UWM, Newrez, Cenlar, Pennymac name new mortgage executives

April 11, 2025 1:06 PM

Newrez welcomes former CFPB compliance expert Mark McArdle

National lender and servicer Newrez appointed former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau executive Mark McArdle to oversee regulatory affairs and public policy across its divisions. Until this year, McArdle served at the CFPB, most recently as assistant director, mortgage markets, where he advised the bureau and consumers on mortgage and servicing trends.

A government affairs expert, McArdle also served in the U.S. Department of the Treasury for several years, including in the office responsible for oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. He also played an important role in the development of rules surrounding the Home Affordable Modification Program.

UWM names Rami Hasani chief financial officer

Photo by Mark Kocina

National wholesale lender United Wholesale Mortgage announced the promotion of Rami Hasani to executive vice president and chief financial officer. As CFO, Hasani will be responsible for oversight of all financial matters related to UWM operations, including accounting, compliance, treasury and liquidity management and budgeting and forecasting. He takes over the role from Andrew Hubacker, who will remain a senior advisor to the Pontiac, Michigan-based lender.

Hasani initially joined UWM in 2020, working in financial reporting and compliance before rising through its ranks before his latest promotion. Earlier in his career, he served as senior manager in the advisory practice at Deloitte & Touche.

Pennymac appoints Isaac Boltansky as managing director

Pennymac Financial Services welcomed political and housing market analyst Isaac Boltansky as managing director, head of public policy. In his new role, he will help drive development of public policy strategy for the Westlake Village, California-based lender and servicer, strengthening ties with government and mortgage industry leaders, while also working on advocacy efforts to support Pennymac.

Boltansky comes to Pennymac from investment management firm BTIG, where he held the title of director of policy research. A frequent speaker at mortgage conferences and panels where he represented the investment firm, he was responsible for research and analysis of legislative and regulatory changes affecting housing that stood to impact investors, businesses and financial markets.

Truework welcomes Randy Lightbody in new mortgage role

Income and employment verification platform Truework appointed technology executive Randy Lightbody as head of mortgage, a newly created role at the company. In the position, he will be responsible for developing strategic initiatives, working with clients to grow platform adoption and drive revenue.

Prior to joining the San Francisco-based fintech, Lightbody served as chief revenue officer at Computershare Loan Services. He also is a co-founder of mortgage underwriting technology firm Candor.

NMB taps veteran leader Michael Brennan to head sales

Melville, New York-based Nationwide Mortgage Bankers recently welcomed veteran industry leader Michael Brennan as president of sales and operations, a role that will have him overseeing business efforts across its 29 offices in the U.S. Brennan comes to NMB after previously serving as president of Movement Mortgage, accelerating national growth under his leadership.

At NMB, Brennan will also drive technology adoption in the originations process and help manage the lender's Affinity platform, serving consumers with financial wellness incentives through partnerships with organizations across the country.

Finance of America Reverse adds three new names to C-suite

Left to right: Brian Conneen, Jonathan Scarpati, Karime Benaissa

Home equity lender Finance of America promoted Jonathan Scarpati to the newly created role of chief production officer in its reverse business. In his elevated position, Scarpati will be responsible for finding efficiencies to accelerate origination production in both wholesale and retail channels. He steps into the leadership role after recently holding the title of senior vice president of wholesale production. Scarpati currently serves on the board of directors at the National Reverse Mortgage Association, and before joining FOA over a decade ago, he served the industry in a role at Senior Lending Network.

Scarpati's promotion comes after the recent addition of Brian Conneen as chief information officer. In the role, Conneen will oversee technology development to build scalable tools that will accelerate growth and serve both consumers and FOA Reverse lender partners. A veteran fintech executive, he joins the company from holding similar leadership roles at personal loan provider Best Egg, where his efforts expanded user numbers.

The Plano, Texas-based company also appointed e-commerce leader Karime Benaissa as chief customer officer. Benaissa will oversee development of initiatives aimed at easing both digital and offline experiences for potential Finance of America Reverse mortgage clients. Before joining FOA, he held leadership roles at a range of consumer retail businesses, including Amazon, Petco and Neiman Marcus.

Cenlar appoints Andrew Pohlmann to lead business development

Mortgage subservicer Cenlar FSB recently hired banking veteran Andrew Pohlmann as senior vice president of business development. In his new role, Pohlmann will be responsible for reaching growth objectives through the development of new client relationships.

With a career working at both depository lenders and nonbanks, Pohlmann most recently held the position of chief marketing and sales enablement officer at Rate Cos. Previously, he headed consumer strategy at Suntrust, and also worked in various leadership roles at Washington Mutual, Fifth Third and Citimortgage.

Supreme Lending adds marketing leader Sarah Middleton

Left to right: Sarah Middleton, Brian Keranen, Eli Fairfield

Dallas-based Supreme Lending welcomed Sarah Middleton to its c-suite, where she will hold dual roles of chief growth and chief marketing officer. Middleton joins the national lender after recently serving as chief growth officer at Movement Mortgage, driving expansion over several lines of business. At Supreme, she will be in charge of building teams through the implementation and design of growth strategy, recruitment and marketing.

Previously, Middleton was president of sales at Fairway, founding and leading its Ignite loan officer coaching platform. Earlier in her career, she also served as an originator and regional leader at Guild Mortgage.

Middleton's appointment comes following the recent announcement of Supreme's expansion in the Western U.S. The company added Eli Fairfield and Brian Keranen, responsible for building mortgage teams and supporting loan officers in the Pacific Southwest market. Both recently worked in a similar capacity at Movement.

Milliman expands mortgage services with Jeff Juliane, Brett Ludden

Left to right: Brett Ludden, Jeff Juliane

Global consulting and actuarial firm Milliman announced an expansion of mortgage advisory services, adding finance experts Jeff Juliane and Brett Ludden. Juliane and Ludden will enhance Milliman's offerings to mortgage businesses with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, servicing and trading opportunities, making use of the company's modeling and analytics capabilities. Both come to the Seattle-based firm from Sterling Point Advisors, where they headed its financial services M&A team.

Fairway promotes Amy Slotnick to national sales role

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation

National retail lender Fairway Independent Mortgage elevated longtime producer Amy Slotnick to the position of president of national branch optimization — sales. In the role, she will design and execute strategies to help Fairway's network of originators improve efficiency in loan processing through technology and other means.

As Fairway's first $1 million producer, Slotnick joined the company 18 years ago and will continue working as an originator from her Massachusetts home branch in tandem with new responsibilities. The lender operates out of headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, and Carrollton, Texas.

Newfi adds Victoria Clement to accelerate correspondent growth

Newfi Lending welcomed mortgage business development leader Victoria Clement as executive vice president of correspondent lending. In her new role, she will be leading Newfi's correspondent division, responsible for advancing growth of the company's nonqualified mortgage and second lien offerings to mortgage bankers.

Clement's banking career includes leadership tenures at Loandepot, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and GE Capital. Before taking on the new position at Emeryville, California-based Newfi, Clement helped drive mortgage investment opportunities as principal and chief business development officer at SG Capital Partners.

Foundation Mortgage names Carl Holman director of marketing

Photo by Mario Peralta

Wholesale and correspondent non-QM mortgage lender Foundation Mortgage recently named Carl Holman as director of marketing. In his new role, Holman will be responsible for marketing and public relations strategy, branding and communications in an effort to grow the Miami Beach, Florida-based lender's national recognition.

Holman arrives at Foundation after most recently holding the position of communications manager at A&D Mortgage. He previously also worked as a marketing manager at Carrington Mortgage Services, with a focus on campaign execution.

MMI elevates Kortney Lane-Schafers to sales VP role

Mortgage and real estate data platform Mobility Market Intelligence recently promoted Kortney Lane-Schafers to vice president of growth and client advocacy. In her elevated position, she will work to grow MMI's revenue and market share, working across company divisions and representing the company at industry events. Previously as national director of growth at MMI, Lane-Schafers developed a webinar series covering recruitment and business strategies for mortgage-related businesses.

Crosscountry bolsters Cincinnati presence with 7 new loan officers

Left to right: Geoff Bostick, Mario Rauch, Logan Stacey

Cleveland-based retail lender Crosscountry Mortgage recently announced several additions to its originations teams, rapidly upping its ability to serve customers in the Cincinnati market. The new team of managers and loan officers include Mario Rauch and Logan Stacey, who joined in late March. Their arrival follows moves made earlier that month by Drew Stacey, Corey Grace, Geoff Bostick, Roland Weissman and Joe Koester.

All seven originators come to Crosscountry after recently working with Rate Cos. Crosscountry is licensed in all 50 states and operates over 700 branches nationwide.

Usherpa adds Laila Stout to manage platform marketing efforts

Denver-based fintech Usherpa tapped banking industry leader Laila Stout as senior marketing manager. In her new role, Stout will help the customer relationship management software provider grow its industry presence, developing marketing strategies to promote its platform. She will also assist business customers, providing guidance on CRM usage, to help them achieve success with their marketing initiatives.

Previously, Stout held the role of mortgage marketing manager at regional bank Independent Financial, which operates in Texas and Colorado.