The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced several promotions. Jonathan “Drew” McCall has been promoted to HUD chief of staff from his previous role as deputy chief of staff to Secretary Scott Turner. Todd Thurman, former senior advisor to Turner, and Reid Wilson, former White House liaison, have been appointed deputy chiefs of staff. The moves follow the Senate confirmation and swearing-in of Andrew Hughes as HUD deputy secretary. Hughes formerly served as chief of staff.
Michael E. Horowitz has been appointed as head of the Federal Reserve’s Office of Inspector General. By federal statute, he will hold the same position at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Horowitz, who spent more than a decade as an inspector general for the Department of Justice, succeeds Mark Bialek, who retired in April after nearly 14 years as inspector general for the Fed and the CFPB.
Equity Prime Mortgage (EPM) announced the promotion of Kenny Phillips to chief sales officer. He assumes a role formerly held by the late Kevin DeLory, who passed away in April at the age of 53 after a nearly two-year cancer battle. Phillips, who joined EPM in 2021 as senior vice president of lending, has nearly 30 years of experience in the mortgage industry. “I’m honored to step into my best friend Kevin’s shoes as chief sales officer and to carry forward his legacy of innovation and service as part of EPM’s new guard,” Phillips said in a press release.
EPM also announced the retirement of James Minghini, chief compliance officer, effective Monday. Minghini started his career in 1993 at CitiFinancial, where he spent nearly 20 years in branch compliance and training. He subsequently served as assistant vice president of compliance at Crescent Mortgage before joining EPM a decade ago.
The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) announced that Ginger Bell has joined the organization as growth officer, where she will be responsible for enhancing member value and accelerating business growth for loan originators. She will also lead the development of Hive, NAMB’s new online community platform. With over two decades of experience in mortgage and real estate finance, Bell has written 15 books and won an Emmy Award for co-producing the 2020 documentary “Folds of Honor.”
The Broker Action Coalition (BAC) announced that Kim Nichols, chief third-party originator (TPO) production officer at Pennymac TPO, has joined the grassroots advocacy network’s 11-member board of directors, which includes four lenders, four brokers and three members of BAC’s leadership team. BAC co-founder and former CEO Katie Sweeney has assumed a board advisor position, and Allen Middleman, executive director at Freedom Mortgage Wholesale, has joined as a new board advisor.
Additionally, BAC announced updates to its leadership councils. Jay Rodriguez of Arbor Financial Group has been appointed chair of the Hispanic Homeownership Council; Jennifer Gormer of Integrity Home Lending LLC has been named chair of the Black Homeownership Council; Gay Veale of Epoch Lending will remain as chair of the Veteran Homeownership Leadership Council; and Jerry Robinson of 1st Choice Mortgage Co. will continue to chair the Government Affairs Leadership Council.
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) announced the appointment of Allen Beydoun as chief client officer, a newly created position. Beydoun, an 18-year UWM veteran, will be tasked with aligning strategic initiatives with enhancements to the client experience.
Premier Mortgage Resources LLC announced the launch of a specialty products division with four core categories: commercial lending, led by Victoria Markowski, director of commercial lending; construction financing, led by John Neil, construction lending manager; builder financing, led by Rebekah Dobbs, sales manager – builder division; and buyer financing. The new specialty division is designed to support a range of borrowers, including real estate investors, builders and nontraditional homebuyers.
Rate announced that Chicago-based loan officer Chad Barris has rejoined the company. He previously served as vice president of mortgage lending at Rate (then known as Guaranteed Rate) from 2016 to 2018 and most recently worked as a branch manager for CrossCountry Mortgage.
Guaranteed Rate Affinity has appointed Linda Vo as regional manager in North Texas. Vo, who has more than 20 years of mortgage experience, has worked in wholesale, loan origination, sales management, real estate owned (REO) loan servicing, corporate strategy and business development.
Merchants Mortgage, a division of financial services provider Merchants Bank, announced the hiring of Dylan Kramer as a mortgage loan originator. The Illinois-based Kramer, who has more than 30 years of experience in the banking and mortgage financing industry, previously worked as a branch manager for Benchmark Mortgage and as a sales manager for Neighborhood Loans.
Evergreen Home Loans hired Walter Gallipeau as an area manager, marking the company’s expansion into Texas. Based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Gallipeau previously spent eight years as senior vice president at Texas Bank and Trust, where he funded more than $250 million in production.
Evergreen also announced the addition of Jon Stacy as a regional manager. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Stacy has more than 28 years of mortgage industry experience and served as president of the Columbus Mortgage Bankers Association.
RiskExec Inc., a compliance reporting and analytics software platform serving banks, mortgage lenders, credit unions and nontraditional lenders, announced it has hired Erik Pieczkowski as its new CEO. Pieczkowski spent 15 years at Intercontinental Exchange and was also president and founding partner of Chicago-based professional services and IT consulting firm Synegen.
Planet announced that Elysia Stobbe has joined the company as a branch manager in Neptune Beach, Fla. Stobbe spent 10 years with NFM Lending and has originated more than $350 million in residential loans during her career. She is also a certified military relocation professional through the National Association of Realtors.
ServiceLink announced the additions of Chris Miller as a national sales executive and James Lee and Mandy Powell as national account executives within its origination division. Among other tasks, they will be responsible for client growth strategy, creating new lender partnerships and expediting the mortgage process while reducing costs.
Nationwide Mortgage Bankers Inc. announced that it has hired Chris Allen as chief culture officer. Allen previously served as chief talent officer at Movement Mortgage, where he developed the Movement University training program designed to facilitate a consistent talent pool.
The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced the selection of Leland F. Bunch III, managing director at Bank of America, as the chair of its executive committee and board of governors. Bunch, a 25-year veteran of the commercial real estate finance industry, has been a CREFC member for 20 years. He succeeds Bob Foley, partner at TPG Real Estate and chief financial officer of TPG Real Estate Finance Trust Inc.
JLL Capital Markets announced that Paul Adams and Maddy McMillen have been appointed as directors within its Miami debt and equity placement team. Adams, who specializes in complex debt financings, equity placement and recapitalizations — with particular focus on multifamily and condominium development — has served as an associate with JLL since 2022. McMillen, who joined the company in 2020, brings a background in structuring creative financing solutions across various property types and markets throughout the U.S.
JLL also announced that George Maravilla and Noah Schott have joined the company’s national build-to-rent team. Maravilla previously was a partner at Tower Capital, where he closed more than $2 billion in construction financing and joint venture capital since 2018. Schott also comes from Tower Capital, where he was involved in over $600 million of debt and equity placement, primarily for build-to-rent communities, over the past two years.
Appraisal management company Atlas VMS announced the appointment of Chris Jones as chief operating officer. Jones previously served as vice president of operations at Landmark Network. After Landmark was acquired by Class Valuation, he became senior vice president of enterprise program management.
