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Wescom Credit Union, Pasadena, Calif., is entering the commercial real estate lending market and has hired Dean Lambertson as vice president for its new commercial real estate division.The division will provide the CU's 215,000 members with financing of up to $5 million for the purchase of multifamily properties of five or more units, as well as industrial, retail, and office properties, the company said. Darren Williams, Wescom's president and chief executive officer, said the addition of commercial real estate financing to the CU's offerings "significantly increases our presence as a major lender in the Southern California market." Mr. Lambertson was previously a vice president at First Regional Bank, Glendale, Calif.

President Bush has designated Alicia R. Castaneda to be the new chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board, which oversees the Federal Home Loan Banks.Ms. Castaneda, who was sworn in on Jan. 12, is the newest member of the Finance Board. She replaces former Chairman John Korsmo, who had announced that he would step down, effective April 13. The new chairman previously worked at Bank of America's International Private Bank as a senior vice president. The two Democratic members of the Finance Board, who had a stormy relationship with Chairman Korsmo, welcomed the news. "Ms. Castaneda brings significant finance and banking experience to the Finance Board, and we look forward to working closely and collaboratively with her in this new role," Franz Leichter and Allan Mendelowitz said in a joint statement. In other news, the Finance Board has announced that Mark J. Tenhundfeld will be the agency's new general counsel, replacing Arnold Intrater, who retired on January. Mr. Tenhundfeld is currently assistant director for regulatory and legislative affairs at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. He starts his new job in May.

David A. Priestley has been named chief financial officer of Centex Title & Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Dallas-based Centex Corp.Mr. Priestley joined Centex Title in February 2001 as vice president of finance after serving as an internal audit manager for the parent company. Centex Title can be found on the Web at http://www.centextitle.com.

Bob Waun has been named vice president for private mortgage lending at Paramount Bank, Farmington Hills, Mich.Mr. Waun will be responsible for private mortgage banking and vacation home lending, Paramount said. A 16-year veteran of the mortgage industry, Mr. Waun ranked first in a seven-state region during his tenure with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, the bank said.

Timothy F. Gilker has been named senior vice president and manager of the residential mortgage loan department of Arizona Bank & Trust, Mesa, Ariz.The bank said Mr. Gilker has more than 15 years of experience in mortgage banking, including the retail, wholesale, and correspondent channels and the secondary market.

Equity Office Properties Trust, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, has reported changes to its board of trustees that will reduce the board's size to nine members.John S. Moody is resigning from the EOPT board and Warren E. Spieker Jr. has decided not to stand for re-election to the board because both want to pursue other commercial real estate ventures, the office REIT said. Jerry M. Reinsdorf and William Wilson III have decided not to stand for re-election at EOPT's annual shareholder meeting in May, citing a desire to reduce their commitments and to "pursue other interests," the REIT reported. Mr. Reinsdorf said he believes that his future business investments could create "the perception of conflict" with his EOPT role. EOPT chairman Sam Zell said that "in today's environment, particularly, a smaller board is more manageable and efficient." The company can be found online at http://www.equityoffice.com.

John Korsmo, chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board, is resigning as head of the agency, the White House confirmed late Friday afternoon.As of MortgageWire's deadline, no further details were available. Mr. Korsmo and his chief spokesman, Carter Wood, could not be reached for comment. In late February, Dow Jones reported that Mr. Korsmo was the subject of a criminal probe regarding possible obstruction-of-justice charges. For several months, FHFB Inspector General Edward Kelley investigated whether Mr. Korsmo violated any laws by lending his name to a political fund-raiser for fellow North Dakotan Rick Clayburgh. Dow Jones reported that the IG investigation had turned into a criminal probe by the Department of Justice. In months past, Mr. Korsmo has maintained that he did nothing wrong in regard to the fundraiser.

Washington Mutual, Seattle, has made some personnel changes to enhance its capital markets efforts. In one change, David Beck, chief investment officer, has been named executive vice president of WaMu's capital markets group. The group's activities include the marketing, trading and structuring of loans held for sale. Mr. Beck, who joined WaMu in April 2003, will continue to report to Tom Casey, WaMu's CFO, the company reports. Mr. Beck said, "As we continue to build our capabilities to reflect the growth and size of our organization, we have a great opportunity to leverage our scale in our capital markets organization." As well, Richard Fisher has been promoted to executive vice president of WaMu's commercial capital markets group. Working with Mr. Beck, Mr. Fisher will lead a team that is responsible for commercial loan product pricing and development, secondary marketing, securitization, syndication and portfolio management. Mr. Fisher was previously WaMu's manager of commercial secondary marketing.

CTX Mortgage Co. has hired Barry Habib as national sales trainer.Mr. Habib previously was national sales trainer for GMAC and is the author of the Mortgage Market Guide, an e-mail report on interest rate strategy for mortgage originators. CTX Mortgage Co. is a subsidiary of Centex Corp.

Freddie Mac has hired Ralph Boyd Jr. to be the mortgage finance company's general counsel.A senior partner at Alston & Bird in Washington, Boyd is experienced in corporate law and litigation. He previously served as head of the Justice Department's civil rights division. "This is a critical time in Freddie Mac' history, and Ralph will play an important role in helping shape the company's future," Freddie chairman and chief executive Richard Syron said. In addition to Freddie's legal operation, Mr. Boyd will oversee regulatory relations and direct the corporation's legislative activities at the federal, state and local levels. Acting general counsel Joan Donoghue will remain at Freddie as the principal deputy general counsel.