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James Jones has been named executive vice president of operations at Grubb & Ellis Co., a real estate services and investment firm based in Santa Ana, Calif. The company said Mr. Jones will be responsible for its merger integration efforts, operations, research, and the Grubb & Ellis Affiliate Program. Mr. Jones was most recently with CB Richard Ellis, where he held the same title and was responsible for strategic planning, operations and financial management, process enhancement, and facilities. Before joining CBRE in 2004, Mr. Jones spent nine years at Gateway Corp. and Western Digital Corp. in a number of operations and marketing roles, Grubb & Ellis said.

RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif., has announced the promotion of Michael Keane, its chief technology officer for the past three years, to fill the newly created post of chief product officer. Mr. Keane will focus entirely on feasibility analysis, development, and implementation of new products for RealtyTrac, the company said. A search for a new CTO is under way. Since the company's inception in 1996, Mr. Keane and his team have delivered first-in-the-industry innovations such as a patent-pending integration of aerial photography into the company website, RealtyTrac said. The company can be found online at http://www.realtytrac.com.

The Florida State Legislature has no mortgage brokers as members, but five members of the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers hope to change that with their candidacies. Four of the five candidates spoke at the group's annual convention in Kissimmee, Fla. Nancy Detert, who had been term-limited out of the state House of Representatives and ran second in a Republican primary for an open seat in Congress, is seeking election to the state Senate. She proposed using state affordable housing trust fund money as a soft second mortgage to help "work force people" qualify for a mortgage. The other four broker candidates are seeking seats in the state House, including D. Ritch Workman, the current FAMB president. Mr. Workman said he is running as a small businessman who is fed up with intrusions into business by federal and state legislators and regulators. The other candidates are Debbie Mayfield, Rafael Perez, and Terry Lynn Sanchez.

Real estate industry veteran Robert Hellman has been named managing director of real estate at David Landau & Associates, a consulting firm based in Fairfield, N.J. Mr. Hellman was most recently managing director with The Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group, a real estate capital advisory firm. He was previously a principal with Newmark Capital Group, where his responsibilities included investment sales, restructuring, and M&A services. Before joining Newmark, Mr. Hellman spent 16 years at Lehman Brothers, where he served as president or chief executive officer for several public real estate funds.

R&G Financial Corp., a bank holding company based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has announced the resignation of Andres I. Perez, executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective Aug. 1. Melba Acosta, R&G Financial's executive vice president for corporate risk management, will act as interim CFO while the company undertakes a search for a new one. Ms. Acosta will also continue in her current position, which she has held since 2006. She was previously senior vice president and chief administrative officer of the company from 2004 to 2005. Before joining R&G Financial, Ms. Acosta served from 2001 to 2004 as executive director and chief information officer at the Office of Management and Budget of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.rgonline.com.

Advantus Capital Management, St. Paul, Minn., has announced the launch of a high-yield mortgage investment strategy and the hiring of Dean Di Bias as the portfolio manager to oversee it. Mr. Di Bias was most recently with GMAC-RFC in Bloomington, Minn., where he was managing director and senior vice president of credit portfolio management. "The timing to enter this market is excellent because spreads have widened substantially on residential and commercial mortgage securities rated AAA to BB-minus," said Chris Sebald, executive vice president and chief investment officer at Advantus. "Yield spreads on many mortgage securities are very wide, creating substantial value." Advantus said the securitization markets have been so damaged by fallout from the housing downturn that the company believes premiums to invest in the sector "will remain attractive for some time to come." Advantus can be found online at http://www.advantuscapital.com.

Justin Ailes has been named director of government affairs at the American Land Title Association. Mr. Ailes will focus on enhancing the association's partnership with state land title associations, serve as liaison between the title industry and state government, and assist ALTA's senior management at the federal level. Before joining ALTA, Mr. Ailes was deputy federal representative for Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. He formerly served as a staff member for U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., and legislative assistant in the Indiana State Senate.

Ernst & Young has announced that 30-year real estate industry veteran Howard Roth has been named E&Y's global and Americas director of real estate. Mr. Roth, who previously headed the Northeast real estate practice of Ernst & Young US, will coordinate a network of 5,000 real estate professionals around the world from the organization's Global Real Estate Center offices in New York. He replaces Dale Anne Reiss, who retired on June 30. Mr. Roth said the Global Real Estate Center will focus on worldwide infrastructure development and privatization, sustainability and responsible property investing, and the credit slowdown, among other things. Ernst & Young can be found on the Web at http://www.ey.com.

Radian Guaranty Inc., the mortgage insurance subsidiary of Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia, has announced the resignation of its president, David Applegate, and several other changes at the top of the organization. Mr. Applegate will remain with Radian as a consultant for the foreseeable future. Stepping in as president is Teresa Bryce, who had been Radian Group's executive vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary, and chief risk officer. Paul Bognanno has been promoted from vice chairman of Radian Guaranty to chairman. Jeff Cashmer, senior vice president of mortgage insurance sales, is the new executive vice president and chief operating officer of Radian Guaranty, and Ted Hoffman, currently senior vice president and assistant general counsel will become Radian Group's general counsel and corporate secretary. Ms. Bryce and Mr. Hoffman report to S.A. Ibrahim, Radian Group's president and chief executive, while Mr. Bognanno and Mr. Cashmer report to Ms. Bryce. Ms. Bryce's priorities will include returning the mortgage insurance subsidiary to the AA level, and she has "extensive experience working with the GSEs, which will continue to be one of our top priorities," Mr. Ibrahim said.

Citigroup on Tuesday named Sanjiv Das CEO of its residential lending division, CitiMortgage of O'Fallon, Mo., the nation's fourth largest originator. He replaces Bill Beckmann who stepped down in June to spend more time with his family. Mr. Das returns to Citigroup after holding executive positions at Morgan Stanley and Bank One. In the 1990s, he worked for Citigroup in a number of positions, including chief of its global mortgage products group.