Guild, Figure, Loandepot grow leadership teams

October 25, 2024 10:24 AM

Guild taps Freddie Mac alum Nora Guerra to lead affordable lending

San Diego-based lender and servicer Guild Mortgage welcomed Nora Guerra as senior vice president of community lending solutions. In her new role, Guerra will be in charge of developing and expanding lending initiatives, down payment assistance and buyer education.

A sustainable homeownership expert, she joins Guild after most recently serving as senior manager of national affordable lending at Freddie Mac. Guerra's appointment coincides with the recent launch of Guild's new first-time buyer assistance program, which aims to provide education and cash financing for selected consumers who would not currently qualify for a mortgage.

Loandepot adds VA loan expert Bryan Bergjans, regional head Nancy Smith

Left to right: Bryan Bergjans, Nancy Smith

National lender Loandepot appointed Bryan Bergjans as national director of military growth and strategy. A Navy veteran, Bergjans will spearhead growth of VA lending capacity for the Irvine, California-based company. A current member of the Navy Reserves, Bergjans comes to Loandepot after a recent role with Caliber Home Loans.

The lender also recently named Nancy Smith as regional vice president, in-market retail, for Colorado and Wyoming. Smith previously helped build teams in Western markets at lenders, such as Bank of America, Caliber Home Loans and Homeowners Financial Group.

Two Harbors brings onboard servicing experts James Campbell, Chris Hurley

Left to right: Chris Hurley, James Campbell

Real estate investment trust Two Harbors Investment Corp. tapped Chris Hurley as chief technology officer. Hurley arrives at the St. Louis Park, Minnesota-based company after most recently holding the role of head of servicing technology at Newrez and sister business Shellpoint.

Two Harbors, an investor in mortgage servicing rights, also welcomed James Campbell to its subsidiary Roundpoint. Campbell takes on the position of head of servicing after holding a similar executive position at Flagstar Bank, where he oversaw platforms and managed relationships with subservicing clients. He also previously led servicing and post closing operations at Caliber Home Loans, and worked in secondary market management at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse.

MBA adds Astrid Vermeer as CFO, promotes Amber Lawrence, Wendy Penn

Left to right: Amber Lawrence, Wendy Penn, Astrid Vermeer

The Mortgage Bankers Association hired accounting and administrative leader Astrid Vermeer as its new senior vice president and chief financial officer. Before ascending to the role at the Washington-based trade group, Vermeer held similar institutional roles at Perkins School for the Blind and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

Vermeer's appointment comes following the promotion of Amber Lawrence and Wendy Penn to vice president roles. Lawrence steps up as vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion in charge of the development of equitable practices and cooperation with both MBA leadership and members in promoting initiatives. She recently held the title of associate vice president of DEI and previously supported MBA's education efforts.

MBA elevated Penn to vice president for affordable housing, a role in which she will oversee initiatives aimed at increasing homeowner and rental affordability and continue to lead the Convergence program serving minority communities. She most recently served as associate vice president, joining MBA this decade after holding similar positions at the National Association of Realtors.

Figure names Ronald Chillemi chief legal officer

Photo by Chris Hope

Following its spinoff from its former parent, home equity line of credit provider Figure Technology Solutions recently announced the appointment of Ronald Chillemi as corporate secretary and chief legal officer. In the role, he will oversee legal, regulatory and compliance functions in the newly created role for the fintech, which was formed this past spring when Figure Technologies separated lending operations into a new stand-alone business.

With a legal career across a range of organizations from the government to sports betting and mortgage, Chillemi joins Figure after holding the role of general counsel at Aven, a home equity credit card provider. He also previously served in legal leadership at consumer platforms Better Mortgage and Fanatics. Earlier in his career, Chillemi worked as a prosecutor for various government entities, including the Department of Justice.

Canopy Mortgage welcomes new CFO Brenda Hedeen

Multichannel lender Canopy Mortgage recently hired Brenda Hedeen as chief financial officer. Serving as a mortgage finance leader at several different companies throughout her career, Hedeen will focus on collaborative efforts with sales and operations teams with the aim of increasing profits and reducing expenses. Previously Hedeen held the same chief financial officer title at the likes of Mann Mortgage, On Q Financial and most recently, Open Mortgage.

Hometap hires Tom Egan as chief financial officer

Shared appreciation platform Hometap tapped Tom Egan as chief financial officer. In his new role, Egan will lead efforts to scale the Boston-based fintech's financial operations and develop capital deployment planning. Egan comes to the company after a similar leadership role at Divvy Homes, where he was both CFO and head of capital markets. Earlier in his career, he also worked in capital markets management at Barclay's.

Assurance Financial welcomes Jim Clapp in new C-suite role

Home lender Assurance Financial welcomed industry veteran Jim Clapp to the newly created position of chief lending officer. Clapp will lead lending strategy for the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company, overseeing initiatives and the development of new business processes.

With experience encompassing strategy, risk management and operations, Clapp comes to Assurance after holding several leadership roles in his mortgage industry career. Most recently he was president of Certainty Home Loans, a position he held for over a decade.

Roemanu adds Charles Macintosh as chief operating officer

Roemanu, the Tampa, Florida-based holding company of Toorak Capital and Merchants Mortgage, both of whom are active in residential transition lending and investing, announced the addition of Charles Macintosh as chief operating officer. In his most recent role, Macintosh served as president of Finance of America's home improvement division and previously headed residential mortgage-backed securities trading at Raymond James and Merrill Lynch.

In his role, Macintosh will lead oversight of Roemanu technology to help provide financing for business-purpose residential mortgages across companies it owns.

Primelending welcomes Brian McKinney in new leadership role

Dallas-based lender Primelending, the mortgage arm of Plainscapital Bank, tapped industry veteran Brian McKinney as executive vice president, growth and strategic development. In the newly created role, McKinney will be responsible for improving business processes and exploring opportunities for new revenue to drive growth.

McKinney's home lending background includes a previous tenure as the CEO of Benchmark Mortgage. He also served in senior management with GMAC Mortgage and Centex.

Tidalwave appoints technology, sales veteran Chris Olsen

Mortgage fintech Tidalwave recently welcomed Chris Olsen as head of sales engineering. A mortgage and banking technology veteran, Olsen joins the New York-based company after previously working in sales leadership at Ncino company, Simplenexus. For Tidalwave, Olsen will lead efforts to incorporate artificial intelligence capabilities into underwriting, particularly around borrower communication, joining as the company rolls out its AI-backed Solo platform.

Olsen's previous experience includes tenures at Ellie Mae and JPMorgan Chase, where as a senior project manager, he automated paper processes and managed vendor relationships.

Xactus add marketing and tech leader Sasha Stair

Technology-backed mortgage solutions firm Xactus added Sasha Stair as chief marketing officer. In her new role, she will focus on strategies that help create a comprehensive marketing approach to best serve lender clients. A leader in mortgage technology, Stair previously held instrumental positions at the likes of Snapdocs, Common Securitization Solutions and Black Knight.

Riskspan taps Jennifer Press as chief strategy officer

Risk management data analytics provider Riskspan named Jennifer Press chief strategy officer. In the leadership role, Press will develop strategic plans for the company to help it expand its presence in the private credit and asset-backed finance space. A structured finance veteran, she most recently served as a managing director at Lincoln International and was previously a trader and portfolio manager working in distressed mortgages for Tower Research Capital.

Reggora welcomes Corelogic alum AJ Samadani

Appraisal management software provider Reggora named technology sales leader AJ Samadani as director of business development and partnerships, a role in which he will oversee relationship development to spur revenue and growth. A mortgage software leader at several companies, Samadani most recently spent a decade at Corelogic as a principal in its collateral technology business. He previously held sales roles at Capsilon and RPM Mortgage.

Servicelink ups product, national sales teams

Left to right: Raquel Pasala, Antonio Little, Hemanth Panyam, Kevin Ziolkowski

Real estate technology provider Servicelink announced the hiring of Hemanth Panyam as senior vice president of product innovation. With prior international product development background in healthcare, retail and fintech industries, he will lead efforts to bring new mortgage technology products to clients.

Panyam's appointment comes following the recent promotion of Antonio Little as vice president, national sales manager in its origination division. In the role, Little will manage account executives across the country, tapping into his operations and business development background.

Moon Township, Pennsylvania-based Servicelink also added national sales executives Raquel Pasala and Kevin Ziolkowski. Pasala joins Servicelink's default division after recently holding a leadership role at First Allegiance. Ziolkowski comes to the company's originations division from Magellan Solutions, where he was director of business development, and also previously served as vice president of sales at Black Knight.