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The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has announced that its president, Harry Dinham, will serve on Fannie Mae's National Housing Advisory Council.The NHAC, consisting of 46 members from the housing, mortgage finance, and government sectors, meets with Fannie Mae's senior management three times a year to help the company "address industry challenges and maximize market opportunities," the association said. Council members serve two-year terms, with approximately half of the membership rotating off at the end of each year. "Serving on the council gives me the opportunity to further advance the cause of both mortgage brokers and homeowners on a national scale," said Mr. Dinham. NAMB can be found on the Web at http://www.namb.org.

Troy Gotschall has resigned as executive vice president and chief production officer of ECC Capital Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Irvine, Calif., as a result of the company's decision to exit the mortgage origination business.The mortgage REIT noted that the decision was to exit the origination business after the consummation of a proposed transaction with Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corp. Mr. Gotschall will serve as a consultant to ECC to assist in the transition of his responsibilities, the company said. The REIT can be found online at http://www.encorecredit.com.

Scott C. Harvard, president and chief executive officer of Shore Bank, has been elected chairman of the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.Mr. Harvard, who is serving his second three-year term on the board, was originally elected by member financial institutions in Virginia. He has served as president and CEO of Shore Bank and its holding company, Shore Financial Corp., Onley, Va., since 1985, the FHLBank said. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta provides services to financial institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The FHLBank can be found on the Web at http://www.fhlbatl.com, and Shore Bank can be found at http://www.shorebank.com.

Ron Wilsie has been named chief operating officer of Preferred Financial Group Inc., a private mortgage lender based in Burlingame, Calif., and Gary Plooster has been named chief production officer.Mr. Wilsie was most recently president of WestWorks Mortgage in Southern California, which was formed in 1997 as a division of Western Financial Savings Bank, Preferred Financial said. Mr. Plooster was previously executive vice president for national wholesale production and operations at United Financial Mortgage Corp. Preferred Financial said it plans to expends its wholesale mortgage franchise into new geographic markets this year by adding production offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and Oregon. It can be found on the Web at http://www.preferredmortgage.com.

David Lowman, Chase's chief executive officer of Global Mortgage, has been given additional responsibilities in the areas of home equity, servicing, and default that combine all the company's consumer real estate lending businesses into one organization.Before joining Chase in November, Mr. Lowman was president and CEO of CitiFinancial International. Chase said he was previously chief servicing and technology officer for Citigroup's U.S. mortgage business; president and chief operating officer of CitiMortgage; and chief financial officer (among other positions) of Prudential Home Mortgage. Chase can be found online at http://www.chase.com.

LoanCity, a national wholesale lender based in San Jose, Calif., has announced that John C. Giagiari Jr. and Jeff Minch have joined the company as chief operating officer and national sales manager, respectively.For the past 10 years, Mr. Giagiari was director of subprime lending at Meritage Mortgage, a division of Netbank. Before joining Meritage, he was responsible for wholesale lending in Northern California for First Franklin Financial. Mr. Minch, who will have the title of senior vice president as well as national sales manager, has been national sales manager at Meritage since 2004. He was previously Eastern regional sales manager for Meritage, held strategy and operational posts at First Franklin, and founded OneHarbor, a financial planning service for customers of financial institutions. LoanCity can be found online at http://www.loancity.com.

Kenneth M. Duberstein -- one of the few remaining directors from the "Raines era" at Fannie Mae -- will step down on Feb. 15, according to a federal filing by the company.Mr. Duberstein has been a Fannie Mae director since 1998. He is chairman and chief executive of The Duberstein Group Inc., an independent strategic planning and consulting firm. In years past, Mr. Duberstein's lobbying firm has done work for the company. Mr. Raines was forced out of Fannie in December 2004 as the government-sponsored enterprise's accounting scandal widened. The Raines-era directors -- including Mr. Duberstein -- are defendants in a shareholder lawsuit that accuses board members (and current and former executives) of profiting from the GSE's accounting manipulations "via huge bonuses, improper stock sales and/or a web of lucrative personal" and financial interrelationships. Fannie Mae can be found on the Web at http://www.fanniemae.com.

Michael Forster has been named to the newly created position of chief financial officer at NeighborWorks America, a nonprofit community development and training organization based in Washington, D.C.Mr. Forster, who brings over 20 years of experience in accounting and management, was most recently vice president of finance and administration at the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. He was previously a consultant to the District of Columbia government. Ken Wade, chief executive officer of NeighborWorks, said the CFO post was created because community development "is growing increasingly complex, with participants ranging from very small nonprofit organizations to global financial institutions headquartered on Wall Street."

Chito Schnupp has been promoted to executive vice president of ComUnity Lending, Morgan Hill, Calif., and will join the company's Executive Leadership Team.Ms. Schnupp, a 20-year veteran of the mortgage industry, was most recently senior vice president for capital markets. Her new position will continue to focus on capital markets but will also be "heavily involved with the company's strategic planning and vision," the company said. Ms. Schnupp was previously employed by such lenders as Olympia Funding, Medallion Mortgage/AccuBank, First Franklin/National City Mortgage, and Wells Fargo. The company can be found online at http://www.comunitylending.com.

Kevin D. Race, president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer of Atlanta-based HomeBanc Corp., has been named chief executive officer of the company, replacing Patrick S. Flood.In addition, James B. Witherow, a director, has been named non-executive chairman of the board. During an investor conference call, Mr. Race said Mr. Flood, who was the company's chairman and CEO, left HomeBanc "to pursue other opportunities." Later, in response to a question, Mr. Witherow said there wasn't any "conflict" behind Mr. Flood's departure, but that HomeBanc is streamlining and this needs to come from the top, while Mr. Flood had built the organization for expansion. HomeBanc, which has been operating as a real estate investment trust, announced that it will focus on operating efficiencies and opportunities for growth and will not operate as a REIT in 2007. The company can be found online at http://www.homebanc.com.