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Former Mortgage Bankers Association staffer Timothy Doyle has moved to the Conference of State Bank Supervision to work on a new registry and licensing system for mortgage companies, loan officers, and mortgage brokers."Tim's experience with the mortgage industry and his background in government will yield great benefits as CSBS develops its national licensing system for mortgage lenders and regulated financial services professionals," said Neil Milner, president and chief executive officer of the CSBS. Before joining the MBA as a senior director in 2002, Mr. Doyle worked at the Agriculture Department's rural development program and the Federal Housing Administration. The CSBS wants the new licensing database to be up and running in early 2008.

Stephen Blumenthal, who ran the special examinations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, says he intends to resign and return to the private sector this fall."The confirmation of Jim Lockhart as OFHEO's director makes it possible for me to leave knowing that the agency is well led and will continue to accomplish its important mission," said Mr. Blumenthal, OFHEO's deputy director. As deputy director and acting director, he headed the special examination of Fannie that discovered fraudulent accounting, earnings manipulation, and corruption at the government-sponsored enterprise. He also conducted a special examination of Freddie Mac after an internal investigation by the GSE's board of directors uncovered an accounting scandal. Former OFHEO Director Armando Falcon hired Mr. Blumenthal from Schwab Capital Markets in 2002 to be his counsel. After Mr. Falcon stepped down in May 2005, he served as acting director until Mr. Lockhart was appointed in April.

Peter Williams, deputy director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, has decided to leave to become an independent consultant after a dozen years of service at the United Kingdom trade group.Mr. Williams plans to leave his current post on Sept. 30 but continue to work with the council in his new capacity. The council said it has no plans to recruit a new deputy director general. Mr. Williams originally joined the council in 1994 when the CML and the Building Securities Association shared a single secretariat and become the deputy director general when the two groups separated in 1997.

MGIC has hired Eric Klopfer as vice president of international strategic initiatives and regulatory affairs.Mr. Klopfer was previously vice president of strategic development and regulatory affairs for AIG United Guaranty in London. MGIC can be found on the Web at http://www.mgic.com.

Fannie Mae has appointed Phillip Weber to head up its multifamily lending area, taking over from Richard Lawch, MortgageWire has learned.Mr. Lawch has taken on a new role related to the government-sponsored enterprise's community investment activities, according to a source at Fannie Mae. Another source reported that Mr. Weber told a recent Fannie Mae DUS conference that he will focus on "process improvements and new products," with the aim of having more of a customer focus. Mr. Weber, who is now senior vice president for multifamily lending, was most recently chief of staff for Dan Mudd, Fannie Mae's president and chief executive officer.

The Senate has confirmed Geoffrey Bacino, a former credit union regulator and lobbyist, to be a director on the Federal Housing Finance Board, which oversees the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.Mr. Bacino was an executive with Centrix Financial, which provides funding for subprime auto loans through credit unions, when he was nominated by President Bush to replace FHFB Director Franz Leichter, whose term has expired. He served one year on the board of the National Credit Union Administration in 2000. More than 1,000 credit unions are members of the FHLBank System.

Danica Patrick, who serves as a spokeswoman and trade show booth attraction for Argent Mortgage, will be switching from Rahal Letterman Racing to Andretti Green Racing for the 2007 Indy Racing League season, raising questions about her continued association with Argent.Argent had sponsored her car when she raced in the lower levels of open-wheel racing for Rahal Letterman. Besides sponsoring Ms. Patrick's car, Argent sponsors the car of her teammate, Buddy Rice, a former winner of the Indianapolis 500. A news release from Andretti Green did not mention the sponsorship situation. Published reports had Bobby Rahal, one of the owners of Rahal Letterman (the other being television personality David Letterman), saying the Argent sponsorship was the team's and not Ms. Patrick's. Argent had not replied to a request for comment by MortgageWire's deadline. At the end of June, Argent said it would use Ms. Patrick in the marketing of its new alternative-A product line.

Senior vice presidents from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been named to the board of directors of Chicago-based National Equity Fund Inc., a national syndicator of low-income housing tax credits.Michael C. May, a senior vice president in Freddie Mac's Multifamily Sourcing Division, has been with the government-sponsored enterprise since 1983. He has held SVP positions in operations; mortgage sourcing, operations, and funding; and multifamily operations. Carolyn B. Groobey is a senior vice president of corporate strategy at Fannie Mae. She was previously with McKinsey & Co. for 13 years. National Equity Fund can be found on the Web at http://www.nefinc.org.

Ditech.com chief Michael McCarthy has stepped down from his post at the company, MortgageWire has learned.A spokeswoman for Residential Capital Corp., the parent of ditech.com, confirmed his departure as senior vice president and general manager, but noted that Mr. McCarthy "is exploring other opportunities" within the ResCap/GMAC family of companies. Mr. McCarthy will be replaced by Richard D. Powers, who will start as senior vice president and general manager in August. Ditech.com is an online retail lender that specializes in refinancings and home equity loans. An affiliate of GMAC Mortgage of Horsham, Pa., the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based ditech.com advertises heavily on cable television.

Michael J. Krull has been named managing director and head of commercial mortgage-backed securities at Hypo Real Estate Capital Corp., the New York-based subsidiary of Hypo Real Estate Bank International AG, Stuttgart, Germany.Before joining Hypo Real Estate, Mr. Krull was managing director of capital markets at GE Real Estate in New York, where he led a group of 20 professionals, Hypo Real Estate said. He was previously involved in the design and implementation of GE Real Estate's commercial mortgage conduit program. From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Krull worked at Prudential Securities Inc., where he co-founded the CMBS operation.