Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, Finance of America make leadership moves

April 7, 2023 5:00 AM

Finance of America promotes Graham Fleming, Kristen Sieffert

Left to right: Graham Fleming, Kristen Sieffert

Plano, Texas-based Finance of America elevated Graham Fleming and Kristen Sieffert to higher levels of leadership, as it lays out future strategy in the reverse-mortgage segment following the closing of its acquisition of American Advisors Group in March. The company named Fleming, its former president, to CEO, a role he had been serving on an interim basis since July. It also promoted Kristen Sieffert, who was president at Finance of America Reverse, previously a separate business unit, to Fleming's former position.

Fleming first joined Finance of America in 2013 and ascended to president in 2020. Before joining the company, he held key leadership positions at Icon Residential Lenders and Amresco Residential Mortgage. Sieffert had been president at Finance of America Reverse since 2015, leading the division as it introduced several new proprietary loan products.

Freddie Mac taps Sonu Mittal as head of single-family acquisitions

Freddie Mac announced the addition of Sonu Mittal, who joins the government-sponsored enterprise as senior vice president and head of its single-family acquisitions division. In his new position, Mittal will be responsible for helping Freddie Mac meet seller engagement, credit, products and affordable mission goals while overseeing the operations and technology processes behind them.

Mittal comes to McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac from Citizens Bank, where he held multiple leadership roles, including president of home mortgage, executive vice president of home lending and head of retail mortgage. His professional background also includes years-long tenures at both Chevy Chase Bank, and more recently Capital One, with responsibilities that included mortgage sales, operations, capital markets, product management and technology.

Ginnie Mae elevates Sam Valverde, now second in command

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Washington, DC-based Ginnie Mae, the corporation housed within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development responsible for insuring federally backed mortgages, recently promoted Sam Valverde, to principal executive vice president. He's now second in command behind President Alanna McCargo. Valverde joined Ginnie Mae in 2022 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. An authority on housing finance and policy, Valverde was also supervisory attorney advisor at the Federal Housing Finance Agency in the division of conservatorship oversight and readiness prior to joining Ginnie Mae. He has also served in the U.S. Department of the Treasury as counselor for domestic finance.

MISMO appoints former Fannie Mae executive David Coleman president

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization tapped home lending veteran David Coleman as its new president. With a background in internet technology and management, Coleman will be responsible for leading initiatives that aim for more streamlined guidance and solutions across all segments of the industry. Based in Washington, D.C., MISMO is a division of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Previously a board member at MISMO, Coleman served as an independent consultant for several years before stepping into the new role. He also has worked in a senior advisory capacity in the housing industry and financial services at KPMG, Newbold Advisors, Summit Point Group and Fannie Mae, where he helped roll out the Desktop Underwriter system.

Mr. Cooper promotes Kurt Johnson, welcomes return of Christine Paxton

Left to right: Christine Paxton, Kurt Johnson

National servicer and lender Mr. Cooper recently made two new appointments to its executive leadership team. The Dallas-based company promoted Kurt Johnson to chief financial officer. Taking over Johnson's former role of chief risk and compliance officer is banking leader Christine Paxton.

With a background in originations, servicing and portfolio management, Johnson joined Mr. Cooper in 2015 and helped lead its Project Titan servicing transformation initiative as well as technology and process improvements on its platform before a promotion to the company's C-suite in 2019. Earlier in his career, Johnson served in a key leadership role at OneWest Bank and also held positions with First Interstate Bank, Wells Fargo and IndyMac.

Returning to Mr. Cooper where she was previously senior vice president of enterprise risk,

Paxton will be responsible for establishing a company framework to prevent and mitigate potential future issues threatening financial stability. More recently, Paxton served as senior vice president of control management at Wells Fargo, a role in which she managed risk for the bank's home lending and servicing operations. Paxton has also held senior positions at Capital One and Citi.

Cenlar names four new executives, including chief technology officer

Left to right: Brad Cargile, Rene Gonzales, Michelle DeHart, Pete Johnson

Mortgage subservicer Cenlar recently appointed four new leaders across various departments within the company. The Ewing, New Jersey-based enterprise elevated Rene Gonzales to chief technology officer. After previously serving in technology leadership at several lending and financial institutions, including PHH Mortgage, Altisource, Ocwen, Ally Financial and JPMorgan Chase, Gonzales joined Cenlar in 2018 and will lead digital strategy across all company units, in addition to overseeing initiatives surrounding solutions architecture and platform innovations.

The company also welcomed Brad Cargile as vice president of IT infrastructure. In his new role, Cargile will be in charge of implementing and managing all technology infrastructure at Cenlar, including its data center and network and server services. He comes to the company from Fidelity National Information Services, where he was technology strategy director. He previously held roles at GMAC.

Cenlar added Michelle DeHart as vice president of loan operations, escrow. In the role she will lead all escrow operations, including tax, insurance and analysis, responsible for the team's financials, staffing and compliance. Previously, DeHart held roles with HomePoint Financial, ServiceMac, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

Joining Cenlar as vice president of special products in loan operations, Pete Johnson will oversee functions in regards to home equity lines of credit and private mortgage insurance, including greater use of automation to achieve improved operational efficiency and risk mitigation in those channels. Before Cenlar, Johnson held the role of chief operations officer at First Heritage Mortgage, as well as other positions with Freedom Mortgage and PHH Mortgage.

Anchor appoints Brent Maloney chief financial officer

Real estate investment finance company Anchor Loans announced the addition of Brent Maloney as chief financial officer. With a career in accounting and finance, he comes to the Thousand Oaks, California-based lender from Genesis Capital, where he held the same executive-level position. Maloney has also served in key finance roles with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

In his position at Anchor, Maloney will be responsible for all aspects of financial planning, forecasting and reporting of the company. His arrival comes after the recent appointment of new CEO Rayman Mathoda.

Radian names Sumita Pandit chief growth officer

Mortgage insurance provider Radian recently appointed technology and investment banking leader Sumita Pandit as senior executive vice president and chief growth officer. In the role, Pandit will be responsible for overseeing activities aimed to ensure long-term strategic growth for the Wayne, Pennsylvania-based company.

Pandit joins Radian after recently serving as chief operating officer of digital payment firm dLocal. Earlier in her banking industry career, she advised technology startups and related digital-focused companies as managing director and global head of fintech investment banking at JPMorgan Chase, and also held positions with Goldman Sachs.

OceanFirst taps Stephen Adamo to head lending efforts

Toms River, New Jersey-based OceanFirst Bank tapped mortgage veteran Stephen Adamo as its new president of residential and consumer lending. With a career in sales and originations of mortgages in addition to other loan products, Adamo was most recently president of national retail production at Embrace Home Loans. Previously, he led mortgage, home equity and consumer loan operations and underwriting at Santander Bank and held senior positions with Weichert Financial Services and Citizens Financial. In his new role with OceanFirst, Adamo will be responsible for development and expansion of residential home lending and other consumer products.

Incenter adds Joe Mowery to lead enterprise sales

Mortgage industry services provider Incenter, with headquarters in Denver and Philadelphia, recently appointed industry veteran Joe Mowery as senior vice president, enterprise business development. In his position, Mowery will be responsible for growth of Incenter solutions, introducing mortgage industry executives to products and services aimed to enhance operations in originations, servicing and secondary market trading.

Before joining Incenter, Mowery held several high-profile roles at mortgage services businesses, including Cherry Creek Mortgage, Voxtur, LenderLive Network, First American Title and Title365, where he held both president and chief operating officer titles.

Sagent adds servicing leader, Homepoint alum Perry Hilzendeger

Sagent, the servicing software provider based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, announced the appointment of Perry Hilzendeger as executive vice president of servicing. "Perry will help refine Sagent's cloud-native, open-API servicing and default platforms, ensure they're relevant for our customers' multivariate and complex use cases, and help drive adoption of our platforms with major bank and nonbank servicers," said Sagent CEO Dan Sogorka.

Hilzendeger will also oversee relationships with government-sponsored enterprises and agencies to ensure compliance. He joins the company after prior tenures at Wells Fargo, where he held multiple roles, including head of retail and servicing operations. Most recently, he served as president of servicing at Homepoint Financial.

Fairway ups focus on reverse lending, promotes Dan Ventura

Madison, Wisconsin-based Fairway Independent Mortgage promoted Dan Ventura to vice president of reverse operations, one of many recent moves the company has made to strategically expand its presence within the segment this year. Previously a producing branch manager at Fairway, Ventura will work with the company's regional reverse processing centers, ensuring efficiency of originations and closings of home equity mortgages.

In a sign of further commitment to the market, Fairway also appointed eight regional reverse senior vice presidents, who will manage origination production at the processing centers within their respective territories across the country. Stepping into the newly created positions are Genie McGee, Christine Jensen, Rob Kanyur, Derek Helms, Steve Cox, Rick Rodriguez and Michael Inkman and Susan Pomfret.

Blackfin appoints Mike McChesney as principal consultant

Financial services industry management consultancy BlackFin Group recently added Mike McChesney to its mortgage technology practice. A tech expert with experience at both home lending and banking institutions, McChesney steps up to the role of principal consultant for the Englewood, Colorado-based firm. In the position, he will advise companies on technology strategy and architecture, process optimization, due diligence and integration of acquisitions and infrastructure management.

McChesney previously held the role of executive director at ServiceLink, where he oversaw launch of its EXOS platform. He also held high-level technology roles at Planet Home Lending and IBM's mortgage outsourcing business and advised home lending companies while at KPMG and Dime Savings Bank.

Deephaven taps Patrick Creek to head Western sales efforts

Charlotte, North Carolina-based non-QM lender Deephaven named Patrick Creek Western regional vice president, wholesale sales. In his new position, Creek will work with mortgage brokers in Texas and points westward to increase their non-QM volumes and revenues, while promoting Deephaven products and underwriting. He previously held similar business development leadership roles serving brokers and correspondents at home lending businesses, such as Arc Home and First Guaranty Mortgage Corp.

Dovenmuehle taps Anna Krogh for business development role

Mortgage subservicer Dovenmuehle hired banking leader Anna Krogh as vice president of business development. Krogh will be responsible for developing and growing the Lake Zurich, Illinois-based company's client base both through sourcing new prospects and building upon existing relationships.

Krogh joins Dovenmuehle from Associated Bank, where she held the title of senior vice president, sales team leader, after previously serving as its treasury management officer. She held similar prior roles in cash-management sales at JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She began her career at Bank of America in loss mitigation.

Western Alliance Bank adds structured finance leader Nick Richards

David Anderson/David Anderson - Annapolis

Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bank appointed Nick Richards senior vice president of structured finance in its specialized mortgage services group. In the role, he will work with the unit's clients throughout the country, with a focus on mortgage-servicing rights. The division also provides solutions for warehouse and note financing, as well as correspondent seller partners for affiliated Western Alliance company AmeriHome Mortgage.

With a background in credit analysis and commercial real estate banking. Richards joins Western Alliance after previous roles with M&T Bank, East West Bank, Marcus & Millichap and HSBC Bank.

NewFi hires John Wise to lead Western U.S. sales

Non-QM lender NewFi Wholesale added John Wise as senior vice president of West Coast sales. With a background in the non-QM segment, Wise joins the Emeryville, California-based company from Angel Oak Mortgage, where he was a regional sales manager with territory stretching across six Western states. In his new role, Wise will be responsible for growing NewFi's market share and developing relationships with brokers in his region. NewFi Wholesale was founded in 2014.

Mortgage Connect welcomes TSG specialist Chris Bolger

Pittsburgh-based Mortgage Connect, a provider of digital services across phases of home lending, added Chris Bolger as vice president, trustee sale guarantee operations, in its default division. With experience working in TSG operations on both local and national levels for foreclosures and real estate owned properties, Bolger previously held similar leadership roles at the likes of First American and ServiceLink.