People

Erik Anderson has been appointed president of Merit Financial, a mortgage and real estate company based in Kirkland, Wash.A past president of the Seattle Mortgage Bankers Association, Mr. Anderson joined Merit in January as vice president of mortgage banking. Since then, Merit has doubled its lending volume, the company said. Merit was founded three years ago and has grown more than 400% since that time, according to the company. Mr. Anderson's appointment will allow Scott Greenlaw, the company's founder and chief executive officer, to concentrate on strategic planning and relationship building, Merit said.

Colin Dyer has been named president and chief executive officer of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., a real estate services and money management firm based in Chicago and London.Mr. Dyer will assume the titles, and membership on the board of directors, on Sept. 7, the company said. He is currently CEO of Worldwide Retail Exchange, an Internet-based exchange owned by 40 of the world's leading retailers and manufacturers. A British citizen now based in Washington, D.C., Mr. Dyer will operate chiefly out of Jones Lang's Chicago office. The company can be found online at http://www.joneslanglasalle.com.

Greg Metz has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer of NovaStar Financial Inc., a residential mortgage lender and portfolio investor based in Kansas City, Mo.Mr. Metz, a certified public accountant and an attorney, was most recently senior vice president and director of corporate tax at Union Planters Corp., NovaStar said. He was previously employed for more than 15 years by Big Four accounting firms. NovaStar, a real estate investment trust, can be found on the Web at http://www.novastarmortgage.com.

Affordable housing veteran Francine C. Justa has been appointed to the Banking Board of the New York State Banking Department.Applauding the appointment, Superintendent of Banks Diana L. Taylor praised the former executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City for nearly 20 years as "a gifted and inspired woman" who has helped "not only to change the face of neighborhoods throughout the city for the better, but also the lives" of many residents for whom homeownership became a reality. Ms. Justa helped build the NHS from an affordable housing investor of $800,000 annually in 1986 to over $239 million by 2003. She was nominated to the Banking Board by New York Gov. George Pataki, and the nomination was approved by the state Senate.

Stewart Title Co., Houston, has named Jose Mendez as its national director for emerging domestic real estate markets.Mr. Mendez previously served as a San Antonio (Texas) Zoning Commissioner and for two terms as a member of the San Antonio City Council, the company said. He has worked with real estate brokers, lenders, developers, and buyers as a commercial real estate representative for Stewart in San Antonio, and prior to that in Dallas, where he focused on the Hispanic and minority markets.

Patti M. Dodge has been promoted from executive vice president of New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., and chief financial officer of its subsidiary New Century Mortgage Corp. to CFO of the parent company.Ms. Dodge will succeed Edward F. Gotschall, who has been vice chairman and CFO of New Century Financial since its inception in 1995, the company said. Mr. Gotschall will assume the newly created title of vice chairman of finance and will remain a member of the company's board of directors. Ms. Dodge, who joined New Century in 1996, has 18 years of experience in the financial services industry. New Century can be found online at http://www.ncen.com.

P. Sheridan "Schecky" Schechner is joining J.P. Morgan Chase as national head of origination for commercial mortgage-backed securities in the fall, according to a company spokesman.Mr. Schechner has worked at Goldman Sachs for the last 20 years, and his appointment to the newly created position at Goldman is a "pretty strong symbol we're planning on making a real investment in the business," the spokesman said. In his new position, Mr. Schechner will report to the co-heads of J.P. Morgan Chase's CMBS unit, Steve Schwartz and Brian Baker.

Debra Still has been promoted from chief operating officer to president and chief executive officer of Pulte Mortgage Corp., not the parent company, Pulte Homes Inc., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Patricia L. Cook, a Wall Street veteran, has been named executive vice president of investments at Freddie Mac, and she will join the company on Aug. 2.Freddie Mac said Ms. Cook will be responsible for its approximately $630 billion retained mortgage portfolio and debt issuance, as well as risk management strategies for assets and liabilities. The position was formerly held by Gregory Parseghian, who in the wake of the company's accounting scandal was named chief executive officer of Freddie Mac but was later forced to resign. Ms. Cook was most recently managing director and chief investment officer for global fixed-income investments at JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management. She was also managing director and chief investment officer for fixed income at Prudential Investment Management, and she held management posts with Fisher Francis Trees & Watts and Salomon Brothers Inc.

Debra Still has been promoted from chief operating officer to president and chief executive officer of Pulte Mortgage Corp., a subsidiary of Pulte Homes Inc., Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and she will succeed Roger Pastore in those positions on Aug. 1.Mr. Pastore has announced plans to retire next year, and will continue to serve as an officer of the company until then, Pulte said. He joined the company in 1995 as chief financial officer and has served as CEO since 1997. Ms. Still joined the company as a branch manager in Maryland in 1983, and has since held posts as senior vice president for process re-engineering and SVP for operations, Pulte said. She has been COO since 1999. The company can be found online at http://www.pulte.com.