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Ronald Barnett joined Mortgage Access Corp., Morris Plains, N.J., as vice president and area manager. He is responsible for developing and managing loan originations in the New Jersey region. Most recently, Mr. Barnett was an area manager for JPMorgan Chase's home lending group and he also worked in a similar capacity for Washington Mutual and Bank of America.

Guild Mortgage, Seattle, appointed Dan Rivisto as district manager, Northwest region. Prior to joining Guild, Mr. Rivisto was a district manager for W.J. Bradley and an area manager for JPMorgan Chase. In 2002, he joined Countrywide Home Loans as an area builder manager for the greater Puget Sound area and was later promoted to first vice president regional builder manager for a four-state region in the Northwest.

Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. said he is not running for re-election in November and wants to spend his last year in office working toward passage of health care reform and financial services regulatory reform. "A year from this week our state will have a new United States Senator. In the meantime we have important work to do," Sen. Dodd said at a press conference. His decision to give up re-election makes its easier for the Connecticut senator to move to the center on regulatory reform issues. It also makes it easier for Republicans to compromise, since passage of a bill to regulate Wall Street and restructure the federal banking agencies will not be viewed as a victory for Sen. Dodd that could boost his re-election chances. One of Dodd's priorities is creating a new federal agency that is charged with protecting consumers from predatory lending and abusive financial products. Senate Banking Committee members are working on a bipartisan proposal that they want to unveil later this month. Sources indicated members are close to an agreement on a consumer protection agency that would have rulemaking authority, but leave enforcement powers with the banking regulators.

Anthony Hsieh, an entrepreneur who previously created and sold LoansDirect and Home Loan Center, has started a new online mortgage company, loanDepot.com which is based in Irvine, Calif. The backers for loanDepot include San Francisco-based private equity company Parthenon Capital Partners. Mr. Hsieh has ambitious plans for the company, projecting the creation of over 1,000 jobs by 2013. Right now it is licensed in 18 states, with plans to be approved nationwide by the end of this year. In support of its business plan, loanDepot cites two studies, including one from National Mortgage News that shows 80% or more of all mortgages originated have touched the Internet at some point in their process. It also pointed to Deloitte Consulting research which found 93% of those who applied for a loan online started their research online, 71% of telephone applicants started their research online and 60% of face-to-face applicants started their research online. The company has already been approved by the Federal Housing Administration as a non-supervised lender.

In lieu of cash bonuses for 2009, the board of Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, Calif., has approved multimillion-dollar retention performance shares for three key executives, including the head of Wells Fargo Home and Consumer Finance, Mark Oman. Mr. Oman, a senior executive vice president, and Howard Atkins, also a senior EVP as well as well as the company's chief financial officer, both got approved for a target of 189,800 shares having a current value of about $5 million. The board approved for John Stumpf, president and chief executive officer, a target of 379,600 shares having a current value of about $10 million. "These retention performance shares, which are not a form of cash compensation or annual incentive bonus, are forfeited if the executive receiving the shares leaves the company to work for a competitor," Wells said. The shares will vest after three years of service only if the company meets specified performance goals. A portion of all shares earned by executives as compensation must be held for as long as they remain employed by the company. Steve Sanger, chair of the board's human resources committee and retired chairman and CEO of General Mills Inc., said the executives receiving the compensation have been "leading the company through the largest merger integration in U.S. banking history and they have played key roles in generating record profits in the first three quarters of 2009, despite the challenging economy." Commenting on the rationale behind the performance shares, he noted that given those accomplishments and "the current challenges impacting the banking industry, Wells Fargo executives, at all levels, are being increasingly and aggressively recruited by competitors."

Dorado Corp., San Mateo, Calif., said that Dave Parker has been promoted to vice president, business development. In his new role, Mr. Parker will oversee all aspects of Dorado's business development efforts including technology and value-added reseller partnerships. He previously served as director of business development. In prior roles, he has served as director, sales platform development at Wells Fargo and chief executive officer at Praxis Technology Group. Before Wells Fargo, Mr. Parker served as chief operating officer at MortgageHub.

Barbara Alexander, one of three Freddie Mac directors the Federal Housing Finance Agency left in place after the company was placed into a conservatorship, will step down from the GSE's board once her term ends in March. She is currently chairwoman of the business and risk committee and serves on the compensation and executive committees. Since 2004, Ms. Alexander has been an independent consultant. Before that, she was a senior advisor at UBS Warburg LLC and managing director of the North American construction and furnishing group in the corporate finance department at UBS. She is also an executive fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

Loan Value Group LLC, Rumson, N.J., has named a chairman and, separately, a managing partner. Richard Santulli, former founder and chairman/chief executive officer of Woodbridge, NJ.-based fractional aircraft ownership firm NetJets Inc., has joined the company's board as chairman. In addition, Michael Goodman, former CEO of structured settlement and annuity payments purchaser J.G. Wentworth and founding partner of Corridor Quadrant, has joined the board through CQ's ownership position in the company. Mr. Goodman also has been named managing partner at LVG. LVG is working with owners of mortgage risk and servicers to influence consumer behavior to help reduce the risk of borrowers choosing to default on their loans because of negative equity.

Marc Savitt, the recent past president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, has launched a new trade group and hopes to have 100,000 new members signed up within a year. "I'm only charging $50 a year membership dues," he said in an interview with National Mortgage News. Mr. Savitt, who owns and operates his own loan brokerage in West Virginia, stressed that he will not be competing against NAMB (he continues to head its HVCC task force) but will gear the efforts of the upstart National Association of Independent Housing Professionals strictly toward government affairs and lobbying outreach. He plans to officially launch the NAIHP next week and already has "a few hundred" committed members. "This organization will be run like a business," he said. Mr. Savitt has been a vocal critic of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct and is pushing for immediate changes to how lenders and brokers order and manage appraisals.

Orange County police have arrested three men for suspicion of breaking into the Newport Coast mansion of former subprime high-flyer Daniel Sadek. According to a report in The Orange County Register, Mr. Sadek founded and managed Quick Loan Funding, which originated roughly $4 billion in subprime mortgages before collapsing in 2007. The newspaper reported that three people at Mr. Sadek's home suffered head injuries during the home invasion, and one of them was taken to the hospital. No word yet on whether Mr. Sadek was present or if he was hurt. The former mortgage chief bought the Newport Coast mansion, a fleet of exotic cars, and enjoyed a little gambling. Court records list cash advances taken out on his credit card at casinos from Hawaiian Gardens to Lebanon, the OCR said.