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Carlos Evans has been named head of wholesale banking at Wachovia Corp., Charlotte, N.C., for various business segments, including real estate financial services.Mr. Evans assumes responsibility for Wachovia's Wholesale Bank after five years as head of the company's commercial banking segment and more than 30 years of experience in wholesale banking, Wachovia said. In addition to real estate financial services, he will lead Wachovia's commercial, business, and community banking segments and its dealer business. The company can be found online at http://www.wachovia.com.

Stacy M. Riffe, chief financial officer of Sunset Financial Resources Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has been named interim chief executive officer of the real estate investment trust.Ms. Riffe replaces George Deehan, who has decided to leave the company to "pursue other interests," Sunset said. Rodney Bennett, Sunset's chairman, said Ms. Riffe has been "the driving force" in the company since its announcement of a merger with Alesco Financial. The REIT has been operating under a management agreement with Cohen Brothers since the announcement.

John Ockerbloom has been named a managing director in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group of Wachovia Securities, Charlotte, N.C.Mr. Ockerbloom joins Wachovia from Banc of America Securities LLC, where he was a managing director in the real estate investment banking practice of the Global Investment Banking Group. He previously served in the BoA Securities Corporate Real Estate Advisory Group and its commercial mortgage-backed securities division, Wachovia said. Wachovia can be found on the Web at http://www.wachovia.com.

Jerami A. Marshal has been named president of Summit Mortgage LLC, a privately held mortgage banking firm based in Boston.Mr. Marshall, who was previously Summit's chief operating officer, replaces Richard S. Fedele, who will continue as the company's chief executive officer, Summit said. Mr. Marshall said Summit plans to develop an alternative-lending program that assists borrowers with impaired credit.

Timothy Sandos, a former emerging-markets executive at CitiMortgage, has been named president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.Mr. Sandos, who served a two-year term on NAHREP's national board, was most recently executive vice president of emerging markets at St. Louis-based CitiMortgage, which acquired his previous employer, Principal Residential Mortgage. He was previously state vice president and chief operating officer at Qwest Communications. NAHREP can be found online at http://www.nahrep.org.

Moody's Investors Service has named Nicholas Levidy and Paolo Obias managing directors in its commercial mortgage-backed securities group.Mr. Levidy joined Moody's in 1998 as a vice president/senior analyst. Before joining the credit rating agency, Mr. Levidy was a senior counsel for real estate and corporate finance with PNC Bank, according to Moody's. He will continue to report to Tad Philipp, co-head of Moody's U.S. CMBS group. Mr. Obias joined Moody's in 1997. From 1999-2001, he worked in the rating agency's Tokyo office. Prior to joining Moody's, Mr. Obias held professional positions at two Indonesian real estate firms, Moody's said. He will continue to report to Jim Duca, co-head of Moody's U.S. CMBS group. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Michael D. Calhoun, a principal author of the 1999 North Carolina anti-predatory-lending law, has been named president of the Center for Responsible Lending, Durham, N.C.Mr. Calhoun, formerly CRL's general counsel, has been its lead lobbyist in Washington and state capitals for years, the organization said. Before his work at CRL, he managed the secondary-market program and real estate development team at the Center for Community Self-Help, an affiliate of CRL. CRL can be found on the Web at http://www.responsiblelending.org.

John M. Draghi has been promoted to the position of chief operating officer of C-BASS, a New York-based company that acquires, services, and securitizes, credit-sensitive residential mortgages.In addition, C-BASS named Marc Rosenthal and Noelle Savarese co-heads of capital markets, and Mr. Rosenthal was also named chief investment officer. Mr. Draghi has served as the company's chief investment officer since 1996, and he was previously responsible for all the firm's investment activities as head of capital markets, C-BASS reported. Mr. Rosenthal and Ms. Savarese have been managing directors in the capital markets area, Mr. Rosenthal since 2004 and Ms. Savarese since 2000. C-BASS is an affiliate of MGIC Investment Corp. and Radian Group Inc.

Joseph Hoesley has been elected vice chairman and head of commercial real estate by the board of directors of U.S. Bancorp, Minneapolis.Mr. Hoesley, 51, has led commercial real estate at U.S. Bank since joining the company in 1992. The commercial real estate division now consists of 30 regional offices and employs more than 300 people, the bank said. The CRE division's real estate portfolio totals $24 billion. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.usbank.com.

Powell Goldstein LLP, an Atlanta-based law firm, has announced the acquisition of a 13-member capital markets group from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP that will enhance its depth, especially in the area of commercial mortgage-backed securities.Powell Goldstein said the new team -- two partners, eight other attorneys, and three paralegals -- will join its offices in Atlanta and Washington and anchor the opening of a new office in Dallas. Heading that office will be Robin R. Green, who was a partner at Akin Gump in that firm's real estate and finance practice in Dallas. James J. McAlpin Jr., chairman of Powell Goldstein, said the acquisition and expansion "gives us an entree into a new geographic market, one that we have been looking at for some time." The firm said Ms. Green's practice focuses primarily on real estate finance and CMBS, as does that of the other new partner, Keith A. Dunsmore, who worked at Powell Goldstein from 1984 to 1999. The firm can be found online at http://www.pogolaw.com.