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M R EP O RT | 7 MCROWD LENDERS/SERVICERS KAREN GERLI Interfirst Mortgage Company, a private equity-backed mortgage originator, announced that Karen Gerli has rejoined the Company as its COO. In her new and expanded role, Gerli is responsible for Wholesale and Retail operations, with additional oversight of four divisional areas: Credit Risk, Counterparty Risk, Training, and Human Resources. Gerli brings back to Interfirst 35 years of experience in mortgage lending, with senior credit oversight roles at multiple banking institutions. Most recently, Gerli served as the SVP of Operations at Angel Oak Prime Bridge and COO at Ethos Lending. In her previous nine years at Interfirst, Gerli served as COO from 2008-2017 and was instrumental in building an operational infrastructure and quality control practices to improve the quality of originations and support Interfirst's rapid expansion. She also played a senior role in creating a pathway for growth for employees. "We are thrilled that Karen is once again part of the Interfirst leadership team, especially at this critical time of rapid growth across our wholesale and retail origination platforms," said Mark Freedle, EVP, Production. "Karen is a proven leader, with the ability to deliver a cost-efficient process, driven by our proprietary technology platform, that allows our mortgage broker partners and retail team to better serve custom- ers and close more quality loans quickly at the most competitive price." "I am very excited to rejoin Interfirst and again be part of Dmitry Godin's vison of transforming the way consum- ers obtain high quality residential mort- gages," Gerli said. "Interfirst has always prioritized avoiding reckless lending practices, and our innovative technol- ogy platform allows us to improve op- erational efficiency, drive down costs, strengthen loan quality, and reduce origination costs to the benefit of our customers and investors." Gerli added, "I particularly enjoy working in an environment that is committed to the development of its employees and providing opportuni- ties for them to grow. This fall, we will be launching a new training program which will expand upon how we sup- port the professional development of our team members." DAN KARAS Axiom Bank, N.A., a Maitland-based community bank, appointed Dan Karas as EVP of Allied Affiliated Funding, the bank's factoring and asset-based lending division. In this role, Karas will be responsible for guiding the division and driving its initiatives toward continuing growth. Karas' commercial lending expertise spans nearly four decades with national and regional banks. In his most recent role at a Dallas-based community bank, Karas helped create its commercial finance businesses and expand its com- mercial lending platforms and grew profitability. "Dan is a leader who will bring in- novation and strategic growth to our factoring and asset-based lending," said Daniel Davis, President and CEO of Axiom Bank. "We are very fortunate to have a leader whose wide-ranging expertise will allow us to better serve our clients." Karas earned a bachelor's degree from Temple University and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business. Axiom Bank launched its factor- ing and asset-based lending division in July 2018, when the bank acquired Allied Affiliated Funding. The move added a new line of service for com- mercial clients that could not meet the requirements of traditional commercial bank financing. Allied finances clients ranging from startups to high growth to those experiencing financial challenges. LORIN KNUDSON Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. (PRMI) announced that Lorin Knudson has accepted the role of SVP of Servicing. Knudson was a Loan Officer for PRMI before he took the lead of its Loan Servicing Department over eight years ago. In that time, he has played a significant role in creating the successful Servicing department the organization has today. Knudson is currently at the helm of a software conversion that will catapult PRMI's Servicing division to a state-of-the art platform that will serve the organization and its customers better. "Lorin has taken on a number of significant challenges leading the Servicing team to amazing success," PRMI President of Retail Chris Jones said. "Over just the last nine months, our servicing loan volume more than doubled, and during that time, Lorin showed incredible leadership and en- sured the success of the department." In addition to Knudson's promo- tion, additional changes have occurred within senior management at PRMI. 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 Jessica Rackham has moved into the role of Vice President of Quality Assurance, Alyssa North as the VP of Operations and Alicia Irwin as Director of Closing Operations. SERVICE PROVIDERS MARK WALSER Incenter Appraisal Management (IAM), part of the Incenter family of companies optimizing lending processes, announced that Mark Walser has joined the firm as EVP. Walser is respon- sible for strategy, business develop- ment, marketing, operations, partnerships, and maintaining and growing its national network of 10,000-plus experienced appraisers. "I am thrilled to be part of Incenter Appraisal Management (IAM) and to further increase our value proposition for lenders," Walser said. "The IAM team already has a great reputation for going the extra mile to assign the right appraisers to the right jobs and provide them with the support necessary to produce thorough valuations in record time. I look forward to building on these strengths." With over 12 years' senior-level experience in sales, technology, and operations for appraisal management companies (AMCs), Walser brings strong lender relationships and a deep understanding of the resources IAM's appraisal managers, in-house reviewers, and quality control experts need to excel in servicing those relationships and becoming the top-performing AMC partner in a lender's network. Prior to joining Incenter, he was a key contributor to the growth of several industry-leading AMCs from regional to national organizations over the past 10 years, including Triserv Appraisal Management. He also held leadership roles in the real estate and mortgage technology industries. "We are pleased that Mark has cho- sen to join our leadership team," said John Keratsis, Senior Managing Director of Lender Services, Incenter. "He shares our commitment to driving value at ev- ery point of the mortgage lending cycle through innovative solutions, provided by service-obsessed people." 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