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Countrywide Financial Corp. chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo is negotiating with the mortgage giant's board to remain as chief executive officer beyond the end of the year.A co-founder of the company, Mr. Mozilo was originally set to step down as CEO on Dec. 31 but remain as chairman. His so-called "retirement" as CEO has been in doubt for several months and came to a head last week when the lender/servicer revealed that company president and chief operating officer Stanford L. Kurland -- once considered a possible heir to Mr. Mozilo -- had resigned. Mr. Kurland was immediately replaced by David Sambol, a 21-year veteran of Countrywide, who served as executive managing director of business-segment operations. On Tuesday, Mr. Mozilo told attendees of a Countrywide investor forum that he was renegotiating his contract. Even though Mr. Mozilo will remain as CEO, many in the industry believe the just-promoted Mr. Sambol eventually will succeed him as the company's top executive. The company can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.

Gene Devine has been named senior vice president of Intellidyn Corp., a consumer analytics and database marketing company based in Hingham, Mass., a Boston suburb.His principal responsibilities will include creating, deploying, and managing direct-to-consumer marketing and lead generation initiatives for Intellidyn clients. Before joining Intellidyn, Mr. Devine was the executive vice president of marketing for Florida-based First Fidelity Financial Corp., where he was responsible for the creation of an end-to-end lead generation channel for customer acquisition, Intellidyn said. Previously, he was a senior vice president at Data Warehouse Corp., SVP of marketing for Mortgage.com, and SVP of marketing at Eastern Mortgage Services. Intellidyn can be found on the Web at http://www.intellidyn.com.

James R. Giertz has been named chief financial officer of Residential Capital Corp., a Minneapolis-based real estate finance company.Mr. Giertz joins ResCap, a wholly owned subsidiary of GMAC LLC, from Donaldson Co., a manufacturer of filtration systems and products. He served there as CFO for six years, and most recently led Donaldson's Commercial and Industrial Products division. Mr. Giertz succeeds Davee Olson, who was appointed senior managing director of ResCap's Warehouse Lending business unit in May. He joins ResCap with more than 23 years of experience in financial and operational management. The company can be found online at http://www.rescapholdings.com.

Countrywide Financial Corp. president and chief operating officer Stanford L. Kurland -- once considered a possible heir to chief executive officer Angelo Mozilo -- resigned from the company Thursday evening.Mr. Kurland was immediately replaced by David Sambol, a 21-year veteran of Countrywide who served as executive managing director of business segment operations. A source familiar with the situation told MortgageWire Mr. Sambol "is now in the path of succession" to succeed Mr. Mozilo, whose contract with the company expires at year-end. Who will succeed Mr. Mozilo as CEO, and when, "is now in the hands of the board," said the source. Mr. Mozilo also holds the title of chairman, which he has said he intends to keep after stepping down as CEO. Mr. Kurland worked at Countrywide, the nation's largest lender and servicer, for 28 years. In a statement, Mr. Mozilo said Mr. Kurland "has made significant contributions to Countrywide's success." The company can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.

President Bush has nominated former Goldman Sachs vice chairman Robert K. Steel to oversee domestic finance and government-sponsored enterprise matters at the Treasury Department.Mr. Steel would replace Treasury Under Secretary Randal Quarles, who announced earlier this summer his plans to step down when Congress adjourns for the year. The nomination comes at a time when Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is trying to encourage senators to find a legislative solution to the stalemate over a GSE regulatory reform bill that would force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce or limit the size of their giant mortgage portfolios. Mr. Steel worked at the Goldman Sachs Group with Mr. Paulson, who was the chairman and chief executive. The nominee is a senior fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Nancy Detert, a Florida mortgage broker running for Congress, finished second in the Republican primary for the state's 13th Congressional District.According to unofficial returns provided by the Florida Department of State's Division of Elections, Ms. Detert received 15,784 votes, or 24.4% of the total, finishing behind Vern Buchanan, who received 20,903 votes (32.3%), and ahead of Tramm Hudson, who received 15,522 (24.0%) in the five-person primary. The seat she sought is being vacated by Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., who is running for the U.S. Senate. Ms. Detert is the founder and owner of Osprey Mortgage Co., Venice, Fla., and a member of Florida's House of Representatives.

Stewart Information Services Corp., Houston, has announced a reorganization of its real estate information operating subsidiaries into a new subsidiary, PropertyInfo Corp., with industry veteran Patrick Vaden at the helm.The move will affect REIData Inc., First Data Systems Inc., Ultima Corp., Stewart Re-Source Inc., and Information Services of Illinois LLC. "Stewart's vision is for PropertyInfo to be a leading online provider of integrated real estate information and technology to real estate professionals and title agencies," said Stewart Morris Jr., Stewart's president and co-chief executive officer. "Combining and coordinating several related [real estate information] efforts under one leadership umbrella better organizes Stewart to effectively deploy REI directly to real estate agents, brokers, and other customer segments." Mr. Vaden, a 30-year veteran of the title industry, was most recently a senior-level manager of Stewart-affiliated offices and independent agencies in Arkansas and Tennessee, a post he will retain. He will be president and CEO of PropertyInfo. Stewart can be found online at http://www.stewart.com.

RBC Capital Markets has announced the launching of its Real Estate Mortgage Capital business in the United States and the appointment of 20-year industry veteran Dan Smith to head the group.The new division will focus initially on providing commercial mortgage-backed securities loans, and plans to offer other commercial products, such as collateralized debt obligation loans, as the business develops, the company said. Mr. Smith was most recently at GE Real Estate, where he ran that company's North American real estate financing programs for 10 years. RBC Capital's CMBS platform in Canada closed $655 million of securitization volume last year, accounting for 20% of the Canadian CMBS market, the company said. In related news, RBC Capital Markets announced the appointment of Dan LePage as head of U.S. Real Estate Corporate Banking and the hiring of Kevin Stahl and Bryan Maher to its Real Estate Investment Banking Group.

Sheryl Heffernan has been named senior vice president of the West region of American Brokers Conduit, the wholesale division of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., a mortgage real estate investment trust.Ms. Heffernan joins ABC with more than 20 years of experience in mortgage production and operations, the company said. She was most recently executive vice president of Guaranty Bank's National Wholesale, Correspondent and Consumer Direct Division. ABC said its West region includes several branches in California as well as one in Reno, Nev. The company can be found online at http://www.abconduit.com.

Kathy Reese has been named president and county manager of Cuesta Title, San Luis Obispo, Calif., an affiliate of Stewart Title Co.Ms. Reese has more than 30 years of experience in the title and escrow industry, Cuesta said. She was most recently a vice president at the company, and spent 15 years in the human resources department of Ticor Title/Chicago Title. Stewart Title is a wholly owned subsidiary of Houston-based Stewart Information Services Corp., which can be found online at http://www.stewart.com.