Deephaven, First American and AmeriSave name new chief officers

March 18, 2022 11:53 AM

Deephaven names Lisa Heitzmann chief operating officer

Deephaven Mortgage, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, announced the appointment of Lisa Heitzmann as chief operating officer, with increased activity expected in the non-QM space this year. An experienced risk and compliance leader, Heitzmann will be responsible for operations in Deephaven’s underwriting, wholesale and correspondent teams.

Before joining the non-QM lender, she served as an industry consultant, specializing in process automation and optimization, and previously held leadership positions in mortgage operations at Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Mr. Cooper subsidiary Xome. “She has worked extensively with successful entrepreneurs and investors who are non-QM/non-agency loan candidates, and has a vision for helping Deephaven to serve them,” said John Keratsis, Deephaven’s president and CEO.

First American taps Paul Hurst for chief innovation officer

First American Financial Corp., provider of title, settlement and digital real estate solutions, appointed Paul Hurst as chief innovation officer. “In this new position, Paul will identify additional opportunities to leverage our strong capital position, nationwide distribution channels, industry-leading data assets and proprietary technologies, on which we hold more than 30 active patents, to help accelerate our already extensive innovation investments,” said Ken DeGiorgio, CEO of First American. Hurst will also find new opportunities for growth through venture capital investments, partnerships and mergers and acquisitions, while continuing to head the venture investing division for the Santa Ana, California-based company. First American’s venture investments had generated $355 million by the end of 2021.

Previously, Hurst worked on the development of Endpoint, a closing services platform funded by First American. The platform was launched in 2018. Before joining Endpoint, Hurst was partner at a consulting firm serving venture-backed companies in finance and real estate, and earlier in his career, he advised companies on business strategy and M&A.

AmeriSave names past loanDepot exec Sudhir Nair chief digital officer

Direct-to-consumer lender AmeriSave Mortgage Corp. named mortgage technology expert Sudhir Nair chief digital officer, a new position within the Atlanta-based company. Nair will be responsible for moving AmeriSave’s automation and digitization initiatives forward to provide a more streamlined experience for both customers and AmeriSave loan officers and employees. He will also work on continued enhancements to AmeriSave’s consumer-facing proprietary AI platform. AmeriSave is currently licensed in 49 states.

Nair has held several information and technology leadership roles at top mortgage industry companies throughout his career, including Xome, Bank of America and loanDepot, where he was chief information and technology officer.

BSI Financial Services names Kelli Yarbrough chief lending officer

Irving, Texas-based BSI Financial Services, which provides mortgage servicing, loan quality control and asset management services, named Kelli Yarbrough senior vice president, chief lending officer. In her role, Yarbrough will be in charge of growing the firm’s loan portfolio and managing a team of officers and underwriters. She also will help manage client relations, create lending policies and procedures and oversee management and marketing. “Kelli brings a wealth of experience that will help us continue to grow our loan origination production volumes through our retention/recapture lending initiative,” said Larry Goldstone, president of capital markets and lending at BSI Financial.

Yarbrough brings prior experience in business development, underwriting and mortgage operations to BSI Financial, previously heading multiple origination platforms that capitalized on retention and recapture opportunities. Most recently, she held the role of executive vice president of loan retention at ServiceMac and previously served as an executive at RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing, helping launch its mortgage originations business.

LoanDepot promotes Min Kim to executive vice president

National lender and servicer loanDepot recently named Min Kim executive vice president of marketing and analytics. A technology leader who has been with the Foothill Ranch, California-based company for several years, Kim will oversee marketing analytics and business intelligence across all of loanDepot’s channels. He will also lead teams in designing, building and managing lead-allocation models and creating marketing campaigns to increase profitability and drive growth.

Kim joined loanDepot in 2012 as director of risk monitoring and reporting before moving to the marketing analytics unit in 2015. Before coming to loanDepot, Kim served in risk management roles at other finance and lending institutions, including Hyundai Capital America and LendingTree Loans.

FormFree appoints former ICE finance director Patrick Rutherford CFO

FormFree, provider of asset and income verification services and products for mortgage lenders, tapped finance veteran Patrick Rutherford as its chief financial officer. Rutherford will oversee finance, accounting and compliance at the Athens, Georgia-based fintech. A former senior director at Intercontinental Exchange, he previously helped manage global forecasting, planning and analysis functions at ICE and played important roles in its merger and acquisition activities and in laying the foundation for its entry into the mortgage sector. Rutherford also previously held leadership roles at Home Depot.

NAREB appoints C. Renee Wilson executive director

The National Association of Real Estate Brokers, the minority trade association aimed at increasing homeownership among Black Americans, recently announced the appointment of C. Renee Wilson as executive director. Wilson had been serving in the role on an interim basis for the past several months. She joined NAREB, which is based in the nation’s capital, in 2005 as special assistant to the president and special projects manager before being promoted to advanced roles, including executive and management consultant and national relationship manager.

Before joining NAREB, Wilson held entrepreneurial leadership roles within mortgage and real estate, including as principal owner of United International Mortgage Bank. Her other ventures included the founding of two firms, CTS Consultants, which provided corporate concierge services, and CTS Real Estate Services Brokerage.

Sprout promotes sales leaders Dean Ayres, Scott Wood in Western U.S.

Left to right: Dean Ayres, Scott Wood

Sprout Mortgage, the non-QM originator headquartered in East Meadow, New York, promoted sales team members Dean Ayres and Scott Wood, as it aims for increased national expansion. Both will be based out of Sprout’s Irvine, California office.

Ayres steps up to the position of Western regional vice president, a newly created leadership role, and will be in charge of recruitment and growth of Sprout’s third-party originators in the West. Ayres joined Sprout five years ago and brings experience in both inside sales and retail lending of non-QM and traditional products. Wood takes over Ayres’s previous role of Western regional manager, overseeing development and training of account executive teams. Wood was previously an account manager and also brings a background in non-QM and other loans.

Union Home promotes Bryan Wright, Cyndi Garza, Steve Runnels

Left to right: Steve Runnels, Cyndi Garza, Bryan Wright

National lender Union Home Mortgage recently announced the promotion of three leaders within its retail operations, as it looks for continued growth opportunities. Bryan Wright becomes vice president of national sales and Cyndi Garza steps up to the role of vice president of national business development while Steve Runnels takes on the position of vice president of retail sales, east division. The company currently produces more than $13 billion in loans annually.

Wright started at Union Home in 2012 and will spearhead growth of the company’s retail channel both internally and externally. In a new role within the organization, Garza will lead outreach to identify new partnerships and opportunities and work with regional teams in their efforts, including integrating social media with local branches’ marketing and promotion. She began her tenure at Union Home in 2011, helping launch its first Michigan office. As a member of Union Home Mortgage’s staff for over seven years, Runnels brings experience in managing production teams and serving customers and will be in charge of further growth within the east division.

MGIC promotes Dianna Higgins to lead investor relations

MGIC Investment Corp., Milwaukee-based parent company of Mortgage Guaranty Insurance, appointed its vice president — internal audit Dianna Higgins to the position of senior vice president of investor relations. She will succeed Michael Zimmerman, who announced his plans to retire later this year. Higgins will also serve in a transitional role as vice president of finance before taking over for Zimmerman.

Higgins has been with MGIC since 1996, beginning as an auditor before advancing to senior roles in risk management and audit departments. She has served as vice president — internal audit since 2018.

Standard Communities hires four new executives, promotes three

Left to right: Jessica O'Connor, Aaron Thomas

Standard Communities, an affordable housing investor and developer based in Los Angeles and New York, continued its growth with seven executive promotions or hires across the country. “We entered 2022 with strong momentum from record growth that brought total capitalization of our portfolio to over $3.6 billion,” said Joe Ouellette, chief strategy officer of Standard Communities.

Joining its executive team are Jessica O’Connor, Aaron Thomas, Kate Bowers and Russ Peterson. O’Connor takes on the role of human resources business partner in charge of talent acquisition and development, as well as all other personnel matters, tapping into her HR background in several industries. With experience in investment banking and national nonprofit leadership, Thomas becomes Standard Communities’ chief of staff. He previously served as president and CEO of Accelerator for America, which assisted cities nationwide address economic insecurity. The company hired PR veteran Bowers as senior director of corporate communications. Bowers brings extensive knowledge in communications strategies for national multifamily real estate companies and most recently served at PR agency Weinberg Harris & Associates. The company also named Russ Peterson senior director of asset management. Before coming to Standard Communities, Peterson was the owner and principal broker of business consulting firm RPC, specializing in multifamily assets and will tap into his expertise in working across a wide range of commercial real estate assets, including conventional and HUD.

Standard Communities also promoted Tim Bourassa to senior director, acquisitions and underwriting. As leader of the team, Bourassa leads underwriting, due diligence and closing and has been involved in over 55 deals since 2016. Within construction services, Standard Communities promoted Craig Marschke to vice president and Patrick Lyons to director. Based in the nation’s capital, Marschke will lead renovation and capital improvement programs of Standard Communities’ operations nationwide, while Lyons will oversee West Coast and Midwest construction teams.

Merchants Mortgage hires retail sales veteran Ron Berry

Merchants Mortgage named Midwest mortgage leader Ron Berry as vice president, retail mortgage sales manager. Berry will apply his background in management and sales operations to lead recruitment and training of mortgage personnel and oversee regional financial performance, budgeting and customer growth for the subsidiary of Merchants Bank of Indiana. “Welcoming Ron to Merchants Mortgage is a significant value-add for our team as we continue to expand our footprint throughout the state of Indiana and across the U.S.,” said Jerry Koors, the company’s president.

Before joining the Carmel, Indiana-based lender, Berry held the title of vice president of mortgage lending at Indiana-based STAR Financial Bank. He previously served as vice president and regional sales manager at PNC overseeing Indiana and Michigan markets, as well as branch manager at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Hamilton Home Loans adds Lex Sheriff as national production executive

National residential lender Hamilton Home Loans, based in Sunrise, Florida, recently announced the addition of Lex Sheriff as senior vice president, national production executive. In his new role, Sheriff will focus on increased retail sales growth and recruitment of new talent. He will also work with other businesses to launch new partnerships aimed at facilitating continued growth around the country. Earlier in his career, Sheriff headed his own mortgage banking firm, and more recently led a branch and served as regional manager with Sierra Pacific Mortgage. Hamilton Home Loans is currently licensed in 28 states and the District of Columbia.

Revolution taps Tom Wragg to head first New Jersey branch

Columbus, Ohio-based Revolution Mortgage announced the opening of its first branch in New Jersey to be led by Tom Wragg. As a branch production manager based in Clark, Wragg plans to introduce the local community to the Revolution brand and its products in 2022. He began his mortgage career in 2001, previously working with lenders, such as First Choice Loan Service, Wells Fargo Private Mortgage Banking and Guaranteed Rate Affinity, before launching his own branch. Revolution was founded in 2018 and is licensed in 40 states.

Nations Lending welcomes Cory Benner in Oregon expansion

Cleveland-based Nations Lending named Cory Benner as manager of its new branch in Bend, Oregon, located in the central part of the state. The office is the lender’s third in the Beaver State. Benner comes to Nations from Guaranteed Rate, where he was vice president of mortgage lending, and also held roles with Bank of America and Bank of the West. A nationwide lender, Nations is licensed in all 50 states.