LoanDepot announced it has appointed Nikul Patel as chief growth officer. Patel most recently served as CEO of LoanGlide, a company he co-founded. He previously worked at LendingTree from 2012 to 2019, with roles including chief product officer, chief operating officer and chief strategy officer.
Kind Lending announced the appointment of Delfino Aguilar as chief production officer, expanding his previous role as chief production officer of third-party origination (TPO) to also include oversight of retail and all production divisions across the company. Aguilar has been with Kind Lending since 2020, initially serving as senior vice president of wholesale production.
NewDay USA announced that Neil Brooks has been named president of NewDay Home and Ken Harthausen has been named president of NewDay Home’s builder division. NewDay Home is a mortgage product designed to help veterans and active service members with closing-costs assistance. The loan structure lets qualified borrowers obtain a no-money-down loan and finance closing costs over five years, with no interest if the closing expenses are repaid within one year.
Bevri.ai, an artificial intelligence-based technology company serving the TPO mortgage industry, announced the appointment of Jonathon Haddad as CEO. Haddad is chairman and CEO of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts and has held executive positions at Next Door Lending and Quicken Loans.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced the appointment of David Conroy to senior vice president of strategy and innovation and the newly created role of chief data officer. It marks a return to NAR for Conroy, who served as the association’s director of technology and innovation from 2019 to 2014. Most recently, he held the position of chief technology officer with the California Association of Realtors.
Julienne Joseph announced on LinkedIn that she is joining the DC Housing Finance Agency as senior vice president of single-family programs. Joseph is the founder and principal of JYJ Consulting, focusing on housing policy, mortgage finance and closing the racial wealth gap through equitable homeownership. She was previously chief of staff to the Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary and served as deputy assistant secretary for single-family housing at the Federal Housing Administration.
Polunsky Beitel Green LLP, a Texas-based law firm that provides legal support to residential mortgage lenders, announced that Andrew Duane has been elected as a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. Besides his position as an associate at Polunsky Beitel Green, Duane serves on the board of the Houston Mortgage Bankers Association and is co-chair of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association’s Young Mortgage Bankers Committee.
Rate announced that Jason Stenger has been appointed chief production officer. Stenger spent more than a decade at Movement Mortgage, serving as chief operations officer since January 2022.
Rate also announced that Chris Planto has rejoined the company as vice president of mortgage lending in the Houston market following more than three years with CrossCountry Mortgage. Planto previously worked at Rate — then known as Guaranteed Rate — from 2019 to 2022.
Foundation Mortgage announced the appointment of Samuel Bjelac as senior vice president, national sales, TPO. Bjelac most recently served as senior vice president of national sales, TPO at Carrington Mortgage Services and previously held senior positions at LendingOne, Sprout Mortgage, Flagstar Bank and CoreVest Finance.
NEXA Lending announced the appointment of Von Maharaj as chief financial officer. Maharaj most recently served as controller for Homespire Mortgage Corp. and previously held a series of progressively senior accounting roles at NTFN Inc.
NEXA Lending also announced the promotion of Rana Mortensen to chief administrative officer. Mortensen joined the company in 2017 as office manager and served as an executive director beginning in 2022.
Guaranteed Rate Affinity announced the promotion of Jaime Joyce to chief operations and strategy officer. She most recently held the role of executive vice president of operations, leading the nationwide rollout of the company’s Same Day Mortgage program.
Evergreen Home Loans announced the appointment of Scott Maness as director of mortgage sales for the Carolina region. Maness has more than a decade of mortgage industry experience in operations, sales and branch leadership, including roles at Guild Mortgage, Movement Mortgage and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
Click n’ Close announced the addition of Jon Wilson as vice president of accounting. Wilson previously served as vice president of finance for Bay Equity LLC, a Redfin subsidiary, and he has held senior accounting positions at Algentis LLC and First Collateral Services.
NEO Home Loans announced it has hired Bri Lees as head of marketing. Lees, who has held senior marketing roles at Novus Home Mortgage and Robbins Research International, will oversee NEO’s brand, communications and marketing growth strategy.
Mortgage fintech company FirstClose announced the appointment of Adam Nicholson as director of professional services, where he will oversee implementation strategy. Nicholson most recently served as an enterprise client success manager at Blend and previously held director-level positions at Polly and SimpleNexus.
TruAmerica Multifamily announced the promotions of Stella Pappas to executive managing director, investment management; Christopher Wei to senior managing director, portfolio management; Austen Mount to managing director, operations; and Stefan Long to senior director, fund and corporate accounting. The advancements follow the recent promotions of Noah Hochman to chief investment officer, Mark Enfield to chief operating officer and Wes LaBar to executive managing director and head of acquisitions.
