TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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10 | M R EP O RT MCROWD GOVERNMENT JALLAN P. MERRILL PAUL T. SCHUMACHER Freddie Mac announced that it has elected Allan P. Merrill and Paul T. Schumacher to its Board of Directors, effective September 1, 2020. Merrill is Chairman, President, and CEO of Beazer Homes USA, Inc., a diversified national homebuilder. Schumacher is Founder, President, and CEO of Schumacher Homes, Inc., a custom homebuilder. "On behalf of Freddie Mac, we welcome Allan Merrill and Paul Schumacher to our Board of Directors," said Freddie Mac Non- Executive Board Chair Sara Mathew. "Each brings important perspectives on critical aspects of the housing industry as well as considerable executive leadership and financial experience. Their insights will help us continue to deliver on our mission as we embark on our next chapter." Merrill will serve on the Board's Audit and Nominating & Governance committees, and Schumacher will serve on the Audit and Compensation & Human Capital committees. LENDERS/SERVICERS KRISTY FERCHO Wells Fargo & Company has announced that Kristy Fercho will join the company at the beginning of August as the new head of Wells Fargo Home Lending. Fercho has 18 years' leadership experience in the mortgage industry and will replace Michael DeVito, who has announced plans to retire later this summer after more than 23 years with Wells Fargo. Fercho will join the company from Flagstar Bank, where she has served since 2017 as President of the company's mortgage division. Under Fercho's leadership, the mortgage business flourished, expanding to over 87 retail home lending centers and 2,300 correspondent and broker rela- tionships. Prior to joining Flagstar, she spent 15 years with Fannie Mae, where she led the strategy and business per- formance of single-family customers in the western United States and also served in customer engagement and human resources roles. "Kristy is a customer-first busi- ness leader with deep home lending experience. She has been an inspiring and vocal leader across the mortgage industry while driving transforma- tional growth at Flagstar," said Mike Weinbach, CEO of Consumer Lending at Wells Fargo. "Buying a home remains one of the most important financial decisions our customers will make in their lifetime, and Kristy is the right person to help us ensure that no one can do it better for them than Wells Fargo." LOU FRIEDMANN Interfirst Mortgage Company, a private equity-backed mortgage originator, announced Lou Friedmann has been named Chief Marketing Officer. Friedmann will also be part of the company's leadership team. Friedmann brings a proven track record building online financial brands and establishing successful customer acquisition programs. In his new role, he will lead all of Interfirst's strategic marketing and communications as the company relaunches under a new business model that includes inte- grated retail and wholesale residential mortgage origination offering. "Lou is widely admired as a marketing leader and brand builder in the financial services industry," commented Mark Freedle, EVP, Production of Interfirst. "He has a deep understanding of the mortgage industry, successful customer acquisi- tion strategies, and our proprietary technology platform. This knowledge will be invaluable in accelerating the This month, some of the industry's largest companies saw significant changes to their corporate lineups. Who's moving on and who's moving up in the industry growth of our wholesale channel and the launch of our branded entry into the retail market. We are ex- tremely pleased that Lou has rejoined Interfirst and is again part of our leadership team." "I am excited to return to Interfirst at this pivotal point in time for the mortgage industry," Friedmann said. "With our new business model, Interfirst is positioned to transform the way consumers obtain residential mortgages by enabling our mortgage brokers partners and loan originators to operate friction-free through our technology-driven model based on service, speed, competitive products, and pricing." MIKE SANTOMASSIMO Wells Fargo & Company announced that Mike Santomassimo will join the company in fall 2020 as CFO. Santomassimo will report to CEO Charlie Scharf and serve on the company's Operating Committee. He will succeed John Shrewsberry, who has announced plans to retire following a successful 22-year career with Wells Fargo, including the last six years as the company's CFO. Shrewsberry will continue in his role as CFO until Santomassimo joins the company and will assist with the transition thereafter.