Career moves

John Fisk has been appointed chief operating officer of the Office of Finance, the debt issuance facility of the Federal Home Loan Banks.Mr. Fisk was previously deputy managing director of the Office of Finance, overseeing debt issuance, servicing, and strategic planning. Before joining the Office of Finance, he was executive vice-president of strategic planning at Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. He previously held a series of capital market and mortgage positions over 17 years at Freddie Mac, the Office of Finance reported. By the time of his departure in 2000, Mr. Fisk was executive vice-president, responsible for all single-family mortgage business. The Office of Finance can be found online at http://www.fhlb-of.com.

Raymond R. Christman will retire on Jan. 31 as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, according to the FHLBank.Mr. Christman oversaw the bank during a period in which it grew from $50 billion to $144 billion in assets and increased its affordable housing program grants, the FHLBank said. The bank said its board of directors has named William Ott as interim president and CEO. Mr. Ott is president of PEAC Ventures Inc., a firm that advises corporate boards and executives. He previously held senior positions at First Data Corp. and Bank of America. The FHLBank can be found on the Web at http://www.fhlbatl.com.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has announced that its president, Harry Dinham, will serve on Fannie Mae's National Housing Advisory Council.The NHAC, consisting of 46 members from the housing, mortgage finance, and government sectors, meets with Fannie Mae's senior management three times a year to help the company "address industry challenges and maximize market opportunities," the association said. Council members serve two-year terms, with approximately half of the membership rotating off at the end of each year. "Serving on the council gives me the opportunity to further advance the cause of both mortgage brokers and homeowners on a national scale," said Mr. Dinham. NAMB can be found on the Web at http://www.namb.org.

Troy Gotschall has resigned as executive vice president and chief production officer of ECC Capital Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Irvine, Calif., as a result of the company's decision to exit the mortgage origination business.The mortgage REIT noted that the decision was to exit the origination business after the consummation of a proposed transaction with Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corp. Mr. Gotschall will serve as a consultant to ECC to assist in the transition of his responsibilities, the company said. The REIT can be found online at http://www.encorecredit.com.

Scott C. Harvard, president and chief executive officer of Shore Bank, has been elected chairman of the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.Mr. Harvard, who is serving his second three-year term on the board, was originally elected by member financial institutions in Virginia. He has served as president and CEO of Shore Bank and its holding company, Shore Financial Corp., Onley, Va., since 1985, the FHLBank said. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta provides services to financial institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The FHLBank can be found on the Web at http://www.fhlbatl.com, and Shore Bank can be found at http://www.shorebank.com.

Ron Wilsie has been named chief operating officer of Preferred Financial Group Inc., a private mortgage lender based in Burlingame, Calif., and Gary Plooster has been named chief production officer.Mr. Wilsie was most recently president of WestWorks Mortgage in Southern California, which was formed in 1997 as a division of Western Financial Savings Bank, Preferred Financial said. Mr. Plooster was previously executive vice president for national wholesale production and operations at United Financial Mortgage Corp. Preferred Financial said it plans to expends its wholesale mortgage franchise into new geographic markets this year by adding production offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and Oregon. It can be found on the Web at http://www.preferredmortgage.com.

David Lowman, Chase's chief executive officer of Global Mortgage, has been given additional responsibilities in the areas of home equity, servicing, and default that combine all the company's consumer real estate lending businesses into one organization.Before joining Chase in November, Mr. Lowman was president and CEO of CitiFinancial International. Chase said he was previously chief servicing and technology officer for Citigroup's U.S. mortgage business; president and chief operating officer of CitiMortgage; and chief financial officer (among other positions) of Prudential Home Mortgage. Chase can be found online at http://www.chase.com.

LoanCity, a national wholesale lender based in San Jose, Calif., has announced that John C. Giagiari Jr. and Jeff Minch have joined the company as chief operating officer and national sales manager, respectively.For the past 10 years, Mr. Giagiari was director of subprime lending at Meritage Mortgage, a division of Netbank. Before joining Meritage, he was responsible for wholesale lending in Northern California for First Franklin Financial. Mr. Minch, who will have the title of senior vice president as well as national sales manager, has been national sales manager at Meritage since 2004. He was previously Eastern regional sales manager for Meritage, held strategy and operational posts at First Franklin, and founded OneHarbor, a financial planning service for customers of financial institutions. LoanCity can be found online at http://www.loancity.com.

Kenneth M. Duberstein -- one of the few remaining directors from the "Raines era" at Fannie Mae -- will step down on Feb. 15, according to a federal filing by the company.Mr. Duberstein has been a Fannie Mae director since 1998. He is chairman and chief executive of The Duberstein Group Inc., an independent strategic planning and consulting firm. In years past, Mr. Duberstein's lobbying firm has done work for the company. Mr. Raines was forced out of Fannie in December 2004 as the government-sponsored enterprise's accounting scandal widened. The Raines-era directors -- including Mr. Duberstein -- are defendants in a shareholder lawsuit that accuses board members (and current and former executives) of profiting from the GSE's accounting manipulations "via huge bonuses, improper stock sales and/or a web of lucrative personal" and financial interrelationships. Fannie Mae can be found on the Web at http://www.fanniemae.com.

Michael Forster has been named to the newly created position of chief financial officer at NeighborWorks America, a nonprofit community development and training organization based in Washington, D.C.Mr. Forster, who brings over 20 years of experience in accounting and management, was most recently vice president of finance and administration at the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. He was previously a consultant to the District of Columbia government. Ken Wade, chief executive officer of NeighborWorks, said the CFO post was created because community development "is growing increasingly complex, with participants ranging from very small nonprofit organizations to global financial institutions headquartered on Wall Street."

Chito Schnupp has been promoted to executive vice president of ComUnity Lending, Morgan Hill, Calif., and will join the company's Executive Leadership Team.Ms. Schnupp, a 20-year veteran of the mortgage industry, was most recently senior vice president for capital markets. Her new position will continue to focus on capital markets but will also be "heavily involved with the company's strategic planning and vision," the company said. Ms. Schnupp was previously employed by such lenders as Olympia Funding, Medallion Mortgage/AccuBank, First Franklin/National City Mortgage, and Wells Fargo. The company can be found online at http://www.comunitylending.com.

Kevin D. Race, president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer of Atlanta-based HomeBanc Corp., has been named chief executive officer of the company, replacing Patrick S. Flood.In addition, James B. Witherow, a director, has been named non-executive chairman of the board. During an investor conference call, Mr. Race said Mr. Flood, who was the company's chairman and CEO, left HomeBanc "to pursue other opportunities." Later, in response to a question, Mr. Witherow said there wasn't any "conflict" behind Mr. Flood's departure, but that HomeBanc is streamlining and this needs to come from the top, while Mr. Flood had built the organization for expansion. HomeBanc, which has been operating as a real estate investment trust, announced that it will focus on operating efficiencies and opportunities for growth and will not operate as a REIT in 2007. The company can be found online at http://www.homebanc.com.

Dom Cecere has been promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer of KB Home, a Los Angeles-based homebuilder, and Bill Hollinger has been promoted to senior vice president and chief accounting officer of the company.KB Home said Mr. Cecere has been CFO since joining the company in 2002, and he previously held senior management posts with Owens Corning, including chief operating officer. Mr. Hollinger has held several positions at KB Home since joining the company in 1987. KB Home can be found online at http://www.kbhome.com.

Sally French Tyler has been named president of the National Commercial Services Division of First American Title Insurance Co., Santa Ana, Calif.A 20-year veteran of the title insurance industry, Ms. French succeeds Curt Johnson, who was recently named president of First American Title. Working closely with Ms. Tyler will be Joseph J. Ghilardi, who has been named senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of National Commercial Services, the company said. First American Title is a subsidiary of The First American Corp., which can be found on the Web at http://www.firstam.com.

Joseph Falk, a past president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers and its current legislative chair, has been named to the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board.The council, which meets three times a year in Washington, D.C., advises the Fed on important policy issues related to consumer financial services. Mr. Falk will serve a three-year term on the council. He is a consultant with the law firm Akerman Senterfitt, where he serves as an expert on lending, brokering, insurance, and other business issues. Mr. Falk is one of 10 new members who were added to the Consumer Advisory Council.

Martin J. Levine, co-founder, executive vice president, and chief operating officer of Opteum Financial Services, will retire March 31, according to Opteum Financial's parent company, Opteum Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Vero Beach, Fla.Opteum said Mr. Levine will continue in his EVP role pending his retirement. Mr. Levine co-founded Opteum Financial in 1999 with Peter R. Norden, and he was previously the founder and president of First Builders Financial Corp., which merged with Olde Town Mortgage in 1989 to form First Town Mortgage Corp. Opteum also announced that Robert Filiberto and G. Hunter Haas IV have been appointed co-COOs of Opteum Financial. Mr. Filiberto is senior vice president and chief servicing and technology officer at Opteum Financial, and Mr. Hunter is senior vice president and head of mortgage research at Opteum Inc. Opteum can be found on the Web at http://www.opteum.com.

Bob Repass has been promoted from senior vice president to managing director of Dallas-based Bayview First Funding, a division of Bayview Financial, a Miami-based real estate lending and investment finance company.In his new position, Mr. Repass will oversee the acquisition and servicing of seller-finance loans, Bayview Financial said. Before joining Bayview, Mr. Repass was operations vice president for the private mortgage operation of Associates Financial Services, which was acquired by Citigroup, and a national contract buyer for Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities. Bayview can be found online at http://www.bayviewfinancial.com.

A top Federal Housing Administration staffer, Meg Burns, is leaving the agency and joining Potomac Partners, a Washington consulting firm, in February.Ms. Burns is the director of the FHA's single-family program development office, and she has worked on developing legislation to revitalize the FHA mortgage insurance program. She is best known for managing the FHA's reverse mortgage program, according to Brian Chappelle, a founding partner of the mortgage banking consulting firm. "Having Meg join Potomac Partners further strengthens one of our core competencies -- government lending -- and further expands our services into the rapidly growing field of reverse mortgages," Mr. Chappelle said.

Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., a real estate investment trust, says senior managing director George Ostendorf has resigned from the company, effective Dec. 29.Mr. Ostendorf, who concentrated his efforts on Hanover's taxable subsidiaries (which include due-diligence reviews), said he is parting on good terms. He was a co-founder of Hanover's predecessor firm, which commenced business in 1989. The REIT primarily invests in subordinate mortgage-backed securities. Company chief executive John Burchett said Mr. Ostendorf "has been a valued member of our management team and our board since inception," but noted that the firm has reduced "many activities of its taxable subsidiaries." The publicly traded Hanover is based in Edison, N.J. Its stock is trading near a 52-week low. Mr. Ostendorf told MortgageWire that he will still have a "business relationship" with the firm but is looking at other opportunities.

John A. Ward III has resigned as chairman of the board of Doral Financial Corp., San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Dennis G. Buchert, an independent director on the board, has been named non-executive chairman of Doral.Mr. Ward's decision "reflects the fact that he holds different views as to the best process to be followed by the company to meet its capital and liquidity needs and maximize shareholder value," Doral said. Mr. Ward's views on disclosure were reviewed by members of the board's audit committee, management, and outside counsel, and the audit panel's chairman has "satisfied himself" that disclosures have been appropriate, the company said. Mr. Buchert has 35 years of experience in the banking industry, including stints as chief executive officer of Credit Agricole Indosuez and president and CEO of IBJ Whitehall Bank & Trust Co., Doral reported. In September 2006, Doral announced an agreement with the SEC to pay a $25 million civil penalty in connection with a probe of its restatement of financial results for 2000-2004, which slashed $694.4 million from retained earnings. Doral can be found online at http://www.doralfinancial.com.