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Ditech Mortgage has named Karen Totaro as its new divisional manager for the Southeast region.

Online real estate marketplace Auction.com has appointed Mindy Heppberger as chief legal officer.

HomeUnion named Jamie Sipila as its senior director of product management.

Mortgage Contracting Services, a property inspection and maintenance company in Plano, Texas, has named Bart Vincent as its chief financial officer.

The 14-term congressman was a dominating force as House Banking Committee chairman. But the savings and loan deregulation bearing his name tarnished his legislative record, and ethics allegations created a cloud of suspicion that led to his ouster.

Carrington Mortgage Services in Santa Ana, Calif., has hired a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive to lead its mortgage lending operations.

Colonial of Fort Worth, Texas, announced that Richard Harvey has been named chief compliance officer.

Galante's impending departure may signal that the recovery of the federal mortgage insurance fund is nearly complete and an upcoming report will show a healthy capital level.

FirstKey Holdings said that Jeffrey Mayer has joined the company as executive chairman of the board of directors.

Observer Capital's first acquisition includes business-to-business publications National Mortgage News, Mortgage Servicing News, Origination News and American Banker.

Jobs report shows nonbank originators added 2,200 new hires to their payrolls in June.

Stark & Stark said that Gary Forshner has been named chair of the Land Use Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Patrick Sinks is taking the reins at MGIC as the mortgage insurer faces tougher capital standards and a more competitive field where his company is no longer No. 1.

Since PHH is now a pure-play mortgage company, it made sense to have just one executive running the business, industry experts said.

Julian Castro takes the helm as the housing recovery continues to lag the rest of the economy.

Zillow Inc. is seeking to acquire rival Trulia Inc. in a move to combine the two most-visited U.S. real estate websites.

MGIC Investment Corp. promoted Patrick Sinks to chief executive officer as the mortgage insurer looks for ways to raise capital to meet new industry standards proposed by a U.S. regulator.

Alston & Bird said that Nanci Weissgold has joined the firm's Washington office as a partner in the Financial Services and Products Practice.

Mentoring the newbies in the mortgage business may help them avoid boom-and-bust errors later in their careers. And it can be a personally satisfying thing to do as well.

In another reshuffling of its mortgage ranks, Bank of America has promoted D. Steve Boland, who joined the company through the 2008 acquisition of Countrywide Financial, to head residential lending.