Angel Oak, Roostify, Guaranteed Rate make leadership moves

July 1, 2022 1:49 PM

Roostify appoints Opendoor alum Nadia Aziz as chief operating officer

Roostify has named fintech industry leader Nadia Aziz chief operating officer. Aziz comes to the San Francisco-based software solutions provider from Opendoor Home Loans, where she served as general manager, building and expanding the company’s lending division. Before joining Opendoor, Aziz held other executive leadership roles, including chief commercial officer at Optimal Blue and vice president at Capital One. Her mortgage-industry background includes expertise in strategy, product development, technology and risk management, and at Roostify, she will work with internal parties and clients to ensure the company’s home-lending platform fulfills their needs.

Guaranteed Rate appoints 3 new execs to drive growth beyond mortgage

Left to right: Anand Cavale, Raman Muralidharan, Arun Tripathi

Chicago-based Guaranteed Rate appointed three new digital leaders to its team as it seeks to grow its product portfolio outside of traditional mortgages. The company named Raman Muralidharan president of new financial products; Anand Cavale executive vice president and head of unsecured lending products; and Arun Tripathi executive vice president and head of new secured lending products.

Muralidharan was most recently executive vice president of lending at HSBC, USA, where he spearheaded digitization of the mortgage unit and also was behind the introduction of digital loans and credit-card products. He will oversee Guaranteed Rate’s overall expansion into new financial products. Cavale joins after previous leadership roles in consumer lending at Citi and SoFi and will help develop new initiatives that drive consumer spending and borrowing. Tripathi comes to the lender after serving as head of mortgage products, pricing and capital at HSBC, USA, and held prior positions at USAA and Bank of America. Tripathi will lead the launch and growth of new secured-lending product offerings for Guaranteed Rate clients.

Xactus elevates Michael Crockett to chief data officer

Xactus, the asset and credit verification services and solutions provider, announced the promotion of Michael Crockett to chief data officer, a newly created position within the company. Crockett’s promotion is the second C-suite leadership appointment since March, when the company formerly known as UniversalCIS rebranded itself after a merger with Credit Plus last year.

In the new role, Crockett will assist in the development of products alongside Xactus’s technology team and will advise on data strategy. Prior to his promotion, Crockett served as executive vice president of data solutions for the Philadelphia-based firm, and previously held the role of executive vice president of product development at Credit Plus. “Michael will help create data experiences that automate and accelerate key stages in the mortgage process,” said Xactus President Shelley Leonard.

Longbridge Financial names Bill Packer chief operating officer

Photo by Reggie Ige

Reverse mortgage lender and servicer Longbridge Financial recently named industry veteran Bill Packer chief operating officer. In the role, he will work alongside other Longbridge leaders to streamline procedures and strengthen technology capabilities at the Mahwah, New Jersey-based company. "Given the reverse mortgage industry has not yet realized the full opportunities of technological innovation, I look forward to the tremendous opportunity to modernize processes and programs at Longbridge,” he said. Ellington Financial recently acquired Longbridge in a deal expected to close later this year.

Packer previously served as chief operating officer and director of American Financial Resources and also brings operations expertise from roles at Bank of America. While at American Financial Resources, Packer’s responsibilities included technology oversight, project management, marketing and product development. He previously served as chair of the Mortgage Bankers Association Residential Technology Committee.

Motto Mortgage, wemlo names Chris Erickson VP of product and strategy

Leah Hardy Photography

RE/MAX Holdings subsidiaries, Motto Mortgage, a national brokerage franchise, and wemlo, a third-party loan processing platform, announced the appointment of Chris Erickson as vice president of product and strategy for both brands. In the role, he will oversee growth initiatives, including product management, the development of proprietary technology and the streamlining of infrastructure for Motto franchisees.

Erickson comes to Denver-based RE/MAX after leadership tenures at several leading mortgage and financial services businesses, including CoreLogic, Mr. Cooper and most recently, Guaranteed Rate, where he was vice president of product management. He has also been involved in the creation of proprietary technology systems for several other companies throughout his career.

Planet Home Lending adds new sales leader, former Homepoint execs

Top to bottom, clockwise: Brandy Walton, Steve Landes, Kathryn Edelen, Michael Bender

Mortgage lender and servicer, Planet Home Lending, announced the addition of three new leaders, following its recent acquisition of Homepoint’s correspondent division. The company named former Homepoint leaders Steve Landes executive vice president of corporate initiatives, Brandy Walton senior vice president of business initiatives and Michael Bender, Eastern Divisional correspondent sales manager. All are expected to help spearhead further growth at Planet Home, particularly in the correspondent channel. Landes was executive managing director of correspondent lending at Homepoint, and before joining the company, he helped scale several other businesses from startup stage, holding positions at a subsidiary of NattyMac, Indymac Bank and Novastar Mortgage. Walton served as senior managing director of correspondent operations at Homepoint and brings expertise in operations, underwriting and risk management thanks to prior positions at Stonegate Mortgage. Bender was Homepoint’s senior managing director, national sales manager, and also previously served as an Eastern division leader within the correspondent unit. He also previously held roles with Stonegate.

The Meriden, Connecticut-based company also added Kathryn Edelen as regional vice president, sales. Before coming to Planet Home, Edelen was regional sales manager at Nations Lending and has also held positions with loanDepot and Homebridge Financial Services. In her role, Edelen will be responsible for finding new branches and recruiting originators in Planet Home’s Eastern U.S. market, tapping into her background in operations, branch management and sales strategy.

Angel Oak adds correspondent-sales veteran Steven Valladares

Angel Oak Home Loans, based in Atlanta, hired Steven Valladares as vice president of correspondent sales. Valladares has spent much of his career working in direct sales in correspondent channels, contributing to the national growth of companies, such as Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae, where he helped manage sales and capital markets teams.

In his new position with Angel Oak, Valladeres will build correspondent sales infrastructure to support internal and external teams, as the company moves its focus beyond non-qualified mortgage markets to agency loans. Angel Oak started purchasing agency mortgages in the latter half of 2021, opening the sale, servicing and securitization of more loan types to a larger group of lenders.

IEmergent adds Megan Horn, Chris Richey as chief officers

Left to right: Chris Richey, Megan Horn

IEmergent, a provider of data analytics and forecasts to the home-lending and real-estate industries, appointed Megan Horn chief marketing officer. Horn previously worked with the company as a consultant while running her own firm, Megan Horn Digital, assisting Des Moines, Iowa-based iemergent develop its website, brand messaging and digital strategy. She also previously led marketing at iEmergent technology partner Far Reach. In her new position, Horn will be in charge of expanding awareness of the brand and its solutions.

The company also recently announced the hiring of Chris Richey as chief analytics officer, responsible for overseeing and increasing the capabilities of the data team and services. Previously a consultant with iEmergent, he helped build the technology framework that supports the data tools it currently offers. In his new leadership role, Richey will work on further development of the analytics engine and statistical models to assist lenders as they move into new markets. Before coming to iEmergent, Richey worked as a data analyst with a government contractor, analyzing health-care databases in the United States to improve outcomes.

Richey May taps Seth Sprague to lead mortgage consulting

Richey May, the technology advisory and consulting firm based in Denver, recently welcomed the addition of home-lending and servicing expert Seth Sprague as director of mortgage banking consulting services. Sprague will lead the development and oversight of the division’s offerings, which include profitability and operational reviews, strategic planning and mortgage servicing rights strategy.

Sprague joins Richey May from Stratmor Group, where he was principal. Previously, he also served as executive vice president of trading and analytics with Phoenix Capital and servicing asset manager at SunTrust Mortgage. Sprague’s professional background includes positions at Bank of America, KPMG and United Financial.

MeridianLink appoints Sean Blitchok CFO

MeridianLink, the digital software provider headquartered in Costa Mesa, California serving home lending and other financial industries, named Sean Blitchok its new chief financial officer. He replaces Chad Martin, who exited the company on May 31. Blitchok has held senior-level financial leadership roles at several software and technology firms, including Hewlett-Packard, Blackline, Honeywell and Salesforce, where he served as divisional CFO of one of its business units. His professional background includes experience in corporate finance, operations, risk management, strategy and mergers and acquisitions.

“Sean’s proven ability to scale multi-billion-dollar SaaS platform companies while honing in on areas of margin enhancement and process improvement is the right fit at the right time as we accelerate our company growth,” said Paul Zuber, MeridianLink’s board chair.

Finance Commission of Texas welcomes mortgage attorney Marty Green

Attorney Marty Green, an expert in mortgage-lending policy and partner at law firm San Antonio-based Polunsky Beitel Green, was named to the Finance Commission of Texas by Governor Gregg Abbott. The commission is responsible for regulating the state’s consumer credit, banking and mortgage lending activity. As one of its 11 members serving a 6-year term, Green will help develop policies for Texas’ depository and lending institutions. The commission also oversees state departments related to banking, mortgage and consumer credit.

Based out of the law firm’s Dallas office, Green helps mortgage businesses navigate the regulatory landscape surrounding home lending. Earlier in his career, Green held the role of executive vice president and general counsel at CTX Mortgage Co. He also previously served as special counsel at international law firm Baker Botts.

NFM Lending hires Ben Coll to lead new product development

NFM Lending, based in Linthicum, Maryland, recently named mortgage and finance leader Ben Coll director of product development. In the role, Coll will oversee research, including the sourcing of products outside government-sponsored enterprises, and introduction of new loan products for originators at NFM’s family of companies. Previously, Coll served as senior vice president of operations at CMG Mortgage, where he oversaw product development and investor relations. More recently, he headed trade-desk operations for MCT Trading.

Churchill Mortgage taps Kelly Lee to lead Northwest production

National lender Churchill Mortgage appointed Kelly Lee senior vice president of production for the Northwest region. In the role, Lee will be in charge of the Brentwood, Tennessee-based company’s network in the Pacific Northwest, overseeing continued growth and production of its 30 branches. Churchill established the regional division in 2019 with one location.

Lee previously served as executive vice president and divisional manager with PrimeLending, growing that company’s West Coast dollar volume more than 10 times. He also held the title of vice president of sales for a regional mortgage company.

7 Mortgage names Travis Morrow president

Photo by Sarah Rodgers

Knoxville, Tennessee-based 7 Mortgage, a jointly-owned credit-union service organization of ORNL Federal Credit Union and Consumer Credit Union (CCU) tapped Travis Morrow as president. Morrow joined ORNL in 2012 as a loan originator before promotion to more senior-level lending roles. Since 2020, he has served as vice president, mortgage lending overseeing loan production, portfolio management and secondary market pricing and delivery for ORNL. In his new leadership role, he will be responsible for building 7 Mortgage’s business, which assists credit union home-lending operations throughout the Southeast improve their compliance and customer service performance.

Agents National Title Insurance promotes Candi Slobodnik

KC.Photography

Incenter subsidiary Agents National Title Insurance Co. appointed attorney Candi Slobodnik to Central States Regional Manager. In her elevated position, Slobodnik will manage sales and underwriting teams and spearhead growth of the company’s agency relationships in nine states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. Slobodnik recently held the role of Midwest underwriting counsel, having joined the Columbia, Missouri-based firm in 2019. Last year, Agents National saw a 126% increase in premiums sold.