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Stillman Knight Jr. has left the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he was in charge of the FHA multifamily program, to join a nonprofit foundation that owns and rehabilitates affordable rental properties.Reba Cook is now the acting deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Federal Housing Administration multifamily program. Mr. Knight was a multifamily developer and builder before joining HUD in 2003. He starts his new job as executive vice president for the National Housing Partnership Foundation Aug. 8. Earlier this year, Mr. Knight was mentioned as a possible candidate for FHA commissioner, but the president chose White House staffer Brian Montgomery.

Nitin Dave has been named executive vice president and director of loan administration and finance at Pinnacle Financial Corp., an independently owned direct mortgage lender based in Orlando, Fla.Mr. Dave has more than 25 years of experience in mortgage banking, mortgage servicing operations, commercial lending, consumer banking, and investment banking, Pinnacle said. Before joining Pinnacle, Mr. Dave’s career included management-level positions at Fannie Mae; Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp.; and Citizens Trust Bank. Pinnacle also announced that Peter Weigold has been named vice president for secondary marketing. Mr. Weigold was most recently head of the secondary marketing department at American Home Mortgage. Pinnacle can be found online at http://www.pinnaclefinancial.com.

Richard H. Wohl has been named president of IndyMac Bank FSB, Pasadena, Calif., a newly created post that will oversee the primary business divisions of the bank's thrift and mortgage banking segments.Mr. Wohl, who was most recently chief executive officer of IndyMac Mortgage Bank, has also been elected to IndyMac Bank's board of directors. Frank M. Sillman will replace Mr. Wohl as CEO of the mortgage bank. Mr. Sillman was most recently CEO and executive vice president of the Mortgage Professionals Division of IndyMac Mortgage Bank. Michael W. Perry, chairman and CEO of IndyMac Bancorp Inc., the holding company for IndyMac Bank, said the mortgage bank under Mr. Wohl's leadership has grown from the 26th-largest single-family residential mortgage originator in the United States to the 11th-largest. The bank can be found online at http://www.indymacbank.com.

In an effort to bolster its residential lending business, GMAC Mortgage, Horsham, Pa., has hired two executives away form Chase Home Finance, Edison, N.J., and another from PHH Mortgage, Mt. Laurel, N.J., industry sources have told MortgageWire.Joining GMAC from Chase is Jim Ferriter, who will serve as executive vice president of retail lending, and Dave Stadler, senior vice president in charge of GMAC's "Lendscape" project, which entails installing a common origination platform throughout the company. GMAC also hired Bob Groody as its EVP and chief financial officer. Mr. Groody left PHH to join GMAC, the nation's seventh-largest lender. Mr. Groody is a replacement for the company's departing CFO, but the other two hires are serving in newly created positions. (See the Aug. 1 issue of National Mortgage News for the full details.)

L. Stephen Smith, president and chief executive officer of PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., Walnut Creek, Calif., has been elected president of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America.Mr. Smith succeeds William V. Nutt Jr., president and chief executive officer of AIG United Guaranty, who continues to serve as a member of the association's executive committee. MICA said Mr. Smith's career in housing finance spans 34 years. He joined PMI in 1979. Serving as MICA vice president and secretary/treasurer will be William A. Simpson, chairman of Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. and a past president of MICA. The organization can be found online at http://www.micanews.com.

Real estate industry veteran David Miller has been named executive vice president of national sales at the Real Estate Solutions division of Fidelity National Financial Inc., Jacksonville, Fla.FNF, a provider of products, services, and technology to the financial and real estate industries, said Mr. Miller will focus on cultivating the division's broker-based business, as well as forming alliances with national real estate franchises and regional "mega brokers." A 30-year veteran of the residential real estate industry, Mr. Miller was most recently executive vice-president and chief business development officer for First Team Real Estate in Orange County, Calif. He was previously senior vice-president of national sales at Cendant Real Estate Division, and he served "in a strategic capacity" at Coldwell Banker, FNF said.

Michael E. Wade has been named to the newly created position of vice president for external operational risk management at Freddie Mac.Mr. Wade's duties include the analysis of Freddie Mac's seller/servicer underwriting processes, management of on-site quality control and operational audits, and the development and implementation of quality control and operational policies and procedures, Freddie Mac said. Mr. Wade comes to Freddie Mac from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, where he was most recently senior vice president of credit policy and strategy. Other positions he held at Wells Fargo include senior vice president of institutional risk management and vice president of quality control. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Matthew Connelly has been named executive vice president of corporate strategy at GoApply Inc., a mortgage and financial services organization based in Aliso Viejo, Calif.Mr. Connelly will focus on developing new technologies and electronic business applications to help streamline the application and decision-making processes for consumers seeking to improve their financial health, the company said. He is also charged with building the network of accredited business partners who help service GoApply's consumer base. Mr. Connelly was most recently senior vice president of Home Loan Center in Irvine, Calif. GoApply can be found online at http://www.goapply.com.

The Bond Market Association has chosen Randolph Snook, a long-time fixed-income market participant, to be executive vice president and head of its New York office.Mr. Snook was a partner at member firm Goldman, Sachs & Co. and has worked for many years in the corporate credit markets at Goldman and, before that, Drexel Burnham Lambert. As EVP, Mr. Snook will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations in the association's New York office, including the various U.S.-based asset class divisions (mortgage-backed securities, municipals, securitized products, governments, and funding) as well as technology and operations.

Bill Beckmann has been named president of St. Louis-based CitiMortgage.Mr. Beckmann has been employed by Citigroup for more than 20 years, most recently as chief servicing and technology officer for its Real Estate Servicing and Technology division. In that capacity, he oversaw servicing and technology for Citigroup's residential real estate properties, including CitiMortgage, CitiFinancial Mortgage, Citicorp Trust Bank, Private Mortgage Operations, CitiFinancial Network, and Chesapeake Appraisal and Settlement Services, the company said. Mr. Beckmann was previously president of specialty lending in Citigroup's U.S. Consumer Assets Division. CitiMortgage can be found online at http://www.citimortgage.com.