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Home Depot Inc., the world's biggest home improvement chain, has announced the naming of Angelo Mozilo to its board.Mr. Mozilo, 67, is chairman and chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., the mortgage lending firm based in Calabasas, Calif. Home Depot also announced that current board member Dick Brown will retire when his term expires in May.

Paragon Financial Corp., Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., has announced the signing of Hall of Fame hockey great Phil Esposito under a marketing plan that aims to teach the mortgage business to current and former athletes.Mr. Esposito will work from Paragon's new Tampa, Fla., office, but will be involved nationally in Paragon's effort to expand its mortgage origination business, the company said. "This partnership with Paragon offers Phil an opportunity to create a successful post-sports business within our mortgage division by working with developers, national builders, and real estate agents," said Scott Vining, Paragon's chief financial officer. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.pgnf.com.

Frank J. Curry, president of nonconforming lender Acoustic Home Loans, Orange, Calif., has left the company, industry sources have told MortgageWire.An official at Acoustic confirmed Mr. Curry's departure but declined to say anything more about the situation. The wholesale lender was launched in the summer of 2003 by Mr. Curry, a former executive of Long Beach Mortgage. The privately held AHL ranks 40th among all nonprime lenders in the United States, according to the Quarterly Data Report, an MW affiliate.

Robert Bostrom has been named executive vice president and general counsel of Freddie Mac.Mr. Bostrom will be a member of the executive leadership team and have management responsibility for all legal and regulatory strategies, services, and resources, the government-sponsored enterprise said. Mr. Bostrom, whose legal career spans more than 25 years, was most recently managing partner of the New York office of Winston & Strawn LLP, a member of the firm's executive committee, and head of its financial institutions practice. From 1992 to 1996, he served as executive vice president of legal, regulatory and compliance and general counsel of National Westminster Bancorp.

The White House is considering former investment banker James B. Lockhart III, deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration, to head the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, MortgageWire has learned.Mr. Lockhart has served as deputy commissioner of Social Security since January 2002. Washington sources said that former Treasury Department official Edward DeMarco, a one-time candidate for the OFHEO job, is no longer believed to in the running. "DeMarco still might play some role in regard to OFHEO," said one observer. Mr. Lockhart was co-founder and managing director of NetRisk, a risk management software firm, before joining SSA. During his career he was a senior vice president at National Re (1993-95) and a managing director at Smith Barney (1993-95).

Robert E. Story Jr. has been named president of Seattle Financial Group, a family-owned mortgage banker that comprises Seattle Mortgage, Seattle Savings Bank, Reverse Mortgage of America, and other brands.Mr. Story began his career in 1980 as a construction manager and has served in "all functions of residential production," the company said. He serves on the board of directors of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Seattle Financial said former company president Randy Weber has accepted the position of vice chairman. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.seattlefinancialgroup.com.

Kristina K. Williams has been named to succeed Eric J. Marx as chief financial officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh.Ms. Williams was most recently the FHLBank's chief accounting officer. She was previously employed by PNC Bank for 12 years, including as CFO of its Corporate and Institutional Banking business segment. Mr. Marx has indicated his intention to resign, but will stay through the end of the quarter, the FHLBank said. The bank also announced the promotion of Robert J. Snyder from financial controls manager to controller. The FHLBank can be found on the Web at http://www.fhlb-pgh.com.

Patrick Sinks has been named president and chief operating officer of MGIC Investment Corp., the Milwaukee-based mortgage insurer. Curt Culver will remain as chairman and chief executive officer. MGIC said Mr. Sinks was most recently executive vice president of field operations at MGIC's principal subsidiary, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. He was previously senior vice president and chief accounting officer. Mr. Sinks has been with the company since 1978, when he joined a subsidiary, MGIC said. The company can be found online at http://www.mgic.com.

Philip Martin has been hired as a managing director of real estate equity research at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., a New York-based global provider of financial services to the institutional equity and fixed-income markets.Mr. Martin will be headquartered in Chicago. Before joining Cantor Fitzgerald, Mr. Martin was a senior vice president at Stifel Nicolaus, and he was previously the principal partner of Creative Health Partners LLC, a real estate and health care advisory firm. Cantor Fitzgerald can be found on the Web at http://www.cantor.com.

Spencer Carlsen has been named president of First California Mortgage Co., a wholesale and retail mortgage banking company based in Petaluma, Calif.Mr. Carlsen was most recently head of national retail and wholesale loan production at Irwin Home Equity. He was previously employed as manager of treasury operations at Providian Bancorp and a manager of branch operations for Bank of America, First California said.