NewRez, Mr. Cooper, Embrace, Planet Home Lending make hiring moves

May 17, 2021 8:22 AM

NewRez brings on Rajinder Singh in executive role to manage risk

Lender and servicing provider NewRez, headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, has hired Rajinder Singh as chief risk officer, as it attempts to emphasize risk-management practices throughout its operations. Singh will be responsible for overseeing and developing risk-management infrastructure and processes in the elevated executive role. He previously led risk-management teams at Genworth, Citigroup, GM Financial, and GE Capital. NewRez is a unit of New Residential Investment, which has discussed spinning off NewRez into its own publicly traded corporation.

“Raj will be a crucial member of our leadership team and play a key role in fostering a strong risk culture that helps responsibly grow our business,” said company president Baron Silverstein.

Mr. Cooper Group hires Leonard McLaughlin to lead diversity efforts

Dallas-based Mr. Cooper has announced the hiring of Leonard McLaughlin as chief diversity officer, a new role at the loan originator and servicing company. McLaughlin will be responsible for inclusive work culture initiatives in addition to ensuring that diversity practices are employed in the business’s relationships with customers and vendors. He will also lead Mr. Cooper’s environmental, social and governance program. McLaughlin previously launched diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the financial services firm Gallager and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

“Our team members are our greatest asset at Mr. Cooper Group, and in the last several years we’ve collectively created a more inclusive culture built on understanding and valuing our differences,” said Jay Bray, chairman and CEO of Mr. Cooper. “We are excited to welcome Leonard to our team and know his experience in DEI leadership centered around employee engagement and comprehensive strategy will be valuable to our organization.”

Roostify appoints fintech veteran Bill Elderton as CTO

Bill Elderton

Hand-out/Roostify

San Francisco-based home lending technology provider Roostify has hired Bill Elderton as its chief technology officer, who will be in charge of development and rollout of products serving the home-lending industry. Elderton comes to Roostify from Q2, a digital-solutions provider for financial services, where he was senior vice president of development and engineering for the past six years.

“With his fintech background and deep experience in scaling software as digital capabilities for banks, we expect Bill to enable our customers to continue to innovate at scale with us," said Roostify's CEO Rajesh Bhat.

Roostify develops AI functions in the home lending space. The company recently closed $32 million in Series C funding and added two other executives to its team in addition to Elderton.

NeighborWorks taps former Fannie Mae leader Kemba Esmond as CFO

NeighborWorks America, the national nonprofit in Washington that offers training to housing and community-development professionals, announced the appointment of Kemba Esmond as executive vice president and chief financial officer. In her 25-year career, Esmond has held finance leadership posts at Chase and Fannie Mae, where she worked for 10 years, most recently as its senior lead, financial planning and analysis. Her work at Fannie Mae included leading the forecasting and analytics function of the National Servicing Organization.

“Kemba fills a critical role for our organization, ensuring the strong fiscal character of our organization and managing a portfolio of more than $150 million,” said NeighborWorks America president and CEO Marietta Rodriguez.

Churchill Mortgage promotes Grant McFarland to vice president

Courtesy: Churchill Mortgage

Hand-out/Churchill Mortgage

Churchill Mortgage, a Nashville-based lender operating in 47 states, has named Grant McFarland as vice president of operations. McFarland has been with the company for 10 years and previously served as assistant vice president of operations. In his role, McFarland will manage relationships related to Churchill Next, the technology platform launched last year in partnership with Infosys. He will also help lead the company’s adoption and implementation of new technology in the lending process.

“Support for employees translates into support for customers — and cutting-edge technology helps us close loans as fast as regulations allow while driving accuracy and quality for future homeowners,” he said.

Elite Digital Mortgage Consultants brings on Ron Crowe as partner

A digital-advisory firm serving home lenders, Elite Digital Mortgage Consultants announced that Ron Crowe has joined its team as partner, serving alongside president, founder and CEO Dan McGrew. Crowe has years of experience guiding the mortgage industry to go paperless, having spent more than two decades in sales, relationship management and development roles at Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems. Based in Carrollton, Texas, EDMC assists clients in transitioning to a digital mortgage environment.

“It’s a premier digital-advisory company in a niche where lenders need our help and expertise,” Crowe said. “We believe a majority of lenders do not have an e-closing subject-matter expert on their team. We intend to be a helpful resource to fill the gap.”

JLL Capital Markets hires Tony Nargi to manage multihousing debt

The commercial real estate investment and advisory firm JLL Capital Markets has named Tony Nargi managing director of multihousing debt and equity placement. He joins JLL from KeyBank Real Estate Capital, where he was senior vice president and regional production manager of commercial mortgage banking. He also previously served as a director at Freddie Mac Multifamily. With a background in managing multihousing real estate debt and equity transactions, Nargi will be responsible for originating and executing multihousing financing for JLL’s clients.

“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen increasing demand for various multihousing properties and expect the needs of our investor partners and clients to grow,” said JLL Capital Markets senior managing director Eric Tupler. “With Tony’s strong background in executing financing deals and being recognized as a top producer, we’re confident that he will be a strong asset to our growing multihousing team.”

LenderClose hires Felix Dominguez as head of engineering

LenderClose, a real estate and home equity lending platform, has named tech veteran Felix Dominguez as its head of engineering. Previously, Dominguez was an IT architect and director of technology at Equifax. He will help lead LenderClose’s efforts to streamline the lending process through automation.

Dominguez’s appointment is one of several new additions at LenderClose, based in Des Moines, Iowa. The company also expanded its technology department with the hiring of seven new team members. These positions were made possible thanks to the recent completion of a Series B funding round, which generated $10 million in new capital.

Embrace Home Loans taps Stephen Adamo to oversee retail production

Nonbank lender Embrace Home Loans has appointed Stephen Adamo as president of national retail production. Adamo joins the company, based in Middletown, Rhode Island, from Santander Bank, where he was executive vice president in charge of all aspects of residential home lending. Adamo previously held leadership roles at Weichert Financial Services and RBS Citizens Financial Group.

Embrace Home Loans is a provider of government-backed mortgages and hopes to double its retail production this year, with a focus on purchase loans. In 2020, the lender originated $6.4 billion in mortgages.

Homespire Mortgage hires Dave Purdy to lead Southwest expansion

Homespire Mortgage, a national lender headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, announced the hiring of longtime mortgage-industry professional Dave Purdy as Southwest regional manager. Purdy is a former president of the Kansas Association of Mortgage Brokers and will be called on to utilize his industry knowledge to support Homespire's growth and recruitment in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico.

In the last year and a half, Homespire added several new offices and currently has 27 branches licensed to operate in 41 states.

Planet Home Lending promotes four to senior vice president

From left: Jim Loving, Adam Spigelman, Mary Darter and Saul Walle of Planet Home Lending.

Meriden, Connecticut-based Planet Home Lending announced that four members in its correspondent and retention channels have been promoted to senior vice president.

Mary Darter has been appointed to senior vice president, correspondent operations, and James Loving to senior vice president, correspondent sales. Both previously held positions at HomeBridge Funding before joining Planet Home. Planet Home Lending is the fifth-largest government correspondent lender and is expected to post an estimated $27 billion in annual volume in 2021.

Adam Spigelman and Saul Walle were both named senior vice presidents, portfolio retention sales. Both have been with the company for three years, working in its retail retention efforts.

“Refinancing and recapture have been key monetization strategies for Planet Home Lending, “ said John Bosley, president of mortgage lending at the company. “We see the same focus on refinancing among our private clients investing in non-performing assets, such as early-buyout portfolios.”

Mortgage Contracting promotes Chad Mosley to president, as CEO retires

Residential and commercial property services provider Mortgage Contracting Services, headquartered in Lewisville, Texas, announced the promotion of Chad Mosley to president. Mosley was previously the company’s chief relationship officer, managing MCS’s customer-facing functions. In 13 years at the company, he has also held roles as COO and senior vice president of business development. He assumes day-to-day operations at MCS effective June 1.

Mosley’s appointment comes as longtime CEO Caroline Reaves announces her retirement. She plans to stay with the company as chairwoman of the board after she officially steps down on July 1. An internal and external search has begun for her successor.