Sagent, Cenlar, HouseCanary, Open Mortgage make leadership hires

January 21, 2022 11:22 AM

Sagent adds industry veteran Courtney Thompson to leadership team

Mortgage servicing software provider Sagent, based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, announced the appointment of technology leader Courtney Thompson as chief product officer. With two decades in fintech and servicing, Thompson most recently served as CEO of technology management consulting firm Consigliera, a company she founded. She also previously held the role of head of default servicing at Flagstar and led that company’s fintech accelerator program. In her role at Sagent, Thompson will be responsible for product development leading toward a modular product set for servicers and their clients. Sagent’s tools are currently used by servicers to manage more than $1 trillion in mortgage balances.

Cenlar appoints John Lacca to head credit union relationships

Loan subservicer Cenlar hired credit union veteran John Lacca as vice president, executive client management. In his new role, Lacca will manage Cenlar’s partnerships with credit unions and work directly with CU Servnet, the service organization focused on mortgage servicing and products. Cenlar has been a CU Servnet partner since 2005.

Lacca comes to Ewing, New Jersey-based Cenlar from Police and Fire Federal Credit Union, where he held several roles over three decades, including most recently as chief retail officer. “His extensive knowledge of the credit union model and member experience will be valuable in strengthening relationships with existing credit union partners,” said Matthew Detwiler, Cenlar’s senior vice president, client relationship management.

Open Mortgage adds Scott Harkless as chief revenue officer

Multichannel lender Open Mortgage named mortgage veteran Scott Harkless chief revenue officer, a new senior leadership position at the Austin, Texas-based company. Harkless will be in charge of all sales functions of Open Mortgage in its reverse and forward divisions. “We will leverage Scott’s impressive industry executive expertise and background to further grow and energize our retail and wholesale platforms,” said Joe Stephenson, Open Mortgage’s president. “In this way, he will be instrumental in expanding our footprint in target markets where Open Mortgage can make a greater impact in the local community.”

Harkless comes to Open Mortgage from reverse mortgage lender American Advisors Group, where he was vice president for enterprise partnerships. He also previously served as AAG’s east divisional sales executive. A former attorney, Harkless joined the mortgage lending industry, starting in Countrywide Home Loans’ strategic alliance division, which was later acquired by Bank of America. At BofA, he later drove residential loan officer production through the advisory channel as a sales executive.

National Mortgage Insurance names Ravi Mallela CFO

NMI Holdings, parent of National Mortgage Insurance, appointed finance veteran Ravi Mallela to executive vice president, chief financial officer. He succeeds Adam Pollitzer, who took over as president and CEO of the Emeryville, California-based property-insurance provider at the beginning of 2022. Before joining NMI, Mallela also held the titles of executive vice president and CFO at First Hawaiian and previously served in management positions with First Republic, Bank of Montreal and Wells Fargo.

HouseCanary appoints Greg Straughn chief financial officer

Real estate brokerage and valuations platform HouseCanary hired Greg Straughn to serve as chief financial officer. Straughn will be in charge of financial, accounting and investor relations for the San Francisco-based company. A three-decade finance technology pro, Straughn has held several executive positions within the tech industry, including at Kabira Technologies, AT&T and A10 Networks. Most recently, Straughn served as CFO at cyber risk modeling and scoring platform RedSeal.

LoanLogics taps Lauren Pilon as chief of staff

Mortgage audit firm LoanLogics tapped former LendingTree executive Lauren Pilon as chief of staff. Pilon will be responsible for all human resources and legal functions at the Jacksonville, Florida software company, which was purchased last year by Sun Capital. Pilon’s hiring comes after LoanLogics’ recent acquisition of LoanBeam, a company providing verification of self-employment income.

Before coming to LoanLogics, Pilon spent more than 11 years at LendingTree, most recently as vice president of business operations. She also previously served as LendingTree’s senior director in its project management office and director of strategic integrations and held various marketing roles.

Guaranteed Rate promotes Ryan Ogata, Tim Sorenson

Left to right: Ryan Ogata, Tim Sorenson

National lender Guaranteed Rate appointed Ryan Ogata and Tim Sorenson, two of its regional managers, to divisional leadership positions in the Western U.S. Ogata joined Guaranteed Rate, headquartered in Chicago, in 2017 to drive growth in Northern California. In his new role as a divisional manager, Ogata will oversee the Northwest market, which includes Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Northern California. Sorenson also started at Guaranteed Rate in 2017 as a regional manager to lead and develop local teams. As a divisional manager, Sorenson will be responsible for the lender’s Southwest market, including Hawaii, Utah, Nevada and Southern California.

Total Expert names John Emerick chief financial officer

Total Expert, the customer-relationship software provider serving mortgage lenders and other financial services, tapped John Emerick as chief financial officer. Emerick will develop the Minneapolis-based fintech’s financial infrastructure as it continues expansion, drawing on his experience in strategic analysis and operations. Over the past three years, Total Expert increased its revenue by four times and currently serves more than 175 financial institutions. Emerick joins Total Expert after serving as chief financial officer at several companies, including other software firms. Most recently, he held the CFO role at cybersecurity firm Code 42 and CyberGrants, a grants management and employee engagement platform.

Lenderworks hires attorney Alexandra Temple as chief legal officer

Fairfax, Virginia-based Lenderworks, a provider of consulting and infrastructure outsourcing to the mortgage lending industry, named Alexandra Temple chief legal officer. Recently principal at law firm Offit Kurman, Temple has also worked as an attorney at Weiner Brodsky Kider and started her law career at First Guaranty Mortgage in regulatory compliance.

In her new role, Temple will be responsible for the handling of legal affairs for Lenderworks, oversight of compliance and regulatory matters and risk management. Temple will also work with mortgage-industry clients as a consultant.

Notarize adds Derek Knudsen, David Razon to C-suite

Left to right: David Razon, Derek Knudsen

Notarize, the remote online notarization platform serving real estate and other industries, welcomed Derek Knudsen and David Razon to its leadership team. Knudsen steps into the role of chief technology officer in charge of driving Notarize’s product and technology strategy as well as managing security and risk of its platform. Knudsen previously served as chief technology officer at analytics platform Alteryx and also held leadership positions with fintechs Credera and Avanade.

Razon takes over as chief people officer at Boston-based Notarize, overseeing human resources efforts and creating a productive environment for the remote-first organization. Razon joins Notarize from Enjoy Technology, where he was head of people and talent and managed the company’s first diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. Previously, he worked in HR roles at large retail and tech companies, including Instacart and Starbucks.

Timios taps Matthew Golden as president in charge of sales

Westlake, California-based Timios, provider of digital closing services to businesses and consumers, announced the appointment of real estate veteran Matthew Golden as president. In the position, Golden will manage sales and help develop underwriter relationships, as the company focuses on expansion of its reach and services. A longtime leader in real estate and mortgage industries, including, most recently, at First American Title, Golden brings experience in retail lending, servicing, commercial lending, risk and other banking activities.

Promontory MortgagePath names Kevin Wheeler managing director

Fintech platform Promontory MortgagePath, a provider of digital mortgage and fulfillment solutions to community lenders, announced the promotion of Kevin Wheeler to managing director of product and engineering. Since early 2020, he had held the role of director of backend engineering, where he worked on the development of Promontory’s digital products, including its point-of-sale technology, Borrower Wallet. In his new position at the Danbury, Connecticut based company, Wheeler will continue to work on building the framework needed for new product launches and government-required changes.

Amerifirst adds Dan Manginelli, Bob Boehnlein to drive expansion

Left to right: Dan Manginelli, Bob Boehnlein

Amerifirst Financial, the parent company of Amerifirst Home Mortgage, welcomed Dan Manginelli and Bob Boehnlein as co-managing directors to lead growth initiatives and recruitment in the West. “Dan Manginelli and Bob Boehnlein are the perfect team to lead Ameritrust Home Mortgage as we embark on our planned expansion in the Western United States, beginning in southern California and expanding to locations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon,” said Ron Bergum, president of the western region for Amerifirst Home Mortgage. The lender, whose headquarters are in Kalamazoo, Michigan, plans to open nine new branches.

Mortgage veterans, Manginelli and Boehnlein have known each other and often worked together within the industry for over 30 years. Manginelli recently held the title of senior vice president of the retail mortgage platform at homebuilder Inspire, and has also served as owner and co-president of South Pacific Financial. In his career, Boehnlein has overseen production in several Western states, including as regional vice president for Prospect Mortgage and more recently, he helped lead ClosingMark Home Loans as executive vice president.

Cherry Creek Mortgage promotes Nicole McCrary to VP of compliance

National lender Cherry Creek Mortgage announced the promotion of Nicole McCrary to vice president of compliance. McCrary began her career as a loan officer assistant at Denver-based Cherry Creek in 2004 and, prior to her promotion, held the position of assistant vice president of quality control. In her new leadership role, McCrary will manage quality-control risks, consumer complaints and fair lending. She also will monitor anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act compliance, develop processes to meet regulatory requirements and ensure that company activities adhere to state and federal laws.

PRMI’s reverse division taps Greg Pahel as retail production manager

The Steven J. Sless Group, the reverse-mortgage group of Primary Residential Mortgage based in Owing Mills, Maryland, hired Greg Pahel as retail production manager. The longtime sales professional has worked exclusively in the reverse-mortgage space over the past decade and will oversee consumer-direct production for the division. In his role, he will coach and support a team of loan originators, as well as assist in nationwide recruitment. He also will originate loans and manage a team in Sless Group’s Phoenix regional base.

Before joining PRMI, Pahel served as senior vice president of consumer-direct sales with The Federal Savings Bank and also has held sales leadership positions with Paramount Residential Mortgage and American Advisors Group. Pahel began his career as a sales manager at Homeowners Friend Mortgage Company.