Career moves

Myron "Mike" Filarski has been named president of KeyBank Mortgage, a division of KeyBank NA's Community Bank.Mr. Filarski, who has more than three decades of experience in the financial services industry, was most recently senior vice president of mortgage lending with Fifth Third Bank. He will be "spearheading a significant effort to increase mortgage originations throughout Key's 13-state footprint," the company said.

Felix DeHerrera, president of the Texas-based Southwest Alliance, has been named chairman of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.Rebecca Gallardo-Serrano, a member of NAHREP's executive committee and national board, will succeed Mr. DeHerrera as vice chairman. Mr. DeHerrera started NAHREP's first affiliate chapter in 2000 in Las Vegas. He and his wife, Christine, own a real estate office and a mortgage brokerage in Las Vegas, as well as a majority share of Southwest Alliance of Asset Managers, a management and marketing contractor for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ms. Gallardo-Serrano is a Silicon Valley-based Realtor and managing partner of Protelo Group Real Estate Services. NAHREP can be found online at http://www.nahrep.org.

Fiserv senior vice president Dan Welbaum has been hired as chief marketing officer at Mequon, Wis.-based Mortgagebot, MortgageWire has learned.Mr. Welbaum, long the head of sales and marketing for the Fiserv easyLender Products business unit, will be responsible for developing and executing Mortgagebot's marketing strategy, including overseeing industry partnerships and marketing communication efforts. Before joining Fiserv, Mr. Welbaum served in a management capacity at such organizations as Unisys, Bisys, Convergys, and The Kirchman Corp. In 1993, he joined the senior management team of the former Florida Informanagement Services, where as SVP of sales and marketing he helped build the company in preparation for its acquisition by Fiserv in 1997. Mortgagebot can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagebot.com.

James E. Gilleran, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, will leave his post effective this April.The bank’s board of directors has elected Richard Riccobono, the bank’s chief operating officer, to succeed Mr. Gilleran. Mr. Gilleran has agreed to continue as a consultant until the end of this year. Mr. Riccobono joined the bank as COO in August of 2005. Prior he was acting director at the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Rick E. Smith and Steve Paton have been hired to head up Marix, a new specialty loan servicing and loss mitigation business that is slated to begin operations soon at Marathon Asset Management LLC, New York.Both were formerly employed by Mortgage Lenders Network USA, which recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (Marathon had considered investing in the struggling MLN, which was once a top-15 subprime lender.) Mr. Smith was senior vice president of loan administration at MLN, and previously worked for Key Bank Corp., Chase Manhattan Mortgage, ContiMortgage Corp. and Associates Credit Services, among other companies. Mr. Paton was responsible for MLN's Arizona operations, and was formerly employed at Chase Home Finance, ContiMortgage, Associates Credit Services, and Fleet Mortgage, among other companies.

Joyce S. Mizerak has resigned as president of Hanover Capital Partners 2 Ltd. and senior managing director of Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., Edison, N.J.John A. Burchett, chairman and chief executive officer of Hanover Capital Mortgage, a real estate investment trust, said Ms. Mizerak was a cofounder of the mortgage REIT's predecessor firm in 1989. "However, in light of the recent sale of the due diligence business of Hanover Capital Partners 2 Ltd., Joyce has decided to leave the firm to pursue other opportunities," he said. The REIT can be found online at http://www.hanovercapitalholdings.com.

David B. Little has been named executive vice president of customer relations at EMC Mortgage Corp., Lewisville, Texas.Mr. Little was most recently vice president of default services at Household International/HSBC North America, where he held various positions in servicing and default operations since 1983. In addition to managing approximately 600 employees in EMC's customer care and default management operations, Mr. Little will oversee the company's second site in Irvine, Calif., which is scheduled to open in the spring, EMC reported. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.emcmortgage.com.

Phil Huff has stepped down as president and chief executive officer of eLynx, a Cincinnati-based provider of electronic document delivery systems for mortgage lenders, handing over the posts on an interim basis to Sharon Matthews.Mr. Huff, who retains his membership on the eLynx board of directors, will assist in the executive transition and support the company's sales and business development efforts, eLynx said. "Under Phil's leadership, the company has firmly secured its position in mortgage banking; acquired SwiftView [a provider of electronic document viewing software]; and established a foothold in the insurance sector," said Todd Wilson of American Capital Strategies Ltd., which purchased eLynx in 2004. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.elynx.com.

Peter Goldberg has been named president of Ohio Savings Bank/Am Trust Bank, a major mortgage lender based in Cleveland, replacing Robert Goldberg, who had served in that post since 1971.Robert Goldberg will now become chief executive officer of the financial institution. Peter Goldberg has been employed by Ohio Savings for more than 15 years in various capacities, most recently as chief operating officer, the lender reported. Ohio Savings can be found online at http://www.ohiosavings.com, and Am Trust can be found at http://www.amtrustdirect.com.

After serving five years on the Federal Reserve Board, Susan Schmidt Bies said she will step down as a Fed governor effective March 30 to spend more time with her family.Known for her expertise in risk management and regulatory issues, Ms. Bies has been an advocate for modernizing the Basel capital standards and tightening mortgage underwriting standards. "Her leadership at the board was most evident in guiding our efforts in banking policy and community affairs," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said. Prior to her appointment to the Fed, Ms. Bies was the chief risk management officer at First Tennessee National Corp., which is now First Horizon National Corp. "The opportunity I have had to serve my country on the Federal Reserve Board is an honor I will treasure always," Ms. Bies says in her resignation letter to President Bush. Her departure will mean that the president has two vacancies on the board to fill.

John Bonfiglio, a group managing director at Fitch Ratings, has been named head of U.S. Structured Finance at the rating agency.Fitch said the appointment expands Mr. Bonfiglio's role to include executive leadership for the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities group in addition to his responsibilities for the U.S. commercial MBS and U.S. asset-backed securities areas. He will also continue to lead Fitch's Global Performance Analytics working group. Mr. Bonfiglio joined Fitch in 1993, was co-head of Fitch's commercial mortgage group from 1997 to 2000, and was responsible for the residential mortgage group from 2001 to 2004, the rating agency said. In 2004, he took over Fitch's commercial mortgage, real estate investment trust, and asset-backed groups. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Michelle Minier, an 11-year veteran of IndyMac Bank, has assumed full duties as chief executive officer at the bank's reverse mortgage subsidiary, Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp., Irvine, Calif., as part of a management succession plan announced in July 2006.Since then, Ms. Minier has been sharing co-CEO responsibilities with Jim Mahoney, who will stay on as chairman of the board. Before joining Financial Freedom, Ms. Minier served as executive vice president in charge of Central Mortgage Operations and continues to be a member of IndyMac Bank's Executive Committee, IndyMac said. She was previously assistant controller, president of warehouse lending, and executive vice president and president of business-to-business lending at the company.

Mary Kelsch, a senior director at Fitch Ratings, has been named to oversee the newly merged U.S. RMBS Servicer Rating and Originator Review teams of Fitch's Operational Risk Group."Consolidating the two [residential mortgage-backed securities] Operational Risk teams under a single manager will allow the synergy needed during this cycle in the industry," said Diane Pendley, a Fitch managing director. "The quality of origination, uniqueness of products, and issues such as early payment defaults and fraud greatly impact the actions of the servicer. In reverse, the servicer's ability to monitor and report on these issues, as well as to contain or control defaults and losses they may cause, should be brought back into the review of the originators' platforms." Ms. Kelsch, a 10-year veteran of Fitch, was instrumental in developing the company's RMBS servicer rating program, the rating agency said.

Flushing Financial Corp., Lake Success, N.Y., has announced the retirement of Robert Callicut, senior vice president of Flushing Savings Bank's Residential Real Estate Mortgage Department.Mr. Callicut is a 43-year veteran of the banking industry, and has been with Flushing Savings for 11 years, Flushing Financial reported. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.flushingsavings.com.

Three key Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee have criticized Fannie Mae and its regulator for approving a 25% pay raise for the government-sponsored enterprise's president and chief executive officer, Daniel Mudd, who received $14.4 million in compensation last year."We are quite surprised that the board of Fannie Mae would sign off on this compensation package at a time when they have paid $1.4 billion in accounting and consulting fees to clean up their financial mess, and they are still two years behind in financial reporting," says a statement issued by GOP Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, John Sununu of New Hampshire, and Mel Martinez of Florida. (Sen. Martinez is a former housing secretary.) Mr. Mudd received base pay of $950,000 in 2006, plus a $3.5 million bonus and 176,506 shares of restricted common stock. (In recent days Fannie's stock has been trading at $56. Based on that figure, the restricted stock would be worth $9.8 million.) "We are equally surprised that the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight approved this pay raise," the three said. The senators have asked OFHEO for an explanation.

John Vella has been named president and chief executive officer of EMC Mortgage Corp., Lewisville, Texas, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Cos.Mr. Vella, who joined EMC as president and chief operating officer in March 2006, replaces former chairman and CEO Ralene Ruyle, who announced her retirement in December. (Ms. Ruyle will officially retire at the end of May.) Before joining EMC, Mr. Vella served as the president and COO of Aames Investment Corp., chief sales officer and chief administrative officer of Option One Mortgage Corp., and managing director of GMAC/RFC. He also held executive posts at Freddie Mac, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. EMC can be found online at http://www.emcmortgagecorp.com.

Edward F. Lange Jr. has been promoted from chief financial officer of BRE Properties Inc., San Francisco, to executive vice president and chief operating officer.Mr. Lange, 47, has been CFO since 2000 and will continue in that post until a successor is named, the real estate investment trust said. He was previously CFO of Health Care REIT Inc. and a senior vice president at Mediplex Group Inc. and affiliated companies. BRE Properties, an apartment REIT, can be found on the Web at http://www.breproperties.com.

Ron Duff of Fiserv Lending Solutions has been elected to chair the Governance Committee of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, taking over from David Barkley of Freddie Mac, who has chaired the panel since its inception in 2000.Nancee Gorenstein of MGIC and Lisa Bolelli of First American Real Estate Information Services were elected vice-chairs. The committee also re-elected the following members: Chris Anderson of Gallagher Financial Systems; Jim Cooke of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll; David Erkes of GMAC Residential Holding Corp.; Roger Gudobba of VMP/Wolters Kluwer; Michael Levine of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Shannon Lloyd of Fannie Mae; Kelly Romeo of the American Land Title Association; and Wendy Sadeh of Bridger Commercial Funding. The Governance Committee consists of 20 MISMO subscriber organizations that serve two-year terms, with half the seats up for election each year. MISMO, which was established by the Mortgage Bankers Association, develops electronic commerce standards for the mortgage industry. The organization can be found online at http://www.mismo.org.

Fannie Mae president and chief executive officer Daniel Mudd received a 27.5% increase in take-home pay and bonuses in 2006 largely due to a $3.5 million bonus.Mr. Mudd received a $950,000 salary last year along with the bonus. The company's board of directors also awarded Mr. Mudd 176,506 shares of restricted common stock. He currently holds 492,206 restricted shares, according to a Jan. 25 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In 2005, the Fannie Mae president and CEO received a $908,121 salary and a $2.6 million bonus. The board also increased his 2007 salary by $40,000, to $990,000. The government-sponsored enterprise can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.

A senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., is expected to be the new housing subcommittee chairman, according to sources, although it has not been officially announced.The housing subcommittee has jurisdiction over the housing government-sponsored enterprises, and the New York senator has fiercely opposed Bush administration efforts to substantially cut the size of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's mortgage portfolios. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., was the ranking Democrat on the housing subcommittee last year, but he is going to chair the securities and investment subcommittee. Sen. Reed is the author of a proposal that would require Fannie and Freddie to contribute 5% of their profits toward an affordable housing fund.