Career moves

Stephen Blumenthal, who ran the special examinations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, says he intends to resign and return to the private sector this fall."The confirmation of Jim Lockhart as OFHEO's director makes it possible for me to leave knowing that the agency is well led and will continue to accomplish its important mission," said Mr. Blumenthal, OFHEO's deputy director. As deputy director and acting director, he headed the special examination of Fannie that discovered fraudulent accounting, earnings manipulation, and corruption at the government-sponsored enterprise. He also conducted a special examination of Freddie Mac after an internal investigation by the GSE's board of directors uncovered an accounting scandal. Former OFHEO Director Armando Falcon hired Mr. Blumenthal from Schwab Capital Markets in 2002 to be his counsel. After Mr. Falcon stepped down in May 2005, he served as acting director until Mr. Lockhart was appointed in April.

Peter Williams, deputy director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, has decided to leave to become an independent consultant after a dozen years of service at the United Kingdom trade group.Mr. Williams plans to leave his current post on Sept. 30 but continue to work with the council in his new capacity. The council said it has no plans to recruit a new deputy director general. Mr. Williams originally joined the council in 1994 when the CML and the Building Securities Association shared a single secretariat and become the deputy director general when the two groups separated in 1997.

MGIC has hired Eric Klopfer as vice president of international strategic initiatives and regulatory affairs.Mr. Klopfer was previously vice president of strategic development and regulatory affairs for AIG United Guaranty in London. MGIC can be found on the Web at http://www.mgic.com.

Fannie Mae has appointed Phillip Weber to head up its multifamily lending area, taking over from Richard Lawch, MortgageWire has learned.Mr. Lawch has taken on a new role related to the government-sponsored enterprise's community investment activities, according to a source at Fannie Mae. Another source reported that Mr. Weber told a recent Fannie Mae DUS conference that he will focus on "process improvements and new products," with the aim of having more of a customer focus. Mr. Weber, who is now senior vice president for multifamily lending, was most recently chief of staff for Dan Mudd, Fannie Mae's president and chief executive officer.

The Senate has confirmed Geoffrey Bacino, a former credit union regulator and lobbyist, to be a director on the Federal Housing Finance Board, which oversees the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.Mr. Bacino was an executive with Centrix Financial, which provides funding for subprime auto loans through credit unions, when he was nominated by President Bush to replace FHFB Director Franz Leichter, whose term has expired. He served one year on the board of the National Credit Union Administration in 2000. More than 1,000 credit unions are members of the FHLBank System.

Danica Patrick, who serves as a spokeswoman and trade show booth attraction for Argent Mortgage, will be switching from Rahal Letterman Racing to Andretti Green Racing for the 2007 Indy Racing League season, raising questions about her continued association with Argent.Argent had sponsored her car when she raced in the lower levels of open-wheel racing for Rahal Letterman. Besides sponsoring Ms. Patrick's car, Argent sponsors the car of her teammate, Buddy Rice, a former winner of the Indianapolis 500. A news release from Andretti Green did not mention the sponsorship situation. Published reports had Bobby Rahal, one of the owners of Rahal Letterman (the other being television personality David Letterman), saying the Argent sponsorship was the team's and not Ms. Patrick's. Argent had not replied to a request for comment by MortgageWire's deadline. At the end of June, Argent said it would use Ms. Patrick in the marketing of its new alternative-A product line.

Senior vice presidents from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been named to the board of directors of Chicago-based National Equity Fund Inc., a national syndicator of low-income housing tax credits.Michael C. May, a senior vice president in Freddie Mac's Multifamily Sourcing Division, has been with the government-sponsored enterprise since 1983. He has held SVP positions in operations; mortgage sourcing, operations, and funding; and multifamily operations. Carolyn B. Groobey is a senior vice president of corporate strategy at Fannie Mae. She was previously with McKinsey & Co. for 13 years. National Equity Fund can be found on the Web at http://www.nefinc.org.

Ditech.com chief Michael McCarthy has stepped down from his post at the company, MortgageWire has learned.A spokeswoman for Residential Capital Corp., the parent of ditech.com, confirmed his departure as senior vice president and general manager, but noted that Mr. McCarthy "is exploring other opportunities" within the ResCap/GMAC family of companies. Mr. McCarthy will be replaced by Richard D. Powers, who will start as senior vice president and general manager in August. Ditech.com is an online retail lender that specializes in refinancings and home equity loans. An affiliate of GMAC Mortgage of Horsham, Pa., the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based ditech.com advertises heavily on cable television.

Michael J. Krull has been named managing director and head of commercial mortgage-backed securities at Hypo Real Estate Capital Corp., the New York-based subsidiary of Hypo Real Estate Bank International AG, Stuttgart, Germany.Before joining Hypo Real Estate, Mr. Krull was managing director of capital markets at GE Real Estate in New York, where he led a group of 20 professionals, Hypo Real Estate said. He was previously involved in the design and implementation of GE Real Estate's commercial mortgage conduit program. From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Krull worked at Prudential Securities Inc., where he co-founded the CMBS operation.

Carlos Evans has been named head of wholesale banking at Wachovia Corp., Charlotte, N.C., for various business segments, including real estate financial services.Mr. Evans assumes responsibility for Wachovia's Wholesale Bank after five years as head of the company's commercial banking segment and more than 30 years of experience in wholesale banking, Wachovia said. In addition to real estate financial services, he will lead Wachovia's commercial, business, and community banking segments and its dealer business. The company can be found online at http://www.wachovia.com.

Stacy M. Riffe, chief financial officer of Sunset Financial Resources Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has been named interim chief executive officer of the real estate investment trust.Ms. Riffe replaces George Deehan, who has decided to leave the company to "pursue other interests," Sunset said. Rodney Bennett, Sunset's chairman, said Ms. Riffe has been "the driving force" in the company since its announcement of a merger with Alesco Financial. The REIT has been operating under a management agreement with Cohen Brothers since the announcement.

John Ockerbloom has been named a managing director in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group of Wachovia Securities, Charlotte, N.C.Mr. Ockerbloom joins Wachovia from Banc of America Securities LLC, where he was a managing director in the real estate investment banking practice of the Global Investment Banking Group. He previously served in the BoA Securities Corporate Real Estate Advisory Group and its commercial mortgage-backed securities division, Wachovia said. Wachovia can be found on the Web at http://www.wachovia.com.

Jerami A. Marshal has been named president of Summit Mortgage LLC, a privately held mortgage banking firm based in Boston.Mr. Marshall, who was previously Summit's chief operating officer, replaces Richard S. Fedele, who will continue as the company's chief executive officer, Summit said. Mr. Marshall said Summit plans to develop an alternative-lending program that assists borrowers with impaired credit.

Timothy Sandos, a former emerging-markets executive at CitiMortgage, has been named president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.Mr. Sandos, who served a two-year term on NAHREP's national board, was most recently executive vice president of emerging markets at St. Louis-based CitiMortgage, which acquired his previous employer, Principal Residential Mortgage. He was previously state vice president and chief operating officer at Qwest Communications. NAHREP can be found online at http://www.nahrep.org.

Moody's Investors Service has named Nicholas Levidy and Paolo Obias managing directors in its commercial mortgage-backed securities group.Mr. Levidy joined Moody's in 1998 as a vice president/senior analyst. Before joining the credit rating agency, Mr. Levidy was a senior counsel for real estate and corporate finance with PNC Bank, according to Moody's. He will continue to report to Tad Philipp, co-head of Moody's U.S. CMBS group. Mr. Obias joined Moody's in 1997. From 1999-2001, he worked in the rating agency's Tokyo office. Prior to joining Moody's, Mr. Obias held professional positions at two Indonesian real estate firms, Moody's said. He will continue to report to Jim Duca, co-head of Moody's U.S. CMBS group. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Michael D. Calhoun, a principal author of the 1999 North Carolina anti-predatory-lending law, has been named president of the Center for Responsible Lending, Durham, N.C.Mr. Calhoun, formerly CRL's general counsel, has been its lead lobbyist in Washington and state capitals for years, the organization said. Before his work at CRL, he managed the secondary-market program and real estate development team at the Center for Community Self-Help, an affiliate of CRL. CRL can be found on the Web at http://www.responsiblelending.org.

John M. Draghi has been promoted to the position of chief operating officer of C-BASS, a New York-based company that acquires, services, and securitizes, credit-sensitive residential mortgages.In addition, C-BASS named Marc Rosenthal and Noelle Savarese co-heads of capital markets, and Mr. Rosenthal was also named chief investment officer. Mr. Draghi has served as the company's chief investment officer since 1996, and he was previously responsible for all the firm's investment activities as head of capital markets, C-BASS reported. Mr. Rosenthal and Ms. Savarese have been managing directors in the capital markets area, Mr. Rosenthal since 2004 and Ms. Savarese since 2000. C-BASS is an affiliate of MGIC Investment Corp. and Radian Group Inc.

Joseph Hoesley has been elected vice chairman and head of commercial real estate by the board of directors of U.S. Bancorp, Minneapolis.Mr. Hoesley, 51, has led commercial real estate at U.S. Bank since joining the company in 1992. The commercial real estate division now consists of 30 regional offices and employs more than 300 people, the bank said. The CRE division's real estate portfolio totals $24 billion. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.usbank.com.

Powell Goldstein LLP, an Atlanta-based law firm, has announced the acquisition of a 13-member capital markets group from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP that will enhance its depth, especially in the area of commercial mortgage-backed securities.Powell Goldstein said the new team -- two partners, eight other attorneys, and three paralegals -- will join its offices in Atlanta and Washington and anchor the opening of a new office in Dallas. Heading that office will be Robin R. Green, who was a partner at Akin Gump in that firm's real estate and finance practice in Dallas. James J. McAlpin Jr., chairman of Powell Goldstein, said the acquisition and expansion "gives us an entree into a new geographic market, one that we have been looking at for some time." The firm said Ms. Green's practice focuses primarily on real estate finance and CMBS, as does that of the other new partner, Keith A. Dunsmore, who worked at Powell Goldstein from 1984 to 1999. The firm can be found online at http://www.pogolaw.com.

Steve O'Connor has been promoted to senior vice president of public policy at the Mortgage Bankers Association.Mr. O'Connor was most recently vice president for industry relations and policy development. The MBA said he will continue to manage the development of the association's residential policy positions, with the additional task of managing outreach efforts to MBA members and industry stakeholders "to align MBA's policy and advocacy efforts with their key business needs and industry trends." Before joining the MBA in 1996, Mr. O'Connor held positions in government affairs with the National Association of Realtors and Freddie Mac. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.