U.S. Bank, Rate, loanDepot and AnnieMac make leadership moves
Published June 5, 2026 6:00 AM
1 Min Read
LoanDepot elevates Joseph Grassi to chief legal and risk officer
LoanDepot promoted Joseph Grassi to chief legal and risk officer. In the expanded role, Grassi will lead the company's legal strategy, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, loan quality and enterprise risk management functions. Grassi has served as loanDepot's chief risk officer since 2022 and brings more than 35 years of experience in consumer lending law, mortgage regulation, compliance and risk oversight. He previously spent 20 years as a senior attorney for Fannie Mae, including as lead counsel for its multifamily and single-family businesses, and ultimately served as interim general counsel and corporate secretary.
Rate taps Marty Preston for profit and loss platform
Retail lender Rate welcomed Marty Preston to its profit and loss platform. Preston joins from Benchmark, where he most recently served as both president of retail and division president. He grew his production team from $200 million to more than $900 million in annual volume in three years. Rate also hired Kelsey Marquardt as a loan originator in Scottsdale, Arizona. Marquardt brings more than $85 million in production and licenses across seven states.
National mortgage lender Citywide Home Mortgage, a Rate subsidiary, promoted Robert Coomer to chief growth officer. In his new role, Coomer spearheads the company's growth trajectory while overseeing strategic initiatives to expand its national footprint. He joined Citywide in April 2024 as executive vice president, director of sales strategy and growth.
National mortgage lender Citywide Home Mortgage, a Rate subsidiary, promoted Robert Coomer to chief growth officer. In his new role, Coomer spearheads the company's growth trajectory while overseeing strategic initiatives to expand its national footprint. He joined Citywide in April 2024 as executive vice president, director of sales strategy and growth.
Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group names new chief revenue officer
Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group, a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based mortgage lender, announced Greg Richardson joined the company as chief revenue officer. He now leads enterprise revenue strategy and alignment across production, capital markets, product development and institutional investor relationships.
Richardson previously served as executive vice president of capital markets at Primis Mortgage. Earlier in his career at Movement Mortgage, he led the capital markets division responsible for managing a $13 billion annual mortgage pipeline. He also served in leadership roles at Wells Fargo Securities and Wachovia Corporation.
Richardson previously served as executive vice president of capital markets at Primis Mortgage. Earlier in his career at Movement Mortgage, he led the capital markets division responsible for managing a $13 billion annual mortgage pipeline. He also served in leadership roles at Wells Fargo Securities and Wachovia Corporation.
Mortgage Cadence reveals new c-suite
Riverside, California-based PartnerOne, a software group, appointed Michael Detwiler as CEO of Mortgage Cadence, which the company acquired late last year. Detwiler is the original co-founder and CEO of Mortgage Cadence, having built the company from 2002 to 2015 into a leader in mortgage lending software.
Mortgage Cadence also tapped Joe Zeibert as chief revenue officer. In the role, he guides alignment across sales, customer success and go-to-market strategy. Zeibert brings more than 20 years of experience across banking, fintech and mortgage technology. He previously held leadership roles at Anchor Loans, Fair Isaac Corp., Nomis Solutions, Ally Financial and Bank of America.
Mortgage Cadence also tapped Joe Zeibert as chief revenue officer. In the role, he guides alignment across sales, customer success and go-to-market strategy. Zeibert brings more than 20 years of experience across banking, fintech and mortgage technology. He previously held leadership roles at Anchor Loans, Fair Isaac Corp., Nomis Solutions, Ally Financial and Bank of America.
Lower names two new executives
Lower, a Columbus, Ohio-based modern homeownership platform and mortgage lender, appointed Jamie Brown as executive vice president, divisional president. Brown focuses on building and scaling a high-performing, Southeast-focused division with national reach. He brings more than 30 years of experience across mortgage, real estate and insurance. Brown joins from Supreme Lending, where he served as regional manager leading a team of more than 100 employees and over $50 million in monthly production.
The company also named Paul Zinn executive vice president of retail lending and divisional manager. He works on expanding the company's retail presence, recruiting top originators and strengthening production teams nationwide. Zinn spent 13 years at AnnieMac as senior vice president of business development and part of the company's founding team, helping scale the organization into a top-25 lender and leading teams responsible for more than $4 billion in annual loan volume.
The company also named Paul Zinn executive vice president of retail lending and divisional manager. He works on expanding the company's retail presence, recruiting top originators and strengthening production teams nationwide. Zinn spent 13 years at AnnieMac as senior vice president of business development and part of the company's founding team, helping scale the organization into a top-25 lender and leading teams responsible for more than $4 billion in annual loan volume.
U.S. Bank expands John Hummel's role
U.S. Bank grew John Hummel's role to head of home lending production. He now oversees correspondent, Housing Finance Agency and warehouse lending in addition to retail home lending, leading sales and operations for all home lending origination channels with a team of more than 2,600. Prior to joining U.S. Bank in 2017, he held senior national retail sales leadership roles at Pacific Union and CMG Financial, overseeing teams of several hundred mortgage loan originators, and spent 15 years in leadership roles at Citigroup's mortgage business.
AnnieMac taps Gianni Cerretani as branch manager
AnnieMac Home Mortgage welcomed Gianni Cerretani as branch manager within its Momentum Group division. Based in Atlanta, Cerretani focuses on building high-performing teams and establishing a strong regional presence in the Southeast. A consistent top producer with annual production of approximately $55 million, Cerretani brings more than 26 years of experience.
Click n' Close appoints Amy Azorandia chief compliance officer
Click n' Close, a Texas-based mortgage lender, appointed Amy Azorandia as chief compliance officer. She now leads compliance strategy, governance framework and risk management infrastructure across the company's wholesale, correspondent and retail channels. Azorandia brings more than 20 years of mortgage banking experience designing and implementing compliance and risk infrastructure across multi-channel lending platforms. She joins from Firstrust Bank, where she served as senior vice president of mortgage compliance and systems.
Planet announces new correspondent renovation account executive
Planet, formerly known as Planet Home Lending , a national mortgage lender and servicer, tapped Adam Levitt as correspondent renovation account executive. In this role, Levitt supports the growth of Planet's correspondent renovation lending channel. Levitt brings decades of mortgage industry experience, including expertise in renovation, construction-to-permanent and correspondent lending. He began his career as an educator and coach before transitioning into mortgage lending, and has held roles across wholesale, correspondent and retail channels.
Dream Finders Homes names Clint Szubinski chief operating officer
Dream Finders Homes, a Jacksonville, Florida-based homebuilder, appointed Clint Szubinski as chief operating officer. Szubinski directs the strategic vision and operational performance of the company. He most recently served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Meritage Homes Corporation, where he oversaw enterprise-wide operations and contributed to the company's national growth strategy. He also previously served as president of Meritage Homes' East Region.
CertifID adds two c-suite members
CertifID, a wire fraud protection platform for the real estate industry, appointed Josh Linn as chief product officer. He now leads product, design and data strategy focused on the closing experience. Linn brings more than two decades of experience building systems for digital trust across banking, payments, identity and financial technology. He joins from Socure, a digital identity verification company, where he most recently held a senior product and technology leadership role.
The company also announced Liz Conn joined as Chief Marketing Officer. In the role, Conn is responsible for elevating CertifID's brand and increasing awareness of wire fraud as an urgent threat. She previously served as the senior vice president of marketing at Sayari.
The company also announced Liz Conn joined as Chief Marketing Officer. In the role, Conn is responsible for elevating CertifID's brand and increasing awareness of wire fraud as an urgent threat. She previously served as the senior vice president of marketing at Sayari.
Westcor appoints 5 employees to new regional roles
Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. named Timothy Rhyne as Michigan underwriting counsel in the central states region, KC West as region manager for its north central states region, John Kulasa as south central states regional manager, Deborah Lake as agency representative for the Miami-Dade, Florida, area, Natalie Koonce as mountain states region manager and Emilio Fernandez as Florida vice president, regional agency manager.
Additionally, Ardán, Inc., the holding company of Westcor, appointed Neil Gulley as president and chief operating officer. Gulley will transition to CEO at the beginning of 2027, with current CEO Terry Wright remaining through the end of 2026. He joins from CBIP Services and Keymara Ventures, where he served as executive vice president and chief revenue officer. Prior to that, Gulley was chief development officer at Title Resources Group and senior vice president at Realogy Title Group, where he led operations across the West and Midwest regions.
Additionally, Ardán, Inc., the holding company of Westcor, appointed Neil Gulley as president and chief operating officer. Gulley will transition to CEO at the beginning of 2027, with current CEO Terry Wright remaining through the end of 2026. He joins from CBIP Services and Keymara Ventures, where he served as executive vice president and chief revenue officer. Prior to that, Gulley was chief development officer at Title Resources Group and senior vice president at Realogy Title Group, where he led operations across the West and Midwest regions.
Nationwide Mortgage Bankers announces president of Spanish division
Nationwide Mortgage Bankers promoted Yasser Valdes Herrera to president of Americasa Home Loans, its Spanish-language mortgage division. Herrera joined the company in 2022 as a loan officer before being promoted to producing sales manager and then vice president in December 2023. A Cuban immigrant and industrial engineer by training, he immigrated to the United States in 2013. Headquartered in Miami, Americasa has expanded with additional offices across Florida, Texas, Connecticut and New York.
Pylon taps Jon Langlois as chief legal officer
Pylon appointed Jon Langlois as chief legal officer, where he leads the legal and regulatory strategy as the company scales its infrastructure platform. Langlois brings 30 years of legal experience at the intersection of financial services and regulatory strategy. He joins from Orrick, where as a senior partner he advised leading financial institutions on complex transactional and compliance matters.
ServiceLink adds Ryan Reaves to default sales team
ServiceLink, a provider of tech-enabled mortgage lifecycle services, welcomed Ryan Reaves as vice president, national sales executive within its default division. He is responsible for strengthening client relationships and developing new partnerships across field services, auction, real estate owned asset management, default title, valuation and servicing support solutions. Reaves brings more than 10 years of experience in mortgage servicing and business development, with particular expertise in property preservation and default title.
Structured Finance Association picks new director of advocacy
The Structured Finance Association, a Washington-based trade association representing the structured finance and securitization industry, announced that Palmer Rafferty has joined the organization as a director of advocacy. In his role, Rafferty supports SFA's advocacy efforts, engages with policymakers and industry stakeholders and advances public policy priorities.
He joins from TransUnion, where he supported the company's government affairs and public policy initiatives. Prior to that, Rafferty served in senior roles in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
He joins from TransUnion, where he supported the company's government affairs and public policy initiatives. Prior to that, Rafferty served in senior roles in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
MBA picks Jill Ranck as director of associate membership
The Mortgage Bankers Association announced that Jill Ranck joined the trade group as director of associate membership. Ranck is the primary contact for the MBA's associate members while developing and executing strategies to strengthen their engagement with the association. She most recently held ascending roles at PNC Bank, serving as vice president, product manager. Prior to joining PNC, Ranck served as chief operating officer of strategy, technology and change management at SimpliFi Mortgage. She also held roles as CEO, independent controller at SBE&A and regional mortgage change performance consultant at Wells Fargo.
National Housing Conference announces 4 new board members
The National Housing Conference appointed four new members to its board of governors. Seth Appleton of US Mortgage Insurers, Teresa Bryce Bazemore, former president and CEO of Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Sharon Wilson Géno of National Multifamily Housing Council and Debra Still, retired CEO and vice chair of Pulte Financial Services, will join the Washington, D.C.-based organization's board. The new members' terms officially commenced this month.
Auction.com elevates Ali Haralson to co-CEO
Auction.com, a distressed real estate marketplace, appointed Ali Haralson as co-CEO and member of its board of directors. She has served as Auction.com's president since 2021, with responsibilities spanning across operations, business development, client partnerships and culture-building. Haralson will join Jason Allnutt in leading the company. Allnutt took on the role of CEO in 2018.
