Career moves

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris says he is stepping down on Aug. 15 now that President Bush has signaled his intention to appoint Deborah P. Majoras to be the new chairman.By announcing his intention to make a recess appointment, the president "ensures the FTC's ability to continue its strong record of competition and consumer protection," Mr. Muris said. During Mr. Muris' tenure, the FTC successfully pursued several predatory lending cases that resulted in large settlements, including a $215 million settlement involving Associates First Capital Corp, Irvine, Texas. Earlier this year, Chairman Muris announced his intention to step down in August, but a Democratic senator has held up Ms. Majoras' confirmation by the Senate. By making a recess appointment, the president can bypass the Senate, which is on recess until Sept. 7. Ms. Majoras has worked in the Justice Department's antitrust division. The president also announced his intention to appoint Democrat Jon Leibowitz to an FTC panel.

David C. Imig has been named president of LandAmerica Tax and Flood Services Inc., Richmond, Va., where he will succeed the retiring Dale Quarto on Oct. 1.Mr. Imig joined the company (formerly known as Lereta Corp.) in January 2003 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He has more than 30 years of experience in the lending industry, including stints as senior officer and loan service manager at Washington Mutual Bank, GE Capital Mortgage, Citicorp Mortgage, and Travelers Mortgage, LandAmerica said. LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., the parent company of LandAmerica Tax and Flood Services, can be found on the Web at http://www.landam.com.

Erik Anderson has been appointed president of Merit Financial, a mortgage and real estate company based in Kirkland, Wash.A past president of the Seattle Mortgage Bankers Association, Mr. Anderson joined Merit in January as vice president of mortgage banking. Since then, Merit has doubled its lending volume, the company said. Merit was founded three years ago and has grown more than 400% since that time, according to the company. Mr. Anderson's appointment will allow Scott Greenlaw, the company's founder and chief executive officer, to concentrate on strategic planning and relationship building, Merit said.

Colin Dyer has been named president and chief executive officer of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., a real estate services and money management firm based in Chicago and London.Mr. Dyer will assume the titles, and membership on the board of directors, on Sept. 7, the company said. He is currently CEO of Worldwide Retail Exchange, an Internet-based exchange owned by 40 of the world's leading retailers and manufacturers. A British citizen now based in Washington, D.C., Mr. Dyer will operate chiefly out of Jones Lang's Chicago office. The company can be found online at http://www.joneslanglasalle.com.

Greg Metz has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer of NovaStar Financial Inc., a residential mortgage lender and portfolio investor based in Kansas City, Mo.Mr. Metz, a certified public accountant and an attorney, was most recently senior vice president and director of corporate tax at Union Planters Corp., NovaStar said. He was previously employed for more than 15 years by Big Four accounting firms. NovaStar, a real estate investment trust, can be found on the Web at http://www.novastarmortgage.com.

Affordable housing veteran Francine C. Justa has been appointed to the Banking Board of the New York State Banking Department.Applauding the appointment, Superintendent of Banks Diana L. Taylor praised the former executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City for nearly 20 years as "a gifted and inspired woman" who has helped "not only to change the face of neighborhoods throughout the city for the better, but also the lives" of many residents for whom homeownership became a reality. Ms. Justa helped build the NHS from an affordable housing investor of $800,000 annually in 1986 to over $239 million by 2003. She was nominated to the Banking Board by New York Gov. George Pataki, and the nomination was approved by the state Senate.

Stewart Title Co., Houston, has named Jose Mendez as its national director for emerging domestic real estate markets.Mr. Mendez previously served as a San Antonio (Texas) Zoning Commissioner and for two terms as a member of the San Antonio City Council, the company said. He has worked with real estate brokers, lenders, developers, and buyers as a commercial real estate representative for Stewart in San Antonio, and prior to that in Dallas, where he focused on the Hispanic and minority markets.

Patti M. Dodge has been promoted from executive vice president of New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., and chief financial officer of its subsidiary New Century Mortgage Corp. to CFO of the parent company.Ms. Dodge will succeed Edward F. Gotschall, who has been vice chairman and CFO of New Century Financial since its inception in 1995, the company said. Mr. Gotschall will assume the newly created title of vice chairman of finance and will remain a member of the company's board of directors. Ms. Dodge, who joined New Century in 1996, has 18 years of experience in the financial services industry. New Century can be found online at http://www.ncen.com.

P. Sheridan "Schecky" Schechner is joining J.P. Morgan Chase as national head of origination for commercial mortgage-backed securities in the fall, according to a company spokesman.Mr. Schechner has worked at Goldman Sachs for the last 20 years, and his appointment to the newly created position at Goldman is a "pretty strong symbol we're planning on making a real investment in the business," the spokesman said. In his new position, Mr. Schechner will report to the co-heads of J.P. Morgan Chase's CMBS unit, Steve Schwartz and Brian Baker.

Debra Still has been promoted from chief operating officer to president and chief executive officer of Pulte Mortgage Corp., not the parent company, Pulte Homes Inc., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Patricia L. Cook, a Wall Street veteran, has been named executive vice president of investments at Freddie Mac, and she will join the company on Aug. 2.Freddie Mac said Ms. Cook will be responsible for its approximately $630 billion retained mortgage portfolio and debt issuance, as well as risk management strategies for assets and liabilities. The position was formerly held by Gregory Parseghian, who in the wake of the company's accounting scandal was named chief executive officer of Freddie Mac but was later forced to resign. Ms. Cook was most recently managing director and chief investment officer for global fixed-income investments at JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management. She was also managing director and chief investment officer for fixed income at Prudential Investment Management, and she held management posts with Fisher Francis Trees & Watts and Salomon Brothers Inc.

Debra Still has been promoted from chief operating officer to president and chief executive officer of Pulte Mortgage Corp., a subsidiary of Pulte Homes Inc., Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and she will succeed Roger Pastore in those positions on Aug. 1.Mr. Pastore has announced plans to retire next year, and will continue to serve as an officer of the company until then, Pulte said. He joined the company in 1995 as chief financial officer and has served as CEO since 1997. Ms. Still joined the company as a branch manager in Maryland in 1983, and has since held posts as senior vice president for process re-engineering and SVP for operations, Pulte said. She has been COO since 1999. The company can be found online at http://www.pulte.com.

Ken Markison, an expert on the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and a veteran of HUD, has been named senior director and regulatory counsel in the Government Affairs Department of the Mortgage Bankers Association.Mr. Markison is retiring from the federal government, having served for three decades at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, most recently as assistant general counsel for government-sponsored enterprises and RESPA. The MBA said Mr. Markison is one of the country's top experts on RESPA and that he personally developed several important RESPA rules and has played "a major role" in HUD's RESPA reform effort. He has also worked extensively on issues related to the housing government-sponsored enterprises, including developing legislation and regulations establishing affordable housing goals and fair-lending requirements, the MBA said. The association can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Stan Martin, who has served as interim general auditor of Freddie Mac since Feb. 9, has been named senior vice president and general auditor of the government-sponsored enterprise.Mr. Martin, who reports directly to the Audit Committee of Freddie Mac's board of directors, will be responsible for assessing risks, providing independent advice, and heading the GSE's internal audit organization. Before joining Freddie Mac, Mr. Martin was a consultant to HSBC Bank USA on integration and divestiture. The majority of his career of over 30 years was spent with the KPMG accounting firm, where he served as the Securities and Exchange Commission reviewing partner, Freddie Mac said. Mr. Martin's role as general auditor will be crucial as the company continues to play catch-up in its financial reporting due to a $5 billion accounting scandal. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Mark S. Lee has been named senior vice president and director of marketing at ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.Mr. Lee will develop marketing strategies and initiatives for AAMG as well as oversee the marketing activities for each of AAMG's divisions, the company said. Before joining AAMG, Mr. Lee was head of marketing for the Auto Club Group/AAA Michigan in Dearborn, Mich.

Denis W. St. Marie has been named executive vice president of consumer finance at Webster Bank NA, Waterbury, Conn., where his responsibilities will include residential lending, mortgage banking, and secondary marketing.Mr. St. Marie was most recently president of KeyMortgage Services, where his duties included heading the company's mortgage operations center. Before that, he was executive vice president of secondary marketing for Bank One. Webster Bank, a subsidiary of Webster Financial Corp., can be found on the Web at http://www.websteronline.com.

Fran Clemens, senior vice president at ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich., has been named to the newly created position of manager of emerging markets.Ms. Clemens will work to expand AAMG's primary target markets to include low- to moderate-income, ethnically diverse, and first-time homebuyers, the company said. She will work with all AAMG divisions, including Standard Federal Bank and LaSalle Bank Retail Lending, to develop strategies to attract first-time homebuyers. Ms. Clemens, a 25-year veteran of the mortgage industry, has served in various sales and management positions in retail and wholesale mortgage lending, including a stint as senior vice president of InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending.

Ken Alverson, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., has left the company, MortgageWire has learned.American Home spokesman John Lovallo declined to comment on Mr. Alverson's departure, saying, "it's against public company policy to comment on personnel." No information was available on when Mr. Alverson joined the mortgage banker. Mr. Alverson could not be reached for immediate comment. Based in Melville, N.Y., American Home is the 22nd-largest residential lender in the U.S.

The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank has named Charles A. Huston to serve as the acting president of the $95 billion cooperative bank while a search continues for a permanent replacement for Alex Pollock.On June 8, Mr. Pollock unexpectedly announced he would step down as president on June 30 to take a position as a resident fellow at a Washington think tank. Mr. Huston joined the Chicago FHLBank in 1991. He most recently served as executive vice president of membership relationship management, where he played a central role in the growth and success of the Mortgage Partnership Finance program. Meanwhile, Chicago FHLBank chairman Allen Koranda said a search committee has been formed to find a permanent replacement. "We have begun a search to identify the best candidate and will conduct it as quickly as possible, but there is no deadline for the completion of this process," Mr. Koranda said.

Moody's Investors Service has named Warren Kornfeld, a senior credit officer in the rating agency's residential mortgage-backed securities group, to be the new head of its mortgage servicer ratings.Mr. Kornfeld replaces Linda Stesney, who has been promoted to a position as co-head of the Moody's term asset-backed securities group. She is moving up because Michael Kanef, formerly co-head of term ABS, has been named group managing director for asset finance. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.