Marathon Hires 2 to Head Specialty Loan Venture

Rick E. Smith and Steve Paton have been hired to head up Marix, a new specialty loan servicing and loss mitigation business that is slated to begin operations soon at Marathon Asset Management LLC, New York.Both were formerly employed by Mortgage Lenders Network USA, which recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (Marathon had considered investing in the struggling MLN, which was once a top-15 subprime lender.) Mr. Smith was senior vice president of loan administration at MLN, and previously worked for Key Bank Corp., Chase Manhattan Mortgage, ContiMortgage Corp. and Associates Credit Services, among other companies. Mr. Paton was responsible for MLN's Arizona operations, and was formerly employed at Chase Home Finance, ContiMortgage, Associates Credit Services, and Fleet Mortgage, among other companies.