Career moves

Charles M. Pinckney has been named chief operating officer of Baltimore-based Municipal Mortgage & Equity LLC and will also serve as MuniMae's interim chief financial officer.The CFO position is being vacated by Melanie M. Lundquist, who resigned after accepting a job as CFO with Haven Custom Homes Inc., MuniMae reported. Mr. Pinckney was most recently executive vice president in charge of the company's MMA Realty Capital business. He joined MuniMae in 2000 when it purchased Whitehawk Capital, a real estate finance business co-founded by Mr. Pinckney. MuniMae also announced the completion of audited financial statements for MuniMae TE Bond Subsidiary LLC, which holds a majority of the company's tax-exempt bond investments. MuniMae can be found online at http://www.munimae.com.

Terry Brubaker, president and chief operating officer of Gladstone Commercial Corp., McLean, Va., has been named vice chairman of the board, and George "Chip" Stelljes has been named to replace him as president.Mr. Brubaker will retain his positions as COO and secretary, and Mr. Stelljes will retain his post as chief investment officer, the company said. Mr. Stelljes was previously executive vice president of the company since its inception in 2003. Gladstone is a real estate investment trust that focuses on investing in and owning triple-net-leased industrial and commercial properties. It can be found on the Web at http://www.gladstonecommercial.com.

Randy Lightbody has been named executive vice president of reverse mortgages at Countrywide, America's Wholesale Lender, which offers reverse mortgages through Countrywide Bank FSB, Calabasas, Calif.Mr. Lightbody, who brings 20 years of experience as a senior mortgage banking executive, served most recently as managing director of prime wholesale and correspondent lending for New Century Mortgage. He was previously an executive director at Morgan Stanley, where he led sales efforts for the whole-loan conduit, and held executive positions at Bank One Corp. and PMI Mortgage Insurance, among other companies. Countrywide's wholesale channel, a subsidiary of Countrywide Financial Corp., can be found on the Web at https://www.cwbc.com.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis has selected its former chief financial officer Milton J. Miller II to be the bank's new president and chief executive officer.Mr. Miller first joined the Indianapolis bank in 1978 and served as CFO from 1985 to December 2006, when he retired. He is expected to assume his new duties July 16. "Miller's extensive experience in the financial markets will be a tremendous asset as the bank continues to address the challenges of the evolving financial and mortgage product marketplace," board chairman Paul Chabuesch said. The Indianapolis FHLBank has a mortgage purchase program and a $9.96 billion mortgage portfolio. Brian Fike has served as interim president and CEO since last November, when Martin Heger retired after 15 years as the bank's top executive. The FHLBank can be found on the Web at http://www.fhlbi.com.

Thomas W. Nadeau has been named president and chief executive officer of the mortgage banking and consumer lending divisions of Sovereign Bank.Mr. Nadeau was most recently executive vice president and managing director of the automotive finance and aviation lending groups, and he will retain his managerial responsibilities for those groups, Sovereign said. Since joining Sovereign Bank in 1997, Mr. Nadeau has held various responsibilities, including the establishment of the Structured Real Estate Group, which specializes in lending to real estate investment trusts. He was previously employed by Fleet Bank, BayBanks, and Plymouth Home National Bank. Sovereign Bank, based in Wyomissing, Pa., can be found online at http://www.sovereignbank.com.

J.P. Marinelli has been named managing director and head of the Real Estate Group of Citi Capital Strategies, New York.Mr. Marinelli has 24 years of experience in investment banking and corporate finance, including real-estate-related investment banking, Citi Capital said. He was most recently senior managing director of Horvath Hospitality and Leisure LLC. Mr. Marinelli previously led the real estate banking department of Berenson & Co., held a senior position in the real estate investment banking group at Prudential Securities, and developed the hospitality industry practice for PaineWebber's real estate investment banking group, Citi Capital reported. He also held various posts in London with Lehman Brothers and Kidder-Peabody/PaineWebber. Citi Capital can be found online at http://www.citicapitalstrategies.com.

Jess Hartmann has been named president of Mortgage Coach, a provider of mortgage planning software based in Irvine, Calif.Mr. Hartmann was most recently the chief executive officer of ISD Corp., a software development and services firm. Before joining ISD, he was the senior vice president and chief information officer at New Horizons, which Mortgage Coach said is the largest information technology training company in the world. The company pointed to Mr. Hartmann's "proven track record" of expanding companies and said it plans to use his expertise "to further penetrate the mortgage market and capitalize on the vast potential caused by the growing trend toward mortgage planning." Mortgage Coach can be found online at http://www.mortgagecoach.com.

Jeffrey B. Lane has been named chairman and chief executive officer of the troubled Bear Stearns Asset Management, according to The Bear Stearns Cos.Richard Marin, former BSAM chairman and chief executive officer, will remain with BSAM as a senior adviser to Mr. Lane. Before joining BSAM, Mr. Lane was a vice chairman of Lehman Brothers and chairman of Neuberger Berman Inc. He was previously vice chairman of Travelers Group and of the company's Smith Barney subsidiary. Merrill Lynch recently liquidated approximately $850 million in subprime-related assets seized from at least one Bear Stearns hedge fund after the fund failed to meet its margin calls. In a subsequent conference call, Bear Stearns chief financial officer Sam Molinaro said the Wall Street firm was trying to restructure the hedge fund (and a similar one) but that the process could take several months.

Robert M. Dunn has been named president of Oxford Funding Corp., a Houston-based asset resolution company specializing in the purchase and restructuring of subprime residential and commercial mortgage portfolios.Mr. Dunn was most recently the owner and manager of San Felipe Commercial Mortgage, which Oxford Funding recently announced its intention to acquire. He was previously president of Angelina Capital Corp., a mortgage lender, from 1992 to 1998. Oxford has also announced that it plans to acquire Huntington Financial Corp., a Houston-based commercial and residential mortgage broker. Oxford Funding can be found on the Web at http://www.oxfordfunding.com.

American Financial Realty Trust, Jenkintown, Pa., has reported that its president and chief executive officer, Harold "Hal" W. Pote, died suddenly and unexpectedly while vacationing with his wife this week in Turkey.Mr. Pote, 60, had served as president and CEO of the real estate investment trust since August 2006. The company's board of trustees announced the formation of an interim office of the president, consisting of Glenn Blumenthal, chief operating officer; Edward Matey Jr., general counsel; and David Nettina, chief financial officer. They will report to the board and to mortgage industry veteran Lewis S. Ranieri, the board chairman. The company can be found online at http://www.afrt.com.

Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, has promoted John G. Stumpf to the position of president and chief executive officer.The former CEO, Dick Kovacevich, continues as chairman but plans to retire no later than the end of next year, when he will be 65. Mr. Stumpf joined Norwest Corp. in 1982 in the loan administration department of Norwest Bank Minneapolis NA. Norwest and Wells merged in 1998. In August 2005, he was named president and chief operating officer. Mr. Kovacevich lauded Mr. Stumpf's promotion, citing "his quarter century of experience with our company, his broad and deep understanding of our unique culture, his personal commitment to people as a competitive advantage, and his passion for our vision, values, and business model." Wells has what it calls a decentralized structure, with four executives overseeing different groups that answer to Mr. Stumpf, including Mark Oman, the senior executive vice president of the Home and Consumer Finance Group.

Three former executives of Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., pleaded guilty June 26 to insider trading in a scheme that generated more than $100,000 in profits.The three former executives (all vice presidents) are: Alan Cao and Quan Zhu, who worked in Countrywide's Calabasas, Calif. headquarters; and Jun Shi, who worked in the Thousand Oaks office of CFC's bank affiliate. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, the three traded on information relating to profits for the third quarter of 2004. The three obtained confidential information revealing that Countrywide would not meet analysts' expectations for that quarter and traded on it. Each man pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. According to the Quarterly Data Report, Countrywide is the nation's largest residential lender. The company can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.

Robert Couch has been sworn in as the new general counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and has given up his post as president of Ginnie Mae.HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson tapped Mr. Couch to be his general counsel in February after Keith Gottfried suddenly resigned. The former Mortgage Bankers Association chairman was the president and chief executive of New South Federal Savings Bank, Birmingham, Ala., and managing director of a mortgage banking company before his appointment to Ginnie Mae. Meanwhile, Ginnie executive vice president Michael Frenz will have day-to-day responsibility for running Ginnie Mae.

National City Home Equity, Cleveland, has announced a new organizational structure that creates two U.S. divisional sales territories: the Eastern Division, headed by Mike Kelly, and the Western Division, headed by Terry McChrystal.Mr. Kelly joined National City as the credit and business risk manager in 2000, the company said. He was previously head of operational risk management at Chase Manhattan Mortgage and held management post in Chase's consumer products division. National City said Mr. McChrystal joined the company in 2002 as retail sales manager and later managed sales support for National City Mortgage. He previously worked with Record Data Inc., TRW Real Estate Loan Services, Strategic Mortgage Services, and Mortgage Information Services. National City can be found online at http://www.nationalcity.com.

Dave Fauth has been named president and chief executive officer of Stewart Title of Minnesota and will serve as the Minnesota state manager for its underwriter, Stewart Title Guaranty Co.Both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Stewart Information Services Corp., Houston. Mr. Fauth was most recently co-owner and president of Alliance Title Co., a Stewart Title agency based in Hutchison, Minn. He held various positions with Stewart Title of Minnesota from 1994 to 2000, including president, the company said. Stewart can be found on the Web at http://www.stewart.com.

Nectar Kalajian has been named executive vice president for the West Coast region of Power Express Mortgage Bankers, a direct lender of jumbo home loans headquartered in Lake Success, N.Y.A 30-year veteran of the industry, Ms. Kalajian will be based at Power Express's Pasadena, Calif. office, the company said. She was most recently president of the retail division of Ownit Mortgage Solutions Inc., a California-based home lender that was partly owned by Merrill Lynch & Co. before it dissolved in late 2006. Before that, Ms. Kalajian was the founder and owner of Security Pacific Home Loans, a California-based direct lender that was acquired by Ownit. She previously held various executive posts at Countrywide Home Loans, rising to executive vice president.

Mark Sofyanos has been named national sales manager of Cleveland-based KeyBank Mortgage, a division of KeyBank NA's Community Bank.Before joining Key, Mr. Sofyanos served as a senior vice president and regional manager for Countrywide Home Loans in Chicago. He has also held national management positions with ABN Amro Mortgage and PNC Mortgage Corp. of America, both in Chicago, and with National City Bank in Columbus, Ohio, KeyBank said. KeyCorp, the parent company of KeyBank, can be found on the Web at http://www.key.com.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta has named Richard Dorfman, a former investment banker and mortgage market consultant, to be its new president and chief executive, effective June 20."Dorfman's extensive experience and knowledge in the financial services sector, including more than 25 years managing mortgage-related products, will be a tremendous asset to the bank," said board chairman Scott Harvard. The new FHLBank president was managing director and head of a mortgage division at ABN Amro from 1997 to 2005 and previously worked at Lehman Brothers. William Ott has served as interim president and CEO of the Atlanta FHLBank since Raymond Christman resigned. The bank can be found online at http://www.fhlbatl.com.

Paul Rodriguez has been named executive vice president of Sage Credit Co., a mortgage banking company headquartered in Irvine, Calif.Mr. Rodriquez was most recently managing director of Quick Loan Funding Inc. and chief executive officer of Wall St. Funding Inc. Sage said Mr. Rodriquez has two decades of mortgage experience. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.sagecreditcompany.com.

GMAC-ResCap associate counsel Julianne Linder has been elected to a new term as co-chair of the American Securitization Forum's residential mortgage-backed securities issuer subforum. Ms. Linder's term expires mid-year 2009. The other co-chair of the RMBS issuer subforum is Bill Felts, CitiMortgage senior vice president, director of mortgage finance. Mr. Felts is serving a term that ends mid-year 2008.