TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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"One key to success in our industry is providing a consistent product offering on a national scale while remaining nimble enough to meet the ever-changing needs of the customer in any and all markets." —Anthony Cazazian, Renters Warehouse TH E M R EP O RT | 11 MCROWD national account representative. Rice, an experienced executive with comprehensive knowledge of the mortgage and banking industry, previously served in the position of business development manager for the southwest region with Optimal Blue Secondary Services prior to joining ClosingCorp. His other positions include Sales Director with Veros Real Estate Solutions, Southwest Regional Account Manager at Black Knight Financial Services, southwest Regional Account Manager at Calyx Software, and Premier Client Manager at Bank of America. Rice's responsibilities in his new role with ClosingCorp include identifying, developing, and maintaining business relationships and managing the sales process for new prospects from initial contact to foreclosure. SEAN GRZEBIN/ GREG BELILES Sean Grzebin and Greg Beliles have been named co-heads of Chase's origina- tions business. Grzebin, who was previously head of retail mortgage banking with Chase, will assume the role of Head of Consumer Originations (including home equity, retail, and consumer direct business) and Beliles will take over as Head of Correspondent Originations. Additionally, Lawrence Bailey has been tapped as Head of retail sales. In his new role with Chase, Bailey will report to Grzebin and will manage the bank's national team of branch-based mortgage bankers consisting of seven retail regions— Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Southeast, Great Lakes, Southern California, and New York/ New Jersey Metro. ANDREW WEISS Andrew Weiss has joined STRATMOR Group, a leading consulting firm dedicated to providing professional expertise and proprietary insights to the mortgage industry as a principal in the company's IT and Operations advisory practice. Weiss, a widely known and highly respected IT mortgage executive, has led teams at both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies where his efforts have been focused on the optimal use of technology, big data, analytics, and automated decision processes. In his position with STRATMOR, Weiss will lead and support client engagements that span the full range of IT and operations challenges the firm's lender clients face. Those challenges include technology selection, implementation, and operations improvement. ANTHONY CAZAZIAN Renters Warehouse, headquartered in Minnesota, has announced the hiring of real estate executive Anthony Cazazian as Chief Investment Officer and President of Portfolio Services. Cazazian most recently served as EVP and Head of Originations for B2R Finance, a subsidiary of private equity firm Blackstone. Cazazian, one of the company's first hires in 2013, helped build the company from its inception. While at B2R, he led the Institutional Lending Program responsible for the company's largest clients. Prior to working at B2R, Cazazian spend more than eight years in various roles with Goldman Sachs, including working in the Real Estate Investment Banking and Real Estate Financing Groups, most recently as VP. Cazazian will be based in a new Renters Warehouse flagship location in New York City. JONATHAN ENGMAN AND ROSE MARIE BROOK Jonathan Engman and Rose Marie Brook, partners of the law firm Fabrizio & Brook, P.C., have both been appointed to sit on the board of directors of Six Rivers Land Conservancy, according to a recent release from Fabrizio & Brook, P.C. The mission of the Conservancy is to conserve and sustain natural lands and waters in Michigan's Tri-County area. This includes using conservation easements to preserve nature areas and their uses, such as equestrian activities, farming, and recreation while protecting fragile areas from human impact. Engman and Brook each bring the Conservancy over 20 years' legal experience in the area of real property transactions and quiet title law. Engman will initially sit on the Lands Committee to review property acquisition and encroachment issues on existing Conservancy properties. Brook will initially sit on the Development Committee to work on community and donor outreach. JAMIE HOPKINS ReverseVision announced that Jamie Hopkins has joined the company's board of directors. Hopkins is a noted expert and frequent speaker on matters related to financial planning and retirement income. As a distinguished professor, he has educated thousands of financial services professionals over the course of his career. He has contributed expert commentary on strategic use of home equity retirement income planning to Forbes, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Hopkins is Associate Professor of Taxation and Co-Director of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income at the American College of Financial Services in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and holds the Larry R. Pike Chair in Insurance and Investments at The College, where he teaches courses in retirement, estate planning and life insurance. In Memoriam WILLIAM H. LACY, JR. William H. Lacy, Jr., retired Chairman and CEO of Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), principal subsidiary of MGIC Investment Corporation, passed away on August 28, 2016, as a result of respiratory failure at age 71, according to an announcement from MGIC. Lacy's distinguished career with MGIC began in 1971 and lasted 28 years. He became President and CEO of the company in 1987 and retired in 1999. Under Lacy's leadership, MGIC emphasized quality underwriting and outstand- ing customer service, which resulted in strong growth sales and long-term profits. Lacy was born in 1945 in Chicago and raised in Port Washington, Wisconsin. An obituary provided by his family said that Lacy "thrived in times of uncertainty, personifying a strong work ethic and a positive attitude as a natural leader who could see solutions others might miss."