Former Finance of America CEO Patti Cook dead at 70

Long-time mortgage industry executive Patricia "Patti" Cook died on Nov. 3. She was 70 years old and passed away from pancreatic cancer according to an online obituary.

Most recently, Cook was the CEO of Finance of America and steered it through going public via a special purpose acquisition company merger in April 2021.

"The entire Finance of America team is deeply saddened by the passing of our former fearless leader, Patti Cook," a statement from the company said. "Patti embodied all that was good about leadership and mentorship."

"She will be truly missed. Our sincere condolences to her family and friends during this difficult time," the company statement continued.

The lender also posted a written and video tribute to Cook on its LinkedIn page.

The rising rate environment quickly caught up with the company after it went public. Following several quarters of losses, FOA announced Oct. 11, 2022 it was exiting the wholesale channel; 10 days later it left forward mortgage originations altogether.

Cook had been planning her departure from the CEO job for several months before finally stepping down in June of that year for reasons that are now known to be related to her health. That was shortly after Bill Dallas, the former president of Finance of America Mortgage, left the company, pointing out they came in as a team and exited nearly the same way.

Cook joined FOA as senior managing director in March 2016, after spending the prior three years as president of now-shuttered lender and servicer Ditech. She had been overseeing originations at the company and left that position with reports stating ownership wanted to combine her job with the same role at its servicing business.

Prior to that, Cook was executive vice president of business development at Green Tree; it was merged with Ditech by owner Walter Investment Management in 2015.

From 2004 to 2009, Cook was executive vice president and chief business officer of Freddie Mac.

It was during her time at the government-sponsored enterprise that Dallas, another veteran of the mortgage industry, met Cook, he said in an interview. Her background was in teaching, but she went back to school and got her Masters in Business Administration from New York University.

After receiving her degree in accounting, she took a job at Arthur Young, but soon moved into a number of positions in the capital markets side of the mortgage business, including at Solomon Brothers and JPMorgan, Dallas noted, before joining Freddie Mac.

As a result, she brought that capital markets perspective to the business, Dallas noted.

"She had just a broad understanding from an accounting, cap markets, fixed income and securitization view, and really that helped us at Finance of America," a company created from over 20 acquisitions in various aspects of the home lending business, Dallas said.

More important was her mentorship, especially for the women at Finance of America. Dallas noted that she was very good at engaging with people.

"She was just close with lots of people and it's hard to do," Dallas said. "We have big businesses that have thousands of people, so it's very hard to be personable like that. She was just extraordinary."

Cook was survived by her daughters, Kathleen Cook Suozzi, Colleen Cook Flannery and Annie Cook Carroll; and her six grandchildren, as well as her sisters Laurie Bonello and Marybeth Solazzo, according to the online obituary.