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Fannie Mae's new chief executive Michael Williams has recruited three bankers from outside the company to serve as his executive vice presidents in key posts. Timothy Mayopoulos from Bank of America will serve as EVP, general counsel and corporate secretary. Edward G. Watson from Citicorp will be Fannie's new EVP for operations and technology. And Kenneth J. Phelan from Wachovia Corp. will be EVP for risk management. "Each of these outstanding individuals brings extensive and distinguished experience in their respective fields to the critical positions they assume at Fannie Mae," Mr. Williams said.

CitiMortgage has hired former Fannie Mae servicing executive Harold Lewis to head its Homeowner Assistance Program. He will officially join the bank-owned lender next Monday. According to an official at CitiMortgage, Mr. Lewis, while at Fannie, worked with the Obama administration to develop the GSE's new Making Home Affordable program, which is geared toward refinancing troubled as well as healthy borrowers. At Fannie he held the title of senior vice president of national servicing and was responsible for overseeing 1,400 GSE servicers.

Dallas based Mortgage Search & Acquisition said today that Chris Meyer will be joining the company as managing director of the company's new Phoenix office. Mr. Meyer has an executive recruiting background stemming 30 years, beginning in 1980 with the John Hancock Co. in Anchorage Alaska where he worked with financial planners in recruiting candidates for investment opportunities. In 1982, Mr. Meyer relocated to Phoenix to start his own firm, resulting in two decades of recruiting within the distribution technology area, targeting business owners across the U.S. within a wide spectrum of industries. He joined Arizona-based Competent Search in 2002, where he developed a mortgage banking specialty, delivering highly personalized, results driven recruiting services to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage nationwide. After successfully opening multiple states and training new recruiters for Competent Search, Mr. Meyer began focusing on the Southern California market, transitioning in excess of $800 million annually in branch acquisitions and top performers in the retail and builder sectors. MSA specializes solely within the mortgage banking and financial services industry, providing over 25 years of experience in executive recruiting and acquisition services to its national client base.

PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., has hired John C. Sites Jr. to provide consulting services to the company and its board. Mr. Sites is a partner at Wexford Capital LP, an investment advisor that manages a series of affiliated hedge funds and private equity funds. There he focuses on Wexford's investments in mortgage-backed securities and mortgage-related enterprises. Previously, Mr. Sites served as a director of Fannie Mae and as a general partner of Daystar Special Situations Fund and Rock Creek Partners II Ltd. From 1981-1995, Mr. Sites was with Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., where he eventually became executive vice president. While at Bear Stearns, Mr. Sites established the firm's mortgage and asset-backed department. PHH chairman A.B. Krongard stated, "We are very pleased that PHH has been able to establish this important relationship with John Sites. We believe that John's extensive mortgage industry and other experience will prove extremely valuable to the board and the company."

President Barack Obama has nominated Michael Barr to be Treasury assistant secretary for financial institutions where he will probably play an important role in guiding reform of the mortgage finance system. A professor of law at Michigan University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Mr. Barr is currently working in the White House. He previously served as a special assistant to former Treasury secretary Robert Rubin during the Clinton administration. The Treasury nominee recently told a Center for American Progress forum that consumer protection needs to be at the "heart of our system of mortgage finance — not an after-thought or relegated to second class status." In related news, the President has nominated Helen Kanovsky to be the general counsel at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She is currently the chief operating officer of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and previously served as chief of staff for Sen. John Kerry.

Tom Donatacci, who recently left Residential Capital Corp., has joined The Clayton Group, a loan advisory firm based in Shelton, Conn.Clayton named Mr. Donatacci executive vice president of marketing and sales. At ResCap Mr. Donatacci was in charge of new business development and oversaw its subservicing division. Meanwhile, Clayton named Tom Cronin managing director of government relations.

Attorney J. Thomas Cardwell of Akerman Senterfitt has been appointed to serve on the Florida Supreme Court's task force on residential mortgage foreclosures. The task force recommends policies, procedures, strategies, and methods for easing the backlog of foreclosure cases while protecting the rights of parties involved in them. An interim report from the task force is due by May 8. The task force has 15 members, including state judges, consumer advocates, mediators and lenders. Mr. Cardwell is chair of Akerman Senterfitt's financial institutions practice, a former chairman of the firm and general counsel to the Florida Bankers Association.

President Obama has named Carol Galante, a nonprofit multifamily builder, deputy assistant secretary in charge of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's multifamily program.Ms. Galante joins HUD from Bridge Housing Corp., which specializes in affordable homes in the California market. At HUD she will be in charge of the FHA's multifamily program, in particular financing and support for the government's $58 billion worth of privately owned rental properties. Ms. Galante joined Bridge in 1987 and was named president in 1996.

A day after press reports suggested that Jerry Howard might be dethroned as president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, the trade group issued a press release saying that he is still in charge. One builder, requesting anonymity, told National Mortgage News that Mr. Howard and certain homebuilding firms that were upset with the trade group's apparent stance on tax breaks that might only benefit small builders "have kissed and made up." In its statement NAHB noted that its High Production Home Builders Council met Monday for a "candid" discussion of issues facing builders, adding that "now more than ever, it is important for all homebuilders to be united." The Wall Street Journal reported in its Monday edition that Mr. Howard might be forced out of NAHB by a faction of large publicly traded building companies.

Freddie Mac Wednesday morning named its current non-executive chairman, John Koskinen, interim chief executive officer and then appointed a director, Robert Glauber, to fill Mr. Koskinen's role. Both appointments will be effective this Friday when current CEO David Moffett officially steps down from the government controlled mortgage investing giant. Mr. Koskinen is currently serving as the company's non-executive chairman, a position he's held since September when the government placed Freddie into a conservatorship. Previously he was president of the United States Soccer Foundation, and before that deputy mayor and city administrator of Washington. Mr. Glauber joined Freddie's board of directors in 2006. He is a lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a visiting professor at the college's law school. Prior to that, he served as chairman and CEO of the National Association of Securities Dealers. Mr. Moffett unexpectedly announced his resignation earlier this month. Freddie reports earnings later this week.