Pennymac elevates Kevin Ryan to chief financial officer
Pennymac announced that Kevin Ryan will assume the role of chief financial officer effective January 1, 2027. Ryan currently serves as chief strategy officer and will continue to lead the strategy and business development teams in his new role. Current chief financial officer Daniel Perotti will continue to support the company in an advisory role through the first quarter of 2027.
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Rate welcomes David Cline as VP of mortgage lending
Chicago-based fintech company Rate announced that David Cline has joined the organization as vice president of mortgage lending, bringing an established national business serving professional athletes, high-net-worth individuals and luxury homebuyers. Cline consistently funds more than $100 million in annual production volume and has built a specialized mortgage business serving athletes, as well as executives and multigenerational wealthy families. His business spans luxury and professional sports markets nationwide, with particularly strong relationships in Miami, Dallas, Nashville, Tennessee, and Colorado. He joins Rate after 18 years at U.S. Bank.
NEXA Lending names Susie Cheatham national sales director
NEXA Lending appointed Susie Cheatham as national sales director, with a focus on national recruiting, business development and expanding the company’s internal coaching initiatives. Cheatham began her mortgage career as a loan originator before transitioning into leadership roles. During her tenure at Bay Equity, she progressed from managing a Kansas City branch to overseeing a regional organization that ranked among the company’s top three in both units and volume, including expanding operations into the Dallas market. She also worked with NEXA CEO Geri Farr at Bay Equity.
MBA appoints associate VP of commercial real estate research
The Mortgage Bankers Association announced Steve Guggenmos has joined the organization as associate vice president of commercial real estate research. Prior to joining the MBA, Guggenmos served as director of housing market research at Griffin Capital and founded Guggenmos, LLC, where he served as principal. He also spent more than 20 years at Freddie Mac, most recently serving as vice president of multifamily research and modeling.
ServiceLink promotes president of default services division
ServiceLink, a mortgage services provider, elevated Dave Steinmetz to president of its default services division, effective January 1, 2027. Steinmetz previously served as president of ServiceLink’s origination businesses for the past 15 years. He joined the company in 1993 and has held roles across all operational units, including senior vice president of default services. He succeeds Miriam Moore, who led the default services division for 15 years and will transition to the role of executive advisor.
Longbridge Financial taps president and chief commercial officer
Longbridge Financial, a national mortgage lender and servicer specializing in home equity solutions for older Americans, promoted Melissa Macerato from chief revenue and marketing officer to president and chief commercial officer. Macerato has been a key member of Longbridge’s leadership team since joining the company in 2012. She previously led reverse mortgage sales at MetLife and MetLife Bank, where she hired more than 150 salespeople and managers. Prior to joining Longbridge, she held positions at GE Capital as a senior director and at MBNA America as a vice president.
Foundation Mortgage announces SVP of valuations
Non-QM lender Foundation Mortgage appointed Stephanie Holdsworth as senior vice president of valuations, where she will lead the company’s newly established valuations team. Holdsworth brings extensive experience in valuation operations, appraisal management and risk management from senior leadership roles with JPMorgan Chase, where she served in multiple vice president positions across valuation operations, vendor management, servicing and appraisal fulfillment. She joins from Nationwide Appraisal Network, where she served as chief operating officer, following a similar role at Class Valuation.
Visio Lending hires ex-Citi executive to leadership position
Visio Lending, an Austin, Texas-based lender specializing in debt service coverage ratio loans for residential real estate investors, announced that Ashley Shetler joined the company as vice president of underwriting, collateral and quality control.Â
Shetler brings more than 20 years of experience across consumer mortgage, small business lending and consumer banking. She joins from Citi, where she served as senior vice president and senior credit group leader, overseeing retail mortgage and home equity line of credit underwriting teams. Earlier in her career, Shetler held roles at Bank of America spanning small business credit, mortgage lending and consumer banking.
Nations Lending makes major changes to leadership team
Independence, Ohio-based Nations Lending promoted Eric Roman to president and Cindy Baird to chief operating officer. Roman previously served as chief operating officer and was one of the company’s original nine employees when it was founded in 2003. His background includes more than 25 years in the lending industry and service as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Baird joined Nations Lending in 2022 as executive vice president of national operations.
FHLBank of New York names interim president and CEO
The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York announced that Jonathan West was named interim president and CEO. The appointment follows the resignation of Randolph Snook. West joined the company in 2015 as senior vice president and chief legal officer, and had served as chief of staff and senior advisor since February 2026. Prior to joining the New York bank, he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, bringing more than 40 years of experience within the FHLBank System to his new role.
Fairway Home Mortgage brings back North Carolina team
Fairway Home Mortgage welcomed back regional managers Jeff Gilmore and Matt Gray, along with their 28-member Fairway Custom Mortgage team in September after a two-year absence. The North Carolina-based team brings $250 million in loan production back to the lender. The team previously worked at Fairway from 2010 to 2024 before spending two years with another company. The return is part of a broader trend at Fairway, with 159 employees rejoining over the past year, including 52 originators representing $558 million in loan production.
New American Funding adds to Southern California team
New American Funding welcomed The Brandon Drew Group, a family-run lending team, to the company. Founded by husband and wife Robert and Colleen Olivas, the Southern California-based group holds a 99% close-to-fund rate on submitted applications. The Brandon Drew Group has been recognized as a top originator by Scotsman Guide every year since 2019 and specializes in serving first-time homebuyers, veterans and active military.
NEO Home Loans welcomes two new teams
NEO Home Loans, powered by Better Home & Finance, welcomed Daniel Halvorsen and his Jacksonville, Florida-based team to its platform. The nine-person team adds more than $140 million in trailing 12-month origination volume and brings reach in the Northeast Florida purchase market. Halvorsen has more than 15 years of mortgage experience and has personally funded more than $1 billion in career loan volume.
Josh Burruss and The Home Team also joined NEO as a producing branch, with Burruss set to serve as head of retail innovation. The team brings $82.5 million in 2025 funded volume onto the platform and extends Better’s presence in the Washington, D.C., area. Burruss started in the mortgage business as an 18-year-old intern and has spent 24 years in the industry across origination, product development, coaching, leadership and training. Purchase lending made up 78% of the team’s business over the last year, with much of that coming through partnerships with homebuilders and real estate agents in the region.
Real Brokerage onboards 30-agent team
The Real Brokerage Inc., a technology-enabled real estate platform, announced that Cody Burger and Dennis Buchheit are bringing their 30-agent brokerage, previously operating as Unlimited, to the company under the name The Team. Based in Dubuque, Iowa, The Team has completed approximately 5,000 transactions valued at $1.2 billion since 2020 across Iowa, Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Burger has overseen business operations while maintaining an active real estate practice, with approximately $15 million in personal transaction volume expected in 2026. Buchheit brings a 30-plus-year real estate career and is co-owner of numerous businesses including property management, insurance, HVAC, cleaning and construction companies.
Radian taps two new members to c-suite
Radian announced several executive leadership appointments to support its growth strategy. Dan Kobell was named chief financial officer, a role he had worked in on an interim basis since February 2026. Kobell joined Radian in 2015 and has held finance leadership roles of increasing responsibility. Courtney Smith Goodrich joined as chief information officer from Fannie Mae, where she served as chief strategy and transformation officer. She previously held executive leadership positions at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.
The company also tapped Russell Merrett to lead property and casualty strategy in a newly created role. A founder and chief underwriting officer of Radian specialty insurance subsidiary Inigo, Merrett will assess opportunities in relation to the company’s existing portfolio, exploring new markets, partnerships and avenues to scale its insurance and reinsurance businesses.
Craig Knightley was promoted to chief underwriting officer of Inigo as well. He will lead underwriting for the company’s insurance, reinsurance and partnerships businesses. Knightley joined Inigo at its founding, helping build the business and originating its Horizon and Inform programs.
Westcor Global names new executives
Westcor Global promoted Tavi Gomez to senior artificial intelligence solutions architect. In his new role, Gomez will lead the company’s AI initiatives within its engineering department, identifying emerging technologies, establishing best practices and developing solutions for customers and internal teams. He will lead proofs of concept, evaluate emerging AI platforms and design secure, scalable AI capabilities that integrate with Westcor Global’s existing technology architecture. Gomez will also develop reusable tools and frameworks and mentor colleagues interested in AI and machine learning.
The company also announced that Shandelle Thomas has joined as senior vice president of operations. Thomas brings more than two decades of leadership experience in the title and real estate services industry and will oversee operational strategy and execution. She has led teams and initiatives spanning escrow, title operations, auditing, technology, compliance and operational management. Thomas previously served as chair of the education committee and commercial escrow instructor for the Land Title Association of Colorado.
Westcor Land Title Insurance promotes two to regional roles
Westcor Land Title Insurance Company promoted Laura Licastro to regional underwriting counsel for Florida. Licastro has been with Westcor since January 2019. She is a board certified real estate attorney with more than nine years of experience as underwriting counsel for a national title underwriter. Prior to joining Westcor, she held a leadership role managing the Florida center of another major title insurer’s commercial services division.
The company also elevated Teresa Chiotti to director of Florida plant operations. Chiotti brings more than four decades of experience in the title insurance industry to her new role. She joined Westcor in 2014 as an agency representative and has since advanced through positions including assistant state manager and assistant vice president, Florida agency manager. She serves on the Florida Land Title Association’s government affairs committee and the forms committee as well.
First American appoints Darryl Button to board of directors
First American Financial Corporation, a provider of title, settlement and risk solutions, announced that Darryl Button has been appointed to the company’s board of directors. Button has served as president and CEO of Pacific Mutual Holding Company, the parent company of Pacific Life Insurance Company and Pacific Life & Annuity Company, since April 2022. Before becoming Pacific Life’s CEO, he served as the company’s chief financial officer from 2017 to 2021. Previously, Button served as chief financial officer of Aegon N.V., a global financial services holding company headquartered in the Netherlands, from 2013 to 2016, capping a 17-year tenure with Aegon.
Veriv adds four senior leaders to scale verification platform
Veriv, a Chicago-based financial verification network, announced four additions to its leadership team: Shepley Smith as chief technology officer, Jake Gutting as chief product officer, Rozel Kouadio as chief information security officer, data privacy and fraud risk officer, and Emily Nichols as head of global implementation.Â
Smith joined from Thread Bank, where he spent three years as chief product officer, and previously spent more than 10 years at Confirmation.com, rising to chief product officer before the company’s acquisition by Thomson Reuters.Â
Gutting brings more than 20 years of experience in financial technology, most recently serving as senior vice president of product management at Ncontracts. He previously held the chief product officer role at Confirmation.com.Â
Kouadio has 20 years of experience in information security leadership, joining from Reyes Holdings, where he served as global deputy chief information security officer, and previously held security leadership roles at Kraft Heinz.Â
Nichols joined from Tractor Supply’s corporate headquarters and previously spent six years in client operations at Confirmation.com.
Title Resources Group taps Robert Greenbaum as EVP
Title Resources Group, a Texas-based title insurance underwriter, appointed Robert Greenbaum as executive vice president, a role in which he will lead the company’s customer service efforts. Greenbaum brings more than 30 years of experience across marketing, sales, business strategy and communications in the real estate, mortgage and financial services industries. He joins from American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association Mortgage Services, where he most recently served as chief marketing officer leading marketing and sales strategies. Prior to that, Greenbaum held senior leadership positions with Folio Investing, Fannie Mae, Mr. Cooper and NationsCredit.
Century Communities elevates Jim Francescon to president
Century Communities, a national homebuilder, announced that Jim Francescon has been promoted to president, effective January 1, 2027. In the role, he will oversee the company’s homebuilding operations, land, and related corporate functions. Francescon currently serves as executive vice president of corporate operations, where he has led the company’s acquisition strategy, including recent acquisitions of HistoryMaker Homes, Anglia Homes, and Landmark Homes of Tennessee. He joined Century in 2019 and previously served as president of Century Living, the company’s multifamily platform. Prior to joining Century, Francescon worked in private equity at GoldPoint Partners, a subsidiary of New York Life Investments, and in investment banking at J.P. Morgan Securities.
