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Mortgage industry veteran Arlene Hyde has been named director of the Home Loans Wholesale Channel of Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, as part of a realignment of the company's home loan distribution channels.The realignment is aimed at integrating sales and operations into a single-channel structure for retail, wholesale, correspondent, and consumer direct, WaMu said. Before joining WaMu, Ms. Hyde was managing director of real estate servicing at St. Louis-based CitiMortgage, where she held key positions such as executive vice president of correspondent lending, wholesale lending, and national operations and senior vice president of retail operations. Before joining CitiMortgage, Ms. Hyde was head of national operations for Knutson Mortgage Corp. WaMu can be found online at http://www.wamunewsroom.com.

Countrywide, America's Wholesale Lender, a division of Countrywide Home Loans Inc., has announced the promotions of Brian Robinett to chief operating officer and of two other key executives.The others are Eric Spence, who was promoted to managing director and national sales manager, and Joe Miller, who was promoted to managing director and national operations manager. Mr. Robinett, previously Countrywide's managing director of prime lending, will provide strategic direction for all aspects of the division's prime and nonprime lending. As national operations manager, Mr. Spence will oversee production, revenue, and market share growth, as well as sales strategy and management, and he will spearhead the tightened integration of the Prime Lending Group with the Specialty Lending Group, Countrywide said. Mr. Miller will provide strategic direction, introduce process enhancements for loan fulfillment, and oversee underwriting and credit risk functions. The Countrywide Wholesale Business Channel can be found online at http://www.cwbc.com.

William Glasgow Jr. has been named executive vice president of quality assurance at EMC Mortgage Corp., Irving, Texas, and Kurt W. Reheiser has been named senior vice president of conduit technology.Mr. Glasgow, a 35-year veteran of the mortgage industry, has worked with four of the largest mortgage companies, including Lomas USA in Dallas, Citicorp Mortgage in St. Louis, and HomeSide Lending and Washington Mutual in Jacksonville, Fla., EMC said. He was most recently a consultant for several mortgage banks and worked as a contractor for EMC. Last year Mr. Glasgow helped create a new mortgage company, Avelo Mortgage Co. LLC in Irving, and served as its president and chief executive officer. Mr. Reheiser will provide technological support for EMC's conduit operations as well as EMC Residential Mortgage Corp., which provides residential warehouse lines to mortgage bankers. Mr. Reheiser was most recently senior vice president of information technology at Centex Home Equity Co. in Dallas. EMC can be found online at http://www.emcmortgage.com.

Ruthann K. Melbourne has been named executive vice president and chief risk officer of enterprise risk management at Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac Bank.Ms. Melbourne, who joined IndyMac in 2003, previously served as senior vice president and chief interest rate risk officer of enterprise risk management. IndyMac Bank also named two senior vice presidents: Gregory S. Sosnovich, SVP and chief accounting officer in the corporate accounting division at its Pasadena office, and Tim Landwehr, SVP of IndyMac's Home Construction Lending division in Norcross, Ga.

Elaine Batlis has been named president of Impac Warehouse Lending Group Inc., a division of Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., Newport Beach, Calif.Ms. Batlis has more than 25 years of banking, mortgage warehousing, and consulting regulatory experience, Impac said. Most recently, she was president and chief executive officer of Naples, Fla.-based InSouth Funding Inc., a subsidiary of InSouth Bank specializing in nationwide mortgage warehousing. She was previously senior vice president, chief financial officer, and chief operating officer at Heritage Bank in Olathe, Kan., and has held various other positions in the banking industry.

Mark A. Casale has been named president of Radian Guaranty Inc., the principal mortgage insurance subsidiary of Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia.Mr. Casale, 41, will continue to head the company's mortgage insurance business in the United States, Radian said. He was most recently the company's executive vice president of mortgage insurance, and he previously served as senior vice president for capital markets. Radian can be found on the Web at http://www.radian.biz.

Michael T. Henney, president of First American Corp. subsidiary Data Trace, has been named to the additional role of president of DataTree LLC, a San Diego-based First American subsidiary that provides recorded property documents.Mr. Henney has headed Data Trace, a provider of title plant services, since its inception. First American also announced that Robert Karraa, chief operating officer of DataTree, has assumed the added role of chief operating officer of Data Trace. First American can be found online at http://www.firstam.com.

Frank V. McMahon has been named vice chairman and chief financial officer of The First American Corp.Mr. McMahon, currently a managing director with Lehman Brothers Holdings, will join First American on March 31. He will be responsible for First American's financial reporting division, capital markets activities, investor relations, and will oversee the operations of First American Trust and First Security Thrift, the company said. In addition, he is slated to work with other senior management on strategic planning and merger and acquisition activities.

Martopia, a marketing and public relations firm specializing in the mortgage and financial services industry based in Chicago, has hired Michael Hammond as vice president of business strategy.Before joining Martopia, Mr. Hammond worked for nine years as the director of sales and marketing for origination vendor Dynatek. In this capacity, he was responsible for developing sales and marketing programs, reshaping corporate focus and increasing revenue and market share. In his new position, Mr. Hammond will drive the development of business and communication strategies for Martopia's clients. Mr. Hammond will serve in a consultative role for clients and be actively involved in crafting results-driven marketing and public relations programs. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.martopia.com.

Brian Levy, senior vice president and general counsel of Milwaukee-based Shelter Mortgage, has been elected chairman of the Real Estate Services Providers Council, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association.Other newly elected RESPRO officers are: vice chair, Arthur Sterbcow, president of Latter & Blum Inc. Realtors, New Orleans; president, Susan E. Johnson, RESPRO; secretary, Stephen D. Morrison, Wells Fargo Mortgage Corp., Des Moines, Iowa; and treasurer, George Eastment III, Long and Foster Real Estate Inc., Fairfax, Va. The organization can be found on the Web at http://www.respro.org.