People

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.

Joyce S. Mizerak has resigned as president of Hanover Capital Partners 2 Ltd. and senior managing director of Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., Edison, N.J.John A. Burchett, chairman and chief executive officer of Hanover Capital Mortgage, a real estate investment trust, said Ms. Mizerak was a cofounder of the mortgage REIT's predecessor firm in 1989. "However, in light of the recent sale of the due diligence business of Hanover Capital Partners 2 Ltd., Joyce has decided to leave the firm to pursue other opportunities," he said. The REIT can be found online at http://www.hanovercapitalholdings.com.

David B. Little has been named executive vice president of customer relations at EMC Mortgage Corp., Lewisville, Texas.Mr. Little was most recently vice president of default services at Household International/HSBC North America, where he held various positions in servicing and default operations since 1983. In addition to managing approximately 600 employees in EMC's customer care and default management operations, Mr. Little will oversee the company's second site in Irvine, Calif., which is scheduled to open in the spring, EMC reported. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.emcmortgage.com.

Phil Huff has stepped down as president and chief executive officer of eLynx, a Cincinnati-based provider of electronic document delivery systems for mortgage lenders, handing over the posts on an interim basis to Sharon Matthews.Mr. Huff, who retains his membership on the eLynx board of directors, will assist in the executive transition and support the company's sales and business development efforts, eLynx said. "Under Phil's leadership, the company has firmly secured its position in mortgage banking; acquired SwiftView [a provider of electronic document viewing software]; and established a foothold in the insurance sector," said Todd Wilson of American Capital Strategies Ltd., which purchased eLynx in 2004. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.elynx.com.

Peter Goldberg has been named president of Ohio Savings Bank/Am Trust Bank, a major mortgage lender based in Cleveland, replacing Robert Goldberg, who had served in that post since 1971.Robert Goldberg will now become chief executive officer of the financial institution. Peter Goldberg has been employed by Ohio Savings for more than 15 years in various capacities, most recently as chief operating officer, the lender reported. Ohio Savings can be found online at http://www.ohiosavings.com, and Am Trust can be found at http://www.amtrustdirect.com.

After serving five years on the Federal Reserve Board, Susan Schmidt Bies said she will step down as a Fed governor effective March 30 to spend more time with her family.Known for her expertise in risk management and regulatory issues, Ms. Bies has been an advocate for modernizing the Basel capital standards and tightening mortgage underwriting standards. "Her leadership at the board was most evident in guiding our efforts in banking policy and community affairs," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said. Prior to her appointment to the Fed, Ms. Bies was the chief risk management officer at First Tennessee National Corp., which is now First Horizon National Corp. "The opportunity I have had to serve my country on the Federal Reserve Board is an honor I will treasure always," Ms. Bies says in her resignation letter to President Bush. Her departure will mean that the president has two vacancies on the board to fill.

John Bonfiglio, a group managing director at Fitch Ratings, has been named head of U.S. Structured Finance at the rating agency.Fitch said the appointment expands Mr. Bonfiglio's role to include executive leadership for the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities group in addition to his responsibilities for the U.S. commercial MBS and U.S. asset-backed securities areas. He will also continue to lead Fitch's Global Performance Analytics working group. Mr. Bonfiglio joined Fitch in 1993, was co-head of Fitch's commercial mortgage group from 1997 to 2000, and was responsible for the residential mortgage group from 2001 to 2004, the rating agency said. In 2004, he took over Fitch's commercial mortgage, real estate investment trust, and asset-backed groups. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Michelle Minier, an 11-year veteran of IndyMac Bank, has assumed full duties as chief executive officer at the bank's reverse mortgage subsidiary, Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp., Irvine, Calif., as part of a management succession plan announced in July 2006.Since then, Ms. Minier has been sharing co-CEO responsibilities with Jim Mahoney, who will stay on as chairman of the board. Before joining Financial Freedom, Ms. Minier served as executive vice president in charge of Central Mortgage Operations and continues to be a member of IndyMac Bank's Executive Committee, IndyMac said. She was previously assistant controller, president of warehouse lending, and executive vice president and president of business-to-business lending at the company.

Mary Kelsch, a senior director at Fitch Ratings, has been named to oversee the newly merged U.S. RMBS Servicer Rating and Originator Review teams of Fitch's Operational Risk Group."Consolidating the two [residential mortgage-backed securities] Operational Risk teams under a single manager will allow the synergy needed during this cycle in the industry," said Diane Pendley, a Fitch managing director. "The quality of origination, uniqueness of products, and issues such as early payment defaults and fraud greatly impact the actions of the servicer. In reverse, the servicer's ability to monitor and report on these issues, as well as to contain or control defaults and losses they may cause, should be brought back into the review of the originators' platforms." Ms. Kelsch, a 10-year veteran of Fitch, was instrumental in developing the company's RMBS servicer rating program, the rating agency said.

Flushing Financial Corp., Lake Success, N.Y., has announced the retirement of Robert Callicut, senior vice president of Flushing Savings Bank's Residential Real Estate Mortgage Department.Mr. Callicut is a 43-year veteran of the banking industry, and has been with Flushing Savings for 11 years, Flushing Financial reported. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.flushingsavings.com.