://www.pmigroup.com.

Frederic R. "Rick" McGill has been named president of Downey Financial Corp., Newport Beach, Calif., and its wholly owned thrift subsidiary, Downey Savings and Loan Association FA, effective Oct. 29.Mr. McGill will replace Daniel D. Rosenthal as president of the two entities, but Mr. Rosenthal will continue as chief executive officer of Downey and the thrift, Downey said. Mr. McGill has over 30 years of experience in the finance industry, most recently as a consultant to Banco Popular North America. He was previously president and chief executive officer of Quaker City Bancorp and Quaker City Bank until the holding company's sale to Banco Popular. Downey can be found on the Web at http://www.downeysavings.com.

Shawn Matthews and Scott Moore have been promoted to senior managing directors and co-heads of Cantor Fitzgerald's mortgage-backed securities sales and trading business.The company said the promotions were made in conjunction with a "renewed commitment" to the MBS market. Mr. Matthews is based in New York, and Mr. Moore is based in Chicago. "The dislocation of the mortgage-backed securities market is a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on Scott's and Shawn's superb capabilities," said Howard W. Lutnick, chairman and chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.cantor.com.

Jeffrey M. Peek, chairman and chief executive officer of CIT Group Inc., has resigned from the board of directors of Freddie Mac, citing a desire to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in connection with a proposed purchase by Freddie of securities backed by CIT mortgages.CIT Group has announced an agreement to sell Freddie Mac $3.5 billion to $4.2 billion of triple-A rated securities backed by approximately $6 billion of residential mortgages. Richard F. Syron, chairman and CEO of Freddie Mac, expressed disappointment that Mr. Peek would be leaving the board and praised his "experience and insight," which he said have been "enormously valuable to Freddie Mac." The government-sponsored enterprise can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Peter Muriungi has been named senior vice president at EMC Mortgage, Lewisville, Texas, and he will head the company's Financial Analytics and Structured Transactions (F.A.S.T.) and business information teams.Since joining EMC in 1999, Mr. Muriungi has been involved with the development and deployment of default risk models, deal performance analytics, and other valuation models as part of the F.A.S.T. and business information groups. EMC, a subsidiary of Bear Stearns, developed the F.A.S.T. system.

James Ferris has been named executive director of NeighborWorks Capital, the newly formed real estate development financing arm of NeighborWorks America.Mr. Ferris, 50, joined the organization from the Fannie Mae Foundation, where he had been senior director of national initiatives since 2004. He is based in Washington, D.C. NeighborWorks Capital is the result of a recent merger of Neighborhood Capital Corp. and RNA Community Builders, which served NeighborWorks organizations enrolled in specific initiatives such as multifamily real estate development and rural housing and community development. In contrast, NeighborWorks Capital will serve the full range of real estate development activities, including affordable rental housing, affordable homeownership housing, and commercial projects, NeighborWorks America said. It will also offer new products to serve its expanded market. The parent organization can be found online at http://www.nw.org.

Peter DiMartino, a well known research analyst, has been named senior managing director and asset-backed and mortgage credit strategist at Bear, Stearns & Co.Mr. DiMartino was most recently the chief asset-backed security/mortgage credit strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital for four years. He was previously employed for 14 years at Citigroup (formerly Salomon Brothers), where he was a director and head of the ABS and Mortgage Credit Research group, Bear Stearns said. Bear can be found on the Web at http://www.bearstearns.com.

Landon V. Taylor has been named president of the Strategic Markets Division of First American Title Insurance Co., Santa Ana, Calif.Mr. Taylor, who has also been appointed to First American Title's board of directors, will head "an aggressive, national market-penetration strategy" aimed at advancing the company's position in the multicultural real estate market, First American Title said. He has been responsible for the company's "strategic markets business strategy" since 2003, and held other executive posts since joining First American 10 years ago as a branch manager. Mr. Taylor was also "instrumental in the formation" of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals and the Asian Real Estate Association of America, among other organizations, the company said. First American Title is the largest subsidiary of The First American Corp., which can be found online at http://www.firstam.com.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's top supervisor, Leonard Reid -- who has been overseeing Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's efforts to correct their accounting problems -- is retiring, according to the agency.Mr. Reid joined OFHEO in 2001 and became the agency's first director of supervision in March 2006. "I am very grateful for his stewardship during the completion of the special examination of Fannie Mae and his leadership in overseeing the remediation efforts under way at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," OFHEO Director James Lockhart said. In other personnel news, Freddie Mac said it has hired Patti Saylor to be vice president with responsibilities for multifamily customer and product strategy. Ms. Saylor was previously a managing director at Centerline Capital Group, New York.

Wachovia Securities, Charlotte, N.C., has announced the appointment of four managing directors to head up its newly integrated commercial real estate platform, which consists of two business lines: Real Estate Americas and Real Estate Asset Management.Lawrence Gray and Robert Verrone have been named co-heads of Real Estate Americas, Leslie Fairbanks has been named co-head of Real Estate Asset Management, and Dan Sullivan has been named interim co-head, effective Oct. 1, of Real Estate Asset Management. Real Estate Americas includes coverage teams for all domestic real estate clients, commercial mortgage-backed securities, structured finance, real estate corporate banking, tax credit and agency finance, real estate syndications, and sales and trading of real estate collateralized debt obligations, the company said. Real Estate Asset Management includes CMBS servicing, construction loan underwriting, and construction loan portfolio management. Wachovia Securities can be found on the Web at http://www.wachovia.com.

Donna Brandin, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Equity Residential, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, has resigned effective Sept. 14.The company said Ms. Brandin is resigning "to pursue other professional and personal interests, not as a result of any disagreement with the company regarding financial or accounting practices." John G. Lennox, 53, a senior vice president of financial planning and analysis, will serve as interim CFO, and the company said it will immediately conduct a search for a replacement CFO. Mr. Lennox has held various positions in more than 23 years at Equity Residential and its predecessor companies, the company said. The REIT can be found online at http://www.equityresidential.com.

Jess Lederman has been named chief risk officer of Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., filling a post recently vacated by John P. McMurray, who was named chief risk officer at Washington Mutual Inc.Mr. Lederman joined Countrywide in 2005 and served as Countrywide's managing director of products and pricing before being named to his new role, the company said. In his new role, Mr. Lederman will lead Countrywide's credit and counterparty risk management efforts and have oversight responsibility for market and operational risks. In addition, Mr. Lederman will be responsible for all mortgage insurance and credit enhancement relationships, and the company's model validation process. A 27-year industry veteran, Mr. Lederman began his career in the financial services industry in senior positions with Sears Mortgage Securities Corp. and Bear Stearns, where he co-founded two of the first private-sector counterparts to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He later built the mortgage banking business of Ohio Savings Bank.

Enterprise lending software vendor Mortgage Cadence Inc., Denver, has added Michael Hammond to its executive team as chief marketing officer.Mr. Hammond has nearly 15 years of experience in brand building, product launches, and developing marketing and sales strategies. Before joining Mortgage Cadence, he worked as vice president of business strategy for Martopia, a mortgage marketing and public relations firm. Mr. Hammond previously worked for nine years as director of sales and marketing for loan origination system vendor Dynatek. In addition, Mr. Hammond is one of only 50 individuals to earn the Certified Mortgage Technologist designation from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage Cadence can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagecadence.com.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has quietly promoted Keith Pedigo and appointed his former deputy Judy Caden to be the new director of the VA home loan program.Mr. Pedigo served as director of the VA Loan Guarantee Service for 20 years, and he said in an interview that he appreciated the industry's support for his efforts to improve the VA loan program. In his new position as associate deputy under secretary for policy and program management, Mr. Pedigo is responsible for coordinating the activities of VA benefit programs, including the home loan program. Ms. Caden was deputy director of the home loan program until she left in 2000 to be the director of education benefits and later the director of vocational rehabilitation and employment services. "When the opportunity to return to loan guarantee came up, I grabbed it," she said.

The American Land Title Association has reported that its top executive, James Maher, is retiring after 23 years of service to the title industry."It has been my privilege to serve as executive vice president, and I look forward to serving in a consulting capacity," Mr. Maher said. He joined ALTA after working as a Department of Housing and Urban Development attorney, and he was a fierce critic of HUD's 2002 proposal to reform the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to allow the bundling of title and other settlement services. HUD later withdrew the proposal. ALTA's board of directors has formed a search committee to find a new EVP. The association can be found on the Web at http://www.alta.org.

The McGraw-Hill Cos. replaced the head of its Standard & Poor's unit on Thursday as criticism continued to mount that S&P (and other rating agencies) did not closely scrutinize the underlying subprime loans in the bonds it rated.Leaving S&P as its president is Kathleen Corbet. She will be replaced by Deven Sharma. A spokesman for McGraw-Hill denied that Ms. Corbet's departure is tied to criticism faced by S&P on its subprime MBS ratings. (When mortgage lenders securitize subprime loans, they pay the rating agencies to review and grade the bonds.) One mortgage insurance executive told MortgageWire that the rating agencies "have a lot to explain for their role in the subprime crisis." He added: "If you were a rating agency and wanted the business of a certain subprime lender, would you give them a bad grade?" S&P can be found online at http://www.standardandpoors.com.

Donna Burge has been named president of Baird & Warner Financial Services, a Chicago-based mortgage company that bills itself as the oldest residential real estate brokerage in the nation.Ms. Burge, 55, was most recently the company's chief operating officer. She has been a mortgage banker since 1977, the company said. Baird & Warner can be found on the Web at http://www.bairdwarner.com.

GMAC Financial Services has named Alvaro G. de Molina to the newly created position of chief operating officer.Mr. Molina will be responsible for GMAC’s real estate finance and commercial finance businesses, and for all of GMAC’s global finance and risk functions. Mr. de Molina previously worked for Cerberus Capital Management, the company that led a team of investors to buy 51% of GMAC Financial Services in late 2006. Previous to joining Cerberus in June 2007, Mr. de Molina was chief financial officer at Bank of America.

Monte N. Redman, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Astoria Financial Corp., the Lake Success, N.Y.-based holding company for Astoria Federal Savings and Loan Association, has been named president and chief operating officer of the company.Mr. Redman, 56, has been employed by Astoria Federal for more than 30 years. Astoria also announced the promotion of Frank E. Fusco, 44, from senior vice president and treasurer to executive vice president, treasurer, and CFO. George L. Engelke Jr., 68, will yield the title of president to Mr. Redman while retaining his titles as chairman and chief executive officer, Astoria said. The holding company said identical corporate title changes were also made at Astoria Federal. The company also reported that its board of directors has rescinded the mandatory retirement policy for executive officers, which had previously required the retirement of any executive reaching the age of 70. The company can be found online at http://www.astoriafederal.com.