At the annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), a new crop of leaders were sworn in Saturday to steward the housing finance industry’s largest advocacy group.

Christine Chandler, chief operating officer and executive vice president of M&T Realty Capital Corp., will serve as MBA chair in 2026. Chandler currently serves as the 2025 MBA chair-elect.

“Throughout my career, I have witnessed the significant impact of MBA’s advocacy, research, and education in strengthening the real estate finance industry and the communities it serves,” Chandler said in a press release.

Chandler served as MBA vice chair in 2024 and chair of the MBA’s Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Board of Governors in 2023, in addition to past roles on the MBA Audit Committee and MBA DEI Committee. She graduated from Towson University and replaces 2025 MBA Chair Laura Escobar, who is president of Lennar Mortgage.

Owen Lee, CEO of Success Mortgage Partners Inc. and current 2025 MBA vice chair, will assume the role of chair-elect in 2026.

Lee co-founded the Plymouth, Mich.-based Success Mortgage with his father in 2002 and is also managing member of Title Partners LLC, a full-service title insurance and escrow services agency. He also serves on the board of The Mortgage Collaborative’s Technology Fund, a venture capital group specializing in mortgage technology, and was co-chair of MBA’s Independent Mortgage Bankers Executive Council.

John Hedlund, vice chairman of ICE Mortgage Technology, was sworn in as MBA vice chair. Hedlund has served on numerous boards of directors, including for the MBA, Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO), Automated Mortgage Systems Inc. and the California MBA.

Hedlund co-founded and served as chief operating officer of AmeriHome Mortgage Co., leading the company to become one of the largest correspondent mortgage lenders in the U.S. before its $1 billion sale to Western Alliance Bank in 2021.