Ocwen, Freddie Mac, Deephaven make leadership appointments

May 20, 2022 1:24 PM

Ocwen appoints former Bayview leader Sean O’Neil as CFO

Mortgage lender and servicer Ocwen Financial, headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, appointed Sean O’Neil executive vice president and chief financial officer. O’Neil will be in charge of ensuring the soundness of Ocwen’s global financial structure. An experienced financial services leader, he most recently held the CFO role at Bayview Asset Management, where he helped manage finance and accounting activities, treasury structures and liquidity, among other functions.

Before joining Bayview, he worked as group financial officer at Wells Fargo and Eastern Community Bank. He also held the position of CFO within Wachovia’s wealth management group. Prior to his banking career, O’Neil was a senior manager at Boston Consulting Group.

Freddie Mac names Kevin Palmer new head of multifamily

Government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac recently promoted Kevin Palmer, a longtime member of its team, to lead multifamily operations. Palmer joined the McLean, Virginia-based organization in 2001, holding several roles and helping manage single-family portfolio functions, such as pricing, servicing and credit-risk transfers, as well as other capital-markets and risk-management activities. Palmer’s most recent position was senior vice president for single-family portfolio management. As part of his new responsibilities in the elevated role, Palmer will serve on Freddie Mac’s senior operating committee.

Deephaven names Tom Davis chief sales officer

Non-QM lender Deephaven Mortgage named Tom Davis chief sales officer, the latest in a series of new leadership hires at the company. A longtime sales veteran with expertise in both agency and non-QM loans, Davis has worked with broker partners throughout his career and most recently managed wholesale and correspondent channels at First Guaranty Mortgage as executive vice president, head of TPO production. In his new leadership position with the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender, Davis will be responsible for expanding Deephaven’s national presence and market share in addition to managing the recruitment of new correspondent and wholesale account executives.

Xactus adds Black Knight alum James Owens as technology head

Philadelphia-based Xactus, a provider of credit verification services to mortgage lenders, announced the appointment of James Owens as chief technology officer. A software development veteran, Owens joins Xactus from consumer finance company OneMain Financial, where he was chief architect/head of technology strategy, leading an engineering team that introduced a new credit card business and managing other enterprise efforts. He previously served as OneMain’s chief technology officer and also held several leadership roles at Black Knight.

In his role with Xactus, Owens will develop and manage the company’s overall technology strategy, including product development, and ensure the effectiveness of IT and data security operations. His hiring comes after the company recently named a chief financial officer following a merger with Credit Plus and subsequent rebranding.

Academy Mortgage promotes Kristi Pickering to president

Draper, Utah-based national lender Academy Mortgage Corp. recently announced the appointment of Kristi Pickering to president. Pickering will oversee day-to-day operations at the company, taking over responsibilities from CEO James Mac Pherson, who will focus on strategic growth. In her new role, Pickering will lead implementation of Academy’s strategies and optimize workflows to streamline processes. She has held the position of chief operations officer since joining Academy in 2019. The lender is currently licensed in 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Better adds capital markets expert Mike Julius

New York-based Better added Mike Julius as head of capital markets to manage the company’s relationships with external brokers and dealers. “We are thrilled to welcome him to Better where he will play a critical role in further building our trade platforms and developing our team,” said President and Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ryan. Julius’s hiring comes following other recent leadership moves at Better including the appointment of Harit Talwar as nonexecutive chair and Sushil Sharma as chief growth officer. The company has made headlines in recent months due to its handling of numerous layoffs as it prepares to go public.

Julius joins Better from 1842 Capital Advisors, where he was founder and managing partner, handling investments in commercial real estate, multifamily value-add and several other assets. Previously, he also helped build the agency business at Auriga, where he held the role of managing director, head of agency trading. He was formerly executive vice president, head of nonagency securities and loan trading at Countrywide Securities, responsible for $13-billion worth of fixed and adjustable-rate nonagency securities.

Freedom hires ex Fannie Mae leader Jenney Shen to lead strategy

National originator and servicer Freedom Mortgage recently added former Fannie Mae executive Jenney Shen to its team as head of strategy for servicing and correspondent lending. Before joining Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based Freedom, Shen spent 14 years at Fannie Mae, where she most recently was vice president, single-family mortgages, managing relationships with approximately 1,500 servicers and lenders. In 2021, Freedom led the nation in Veterans Affairs-backed originations by volume and was ranked second in the number of Federal Housing Administration mortgages issued.

BSI Financial adds Sean McGowan, Shannon Clay to HR, investor teams

Left to right: Sean McGowan, Shannon Clay

BSI Financial Services, a provider of mortgage servicing and data based in Irving, Texas, announced the appointment of Sean McGowan as chief people officer and Shannon Clay as senior vice president of investor reporting, with both bringing past experience and background in the banking and home finance space. McGowan joins BSI from Appspace, a global software company, and has also held senior roles at Accenture, Bank of America and Mr. Cooper. As chief people officer, he will be responsible for BSI’s human resource strategy, aligning it with the company’s overall business plan.

Clay will oversee BSI’s reconciliation and treasury cash management as well as lead its investor reporting team. She will also develop the company’s secondary market accounting processes to improve function and profitability. A Mr. Cooper alum herself, Clay most recently served as that company’s senior vice president of investor services. Prior to joining Mr. Cooper, she had tenures at Countrywide Home Loans and Saxon Mortgage, where she was instrumental in streamlining distressed asset fulfillment.

Mid America Mortgage promotes Gary McKiddy to CFO

Addison, Texas-based Mid America Mortgage, with headquarters in Addison, Texas, appointed Gary McKiddy chief financial officer. In the position, McKiddy will manage financial operations and strategy, following the company’s recent offloading of its retail business. The company also houses correspondent and wholesale divisions and recently added a correspondent down-payment assistance program. Mid America announced it would change its name to Clickn’ Close later this spring.

McKiddy recently served as chief risk officer, a position he took over late last year. Before joining Mid America, McKiddy held the CFO role at mortgage lender NTFN, and earlier in his career, worked at Ascent Energy, a predecessor company that would eventually become Mid America Mortgage.

Vice Capital Markets names Shawn Ansley chief information officer

Mortgage hedge advisory firm Vice Capital Markets, based in Novi, Michigan, tapped Shawn Ansley to serve as chief information officer. Ansley most recently served as the company’s managing director, running quantitative analytics and managing pull-through modeling to better manage Vice Capital’s pipeline. In his new chief officer role, Ansley will be in charge of developing technology tools and further integrations with government agencies and loan-origination systems. He will also oversee automation of day-to-day processes in the company to reduce the possibility of human error.

According to Vice Capital, it traded more than $202 billion on behalf of its full-service clients in 2021, with one in every 15 mortgages originated in the U.S. either traded or hedged with its proprietary software.

Movement promotes Montell Watson to increase diverse lending

Movement Mortgage, based in Indian Land, South Carolina, promoted Montell Watson to director of diversity lending and strategic partnerships, a new role within the company. In the position, Watson will oversee Movement’s diversity strategy to address homeownership disparities through equitable lending and outreach to minority communities who may not consider homeownership a possibility. “It’s a mindset that continues to hold back many people who look like me.” Watson said.

Since joining Movement six years ago, Watson has helped develop the lender’s Grab The Key initiative, which helps bring generational wealth to underserved and marginalized communities through homeownership education and awareness. He held roles of director of corporate strategy and assistant vice president of special projects, and more recently, served as director of Movement Direct, driving customers to the company’s retail loan officers and building an internal servicing retention program.

Mortgage Connect adds Jane Kennedy as SVP of sales and strategy

Mortgage Connect, a Pittsburgh-based provider of services across the entire home loan cycle, tapped Jane Kennedy as senior vice president of sales and strategy in the company’s default division. In the role, Kennedy will be in charge of growth of the company’s default services offerings. She will also oversee Mortgage Connect’s national default sales team. A former attorney serving banking, Kennedy later joined the mortgage industry in sales-leadership roles at Land America Lender Services and ServiceLink, where she worked for 13 years.

Open Mortgage hires Charith Rodrigo to lead reverse sales

Austin, Texas-based Open Mortgage embarked on an expansion of its reverse-mortgage business, naming Charith Rodrigo national director of reverse sales. Rodrigo joins Patty Wills, who was also recently promoted to the same role, to drive growth of reverse mortgage originations nationally. Rodrigo and Wills will be responsible for hitting the company’s reverse-mortgage sales targets and recruiting knowledgeable loan specialists.

Before joining Open, Rodrigo was director of production support at American Advisors Group, the nation’s leading reverse-mortgage lender, where he developed and implemented analytical data to assist with sales management. He is also a former sales manager at Liberty Home Equity Solutions.

Incenter brings on servicing leader Doug Jorgenson as consultant

Incenter, the family of companies providing business solutions to mortgage and lending industries, announced servicing expert Doug Jorgenson had joined the corporation as consultant to the enterprise business-development team. Recently retired from First American Mortgage Solutions, where he served as senior vice president and strategic account director, Jorgenson brings experience in default title management, accounting and development of loss mitigation products from various leadership roles at First American. He also brings expertise in foreclosures and default reporting thanks to prior servicing positions at other mortgage businesses.

As consultant, Jorgenson will meet executives of leading servicers to market Incenter’s products. He will also provide feedback to Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based company, working with colleagues to customize solutions for its clients.

Guaranteed Rate opens new branches in Oregon, Florida

Left to right: Angie Stanley, Angel Medina III, Raul Alvarez, Phillip Medina

National mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate unveiled two new branches in Salem, Oregon, and Miami, to tap into growing markets and segments. The Chicago-based company named Angie Bradley as branch manager and vice president of mortgage lending at its Salem location, its third office in Oregon. Prior to joining Guaranteed Rate, Bradley spent several years at US Bank as a loan officer.

The company also opened a new branch in Southeast Florida, replacing a previous space in Miami, which it outgrew, according to the lender. Focused on tapping into the Spanish-speaking population, the branch will be at the forefront in promoting Guaranteed Rate’s Spanish digital mortgage. The company introduced its Spanish digital mortgage application last month, enhancing outreach efforts to the Hispanic market. To lead the new location, Guaranteed Rate named Angel Medina III, Raul Alvarez and Phillip Medina as branch managers and vice presidents of mortgage lending.