Onity, Crosscountry, Blend, MBA make leadership moves

January 30, 2026 6:00 AM

Lereta appoints former Rocket CEO Robert Walters to board

Real estate tax and flood services provider Lereta announced the addition of former Rocket Mortgage CEO Robert Walters to its board of directors. Walters served as CEO from 2022 to 2023, and also held roles of chief operating officer and president for the Detroit-lender's parent, Rocket Cos.

Lereta was founded in 1986 to provide mortgage and insurance industries access to property tax and flood hazard data.

Onity taps Matthew Zall for servicing leadership role

Photo by David Steele

Lender and servicer Onity Group appointed commercial real estate and capital markets leader Matthew Zall as vice president, servicing business development. In his new position, Zall will help lead efforts to grow servicing opportunities in Onity's business-purpose residential division as well as other non-agency segments.

Prior to joining the West Palm Beach, Florida-based firm, Zall served as a managing director at Newpoint Real Estate Capital. His financial services career also includes tenures at Toorak Capital, Blackstone and JPMorgan Chase.

Mortgage Bankers Association welcomes Jeremy Green in advocacy role

The Mortgage Bankers Association tapped government policy leader Jeremy Green as vice president of legislative affairs. In his new position, Green will help lead MBA advocacy efforts, establishing relationships in the Democratic wing of the U.S. Senate. He joins the Washington-based mortgage trade group from McGuireWoods Consulting, where he was its vice president of federal government affairs. Earlier in his career, he also worked as a federal legislative representative at the National Association of Realtors.

Crosscountry adds Midwest regional production leader Sam Sharp

Retail lender Crosscountry Mortgage welcomed Sam Sharp as regional executive vice president to lead growth in the Chicago area. A top originator in the market for several years, Sharp has funded over $1 billion worth of loans throughout his career. He joins the Cleveland-based lender after a previous tenure at Rate Cos.

NFM elevates Bob Tyson, LaTasha Waddy to top leadership

Left to right: Bob Tyson, LaTasha Waddy

National mortgage company NFM Lending announced a leadership succession, promoting Bob Tyson to CEO. Tyson takes over the top role at the Linthicum, Maryland-based lender from founder, David Silverman, who will still play an active role in leading growth and technology development at the company. In addition to serving as president, Tyson previously held several other C-suite roles at NFM, including chief operating officer.

LaTasha Waddy will step into Tyson's former position, as president. A legal expert, LaWaddy began her career as an attorney, before joining NFM as general counsel and chief compliance officer in 2012. She later ascended to chief legal officer in 2024 prior to her latest promotion.

Blend names fintech veteran Matt Thomson head of revenue

Mortgage software fintech Blend Labs welcomed sales leader Matt Thomson as head of revenue. A fintech and banking veteran, Thomson will head expansion and sales growth initiatives to extend the San Francisco-based company's reach across financial institutions. Thomson comes to Blend after recently serving in leadership at bank software firm Alkami Technology. He previously held a similar key sales role at payments technology platform ACI Worldwide.

The Mortgage Collaborative welcomes Rich Swerbinsky, Heidi Belnay

Left to right: Heidi Belnay, Rich Swerbinsky

Lending industry cooperative The Mortgage Collaborative welcomed the return of Rich Swerbinsky as strategic advisor to the CEO and president. A former president and chief operating officer of TMC, Swerbinsky will work closely with current head Jodi Hall to support growth objectives this year. During his tenure as the consortium's president, he grew TMC membership to over 300 businesses. He is also the executive director of the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association.

The San Diego-based organization also named Heidi Belnay senior advisor for business development, tasking her with expanding TMC's membership and subscriber base and growing the range of services provided to them.
A veteran of mortgage and fintech circles, Belnay previously held positions with Blend and Reggora and currently sits on the board of the Mortgage Bankers Association of New Jersey.

Dark Matter promotes Leslie Cheshier to chief client officer

Photo by Ben Cross

Mortgage software provider Dark Matter Technologies announced the appointment of longtime company leader Leslie Cheshier to chief client officer. In the role, Cheshire will lead the account management organization at the Jacksonville, Florida-based firm, handling the development of client relationships through enhanced communications efforts and new innovation.

Prior to her recent promotion, she served as an account management director. Cheshire first joined Dark Matter 14 years ago under its previous ownership.

Evergreen adds Dan Richards to C-suite

Bellevue, Washington-based Evergreen Home Loans announced the hiring of lending and technology executive Dan Richards as chief strategy officer. Richards joins Evergreen after most recently serving as president of Flyhomes. He also previously held top mortgage leadership positions at Sofi and Academy Mortgage and started his career in tech working for the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Nokia.

In his new role with the national lender, Richards will be responsible for leading long-term growth strategy, including acquisitions and business diversification. He also will guide development of Evergreen's artificial intelligence initiatives.

Benchmark Mortgage names Norman Koenigsberg CEO, promotes Jim Poulin

Left to right: Jim Poulin, Norman Koenigsberg

Plano, Texas-based Benchmark Mortgage announced the appointment of veteran lending and technology executive Norman Koenigsberg as CEO. An entrepreneur with experience across mortgage and banking, Koenigsberg helped launch First Choice Loan Services, where he served as CEO, and lending technology firm NYLX earlier in his career. As Benchmark CEO, Koenigsberg will focus on corporate governance and future growth, including through mergers and acquisitions.

Koenigsberg's arrival comes after the recent promotion of Jim Poulin to chief operating officer. In the role, Poulin will be responsible for developing and enhancing processes that bolster Benchmark's relationships with its branches, loan officers and customers to find new efficiencies while also supporting risk management efforts. Poulin first joined Benchmark in 2008 to help oversee underwriting operations before a later promotion to chief credit officer, a role he will continue to hold concurrently with his new position.

Nations Lending promotes Andrew Moore to CIO

Independence, Ohio-based Nations Lending announced the promotion of Andrew Moore to chief information officer. With a background in software engineering, Moore ascends to his new role, where he will lead technology development efforts for the national lender to enable growth through innovation. In addition to his work in engineering at Nations, Moore previously held a range of technology-development positions at companies in and outside the mortgage industry.

Ascribe names Craig Bennett CEO

Real estate valuation and inspection firm Ascribe appointed Craig Bennett as its new CEO. As head of the Chicago-based company, Bennett will focus on expanding Ascribe's national network to best serve lenders, servicers and default solutions providers.

Bennett joins Ascribe from its parent company Stoiclane, where he held the title of vice president — head of technology. With a background in technology and operations, he also worked in senior management at the likes of fintechs Enova Financial, Amount and Avant.

Tidalwave adds Laurie Krause, Alicia Goncalves, promotes Chris Olsen

Left to right: Laurie Krause, Alicia Goncalves, Chris Olsen

Mortgage technology fintech Tidalwave welcomed industry veteran Laurie Krause as head of sales engineering. A former mortgage tech business development leader at the likes of Intercontinental Exchange and Wilqo, Krause will help promote growth of Tidalwave's artificial intelligence tools through client demos. She takes over the role from Christopher Olsen, who moves to the position of head of customer success and partnerships.

The New York-based software company also tapped Alicia Goncalves, who takes over as account manager. With her background as a certified mortgage banker, Goncalves will work closely with Tidalwave's lender customers to support the adoption and retention of its tools. She joins the company after holding similar partner- and client-facing management positions at Ncino and most recently, the Mortgage Bankers Association, where she served as director of associate membership.

Housing leader Tai Pheribo Christensen launches consulting firm

Photo by Lupeny Photography

Affordable housing leader and advocate Tai Pheribo Christensen announced the launch of a new business-to-business marketing consulting agency Origin & Oak Creative. Built to help companies bridge the gap to reach diverse communities through heritage awareness and data-driven strategy, the company will provide services from content creation and development to C-suite support.

Prior to founding the company, Christensen served the home finance community for many years at several firms, including community-development financial institution CBC Mortgage Agency. Most recently, she held top leadership roles at Arrive Home as president and chief communications officer before starting Origin & Oak.

Logan Finance adds Chuck Vaughn, Jeffrey Massotti to leadership team

Left to right: Chuck Vaughn, Jeffrey Massotti

Nonqualified mortgage lender Logan Finance recently named Chuck Vaughn managing director of correspondent lending. In his new role, Vaughn will guide strategy for the correspondent division with an eye on increased market share and the launch of a select designated channel. Before joining Logan, Vaughn served as a correspondent leader at Spring EQ and also held key sales management roles at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines and Iowa-based Lincoln Savings Bank.

The Hauppauge, New York-based company also welcomed Jeffrey Massotti to serve as senior vice president of third-party originations in the East and Central U.S. In the role, Massotti will head sales in his assigned regions and aim to attract new wholesale broker partners to drive Logan's national expansion. He joins the company after holding a similar non-QM focused position at Carrington Wholesale.

Planet hires Brandon Bean, Scott Henley as retail, correspondent leaders

Left to right: Brandon Bean, Scott Henley

Planet Financial Group recently added retail lending veteran Brandon Bean as senior vice president, national fulfillment. In his new role, Bean will be tasked with driving growth of the Meriden, Connecticut-based company's distributed retail division. He joins the company after most recently holding the title of senior vice president of branch operations at Fairway Home Mortgage.

The lender and servicer also welcomed mortgage veteran Scott Henley as correspondent regional sales manager, a role which will have him responsible for serving clients in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico and Colorado. In the role, he will build on existing relationships while also looking to expand Planet's client base. Henley previously served in senior leadership at Gateway Mortgage and Bank of America, where he helped lead correspondent operations.

Gershman promotes longtime team members to vice president roles

Left to right: Ben Helmerich, Amber Moser, Matt Ortinau

St. Louis-based retail and correspondent lender Gershman Mortgage recently announced the promotion of four leaders across its network. The independent mortgage bank named loan officers Ben Helmerich and Amber Moser as vice presidents in its Benton, Kentucky, and Northwest Arkansas locations, respectively.

Within its corporate offices, Gershman also added the title of assistant vice president for both Courtney Jett and Matt Ortinau to help lead operations in compliance and disclosures divisions.