MBA Chief Departing at Year's End

Mortgage Bankers Association president Jonathan L. Kempner is resigning from the trade group effective at the end of the year and will be replaced by industry veteran John Courson. During the mortgage crisis, the trade group has seen both its membership and its revenues decline. It has also been hurt by its investment in a new Washington office building that became its headquarters this spring. With the commercial real estate market softening, the MBA has had difficulty leasing other floors in the building. Mr. Courson's company, Central Pacific Mortgage, Folsom, Calif., collapsed early in 2007 after being margin-called by its warehouse lenders. Mr. Courson founded CPM, a nondepository, in 1977. At its peak, CPM was table-funding about $180 million a month.