People in the News July 13, 2020

Kristy Fercho Named Head of Wells Fargo Home Lending; Michael DeVito to Retire

Wells Fargo & Co., Des Moines, Iowa, announced Kristy Fercho will join the company at the beginning of August as head of Wells Fargo Home Lending. She will replace Michael DeVito, who has announced plans to retire later this summer after more than 23 years with Wells Fargo.

Fercho, who currently serves as Vice Chair of the Mortgage Bankers Association, has 18 years of leadership experience in the mortgage industry. She joins Wells Fargo from Flagstar Bank, where she has served since 2017 as president of the company’s mortgage division. Under Fercho’s leadership, Flagstar expanding to 87 retail home lending centers and 2,300 correspondent and broker relationships. Prior to joining Flagstar, she spent 15 years with Fannie Mae, where she led the strategy and business performance of single-family customers in the western United States and also served in customer engagement and human resources roles. Fercho began her career and served in a variety of sales, operations and human resources roles at Baxter International before moving to Pepsico Inc., where she ultimately was director of worldwide corporate human resources.

Fercho currently serves as vice chair of the board of MBA; vice chair of the MBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee; co-chair of the Affordable Housing Council; and a member of its Residential Board of Governors. She also serves on the boards of City Year and the Detroit Zoological Society.

DeVito retires after a financial services career that spans more than 30 years, including 23 at Wells Fargo. He was selected to lead Wells Fargo Home Lending in January 2018 after serving as head of mortgage production for the company and previously ran its mortgage servicing operations. DeVito also was head of Education Financial Services for nearly three years and led retail fulfillment for Home Lending. Previously, he was a leader in Home Lending’s early e-business initiatives and managed retail home equity.

Civic Adds Prateek Khokhar as CFO

Civic Financial Services, Redondo Beach, Calif., appointed Prateek Khokhar as the company’s chief financial officer, responsible for overseeing the company’s finances and guiding its growth.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the mortgage banking industry, Khokhar has substantial expertise in debt and equity capital raising, M&A activity, financial oversight, treasury management and overall corporate finance. He is a frequent featured speaker at Mortgage Banking Association conferences and in 2018 was recognized by National Mortgage Professional Magazine as one of the 40 most influential mortgage professionals under 40. Prior to joining CIVIC, he served as CFO of American Pacific Mortgage and Skyline Financial Corp.

Indecomm Names Narayan Bharadwaj SVP of Automation

Indecomm Global Services, Edison, N.J., appointed Narayan Bharadwaj as Senior Vice President of Automation, responsible for automation strategy and execution with a goal of transforming the operations and technology landscape of the mortgage industry.

Bharadwaj has more than 27 years of experience in the industry with an extensive concentration on consumer lending. His career spans executive leadership positions in technology companies serving the banking industry, including Senior Client Partner & Venture Leader with Cognizant Technology Solutions; CEO & General Manager of Wipro Gallagher Solutions; President & COO of Financial Services with Docutech Corp.; and as a technology executive in financial services organizations such as GE Consumer Finance, and Citibank Global Consumer Bank, where he was responsible for large global technology programs.

Mortgage Connect LP Hires Gabe Minton as CIO

Mortgage Connect LP, Pittsburgh, Pa., hired Gabe Minton as Chief Information Officer.  Minton has more than 26 years of experience developing next generation platforms. Prior to Mortgage Connect, he was EVP and Chief Information Officer with Guild Mortgage where he was responsible for the company’s core technology infrastructure and developing next generation platforms and services.  Minton has also served as the senior vice president and chief information officer at PHH Mortgage and prior to that, served in senior management, strategy and technology positions with Black Knight’s ServiceLink, Motivity Solutions, Accenture Mortgage Cadence and the Mortgage Bankers Association, where he was part of the technology team that created MISMO.

LBA Ware Taps Brian Jordan as Director of Product Management

LBA Ware, Macon, Ga., tapped financial data and analytics industry expert Brian Jordan as director of product management. He was hired to enhance and expand LimeGear, LBA Ware’s recently launched turnkey business intelligence platform.

Jordan has 13 years of product experience at global data aggregation and analytics firms serving the banking and financial services sectors. Before joining LBA Ware, he was a lead product manager with LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Previously, he held positions at Global Data Company (now Trulioo), a global identity verification provider, and Zoot, a provider of advanced loan origination, acquisition and decision-management platforms for financial institutions.

U.S. Mortgage Insurers Names Radian’s Derek Brummer Chairman

U.S. Mortgage Insurers announced Derek Brummer will serve as the association’s new Chairman of the Board. Brummer is the President of Mortgage at Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia. He succeeds Bradley Shuster, Executive Chairman of NMI Holdings Inc.

Brummer previously served as USMI’s Board Vice Chair. He was named Radian Group Inc.’s President of Mortgage in February and brings extensive experience in the housing industry to USMI’s chairmanship. He joined Radian in 2002, serving as Chief Risk Officer since 2013 and as head of Mortgage Insurance and Risk Services since 2018. Prior to that, he was Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel for Radian’s financial guaranty company. Before joining Radian, he was a corporate associate at Allen & Overy LLP as well as Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York.

Mark Casale, who is the President and CEO of Essent Guaranty, will take over as Vice Chairman of the Board of USMI, and Rohit Gupta, President and CEO of Genworth MI, will serve as USMI’s Treasurer and Secretary of the Board.

CFPB Taps Thomas Pahl as Deputy Director; Adds to Executive Team

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thomas Pahl will serve as the Deputy Director.

From 2013-2016, Pahl served as Managing Counsel for the Office of Regulations for the Bureau. He has also held previous roles at the FTC focused on enforcement, rulemaking and policy on financial services matters, including Assistant Director of the Division of Financial Practices.

The Bureau also announced the leadership for the newly created Consumer Education and External Affairs (CEEA) Division:

Delicia Reynolds Hand will serve as Deputy Associate Director for the Consumer Education and External Affairs Division. She joined the Bureau in 2012 and has more than 20 years of experience in in consumer advocacy, community and economic development and on Capitol Hill. 

Desmond Brown will serve as the Assistant Director for the Office of Consumer Education. He has more than two decades of experience working with national and local organizations to increase financial well-being and economic opportunities for consumers. He first joined the Bureau as a program specialist for the Office of Financial Empowerment in 2012. 

Matt Cameron will serve as Assistant Director for the Office of Stakeholder Management. He has served at the Bureau since 2012, most recently as Staff Director for the Advisory Board and Councils Office. He has more than a decade in public service having worked prior on Capitol Hill.

In addition to the Offices of Consumer Education and Stakeholder Management, the division will include the newly formed Office of Public Affairs, which will be led by Marisol Garibay; and the Office of Consumer Response, which will be led by Christopher Johnson. The CEEA division will be led by Policy Associate Director Andrew Duke.

Former MBA Treasurer Daniel F. Mulvihill Passes Away

Daniel F. Mulvihill, Chairman Emeritus of Pacific Southwest Mortgage, San Diego, and former Treasurer of the Mortgage Bankers Association whose pioneering work with MBA helped make the annual CREF Convention & Expo one of the industry’s major commercial real estate conferences, died on July 1. He was 93.

Mr. Mulvihill founded what became Pacific Southwest Mortgage in 1972. “His goals were simply to provide service to his life insurance company clients, to conduct his business with integrity, and to build relationships,” said his son, Jim Mulvihill, who is a partner in the company. “More than anything my Dad valued people, and in doing so, he made a meaningful difference in the lives of many.”

Mr. Mulvihill was active for many years with MBA, serving as the association’s elected Treasurer in 1998 and 1999 (MBA eliminated the position in 2001). He was instrumental in bringing attention and awareness about commercial/multifamily issues to the forefront and was a frontrunner in increasing attendance at the MBA CREF Conventions and on various MBA CMF committees/councils, including its Commercial Board of Governors (COMBOG). He was also a past president of the California Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mr. Mulvihill was born on January 12, 1927, in Des Moines, Iowa, and grew up on an Irish settlement in Cumming, Iowa. His parents were James and Katherine Mulvihill; he was the fourth of eight children. He graduated  from Iowa State University, with a degree in Animal Husbandry in 1949. After graduation, he served in the U. S. Army. Upon his return to Iowa he re-enrolled at Iowa State University in 1953, where he met Mary Collins. When her family relocated to La Jolla, Calif., he followed. They married in August 1955.

Mr. Mulvihill began his career in 1954 making farm and ranch loans in California for the Percy H Goodwin Co., becoming Vice President and Chairman of the Board. In 1972, he founded his own company, Pacific Southwest Mortgage, in association with Harry Collins and Willis Allen. The company continued making and servicing commercial and agricultural loans in Southern California and the Southwest. Over the years, the company moved into all facets of commercial real estate including development, asset management, property management and brokerage.

That company continues today under two separate umbrellas: Pacific Southwest Realty Services, owned and operated by Mr. Mulvihill’s son, James, and nephew, Daniel Phelan, which handles commercial loans in Southern California and the Southwest; and Pacific Southwest Mortgage, the family company, which owns and operates real estate assets and is run by his son, John.

“Dan had a keen interest in people,” Mr. Phelan said. “His compassion, generosity and willingness to lend his expertise to others flowed through all he did. He loved to laugh, sing and to be around children. A child at heart, he loved Irish jokes, lots of holiday lights, and was a notorious, creative prankster.”

Mr. Mulvihill volunteered and raised funds for numerous causes, including the American Ireland Fund, San Diego (Past President), University of San Diego School of Business Advisory Board, Chief Fundraiser of the Ernest W. Hahn Chair of Real Estate Finance at USD, a past Chairman of the President’s Club at USD, and a long standing member of USD’s Burnham Moore’s Real Estate Center Advisory Board, awarded emeritus status in 2019.  

Mr. Mulvihill is survived by his wife of 62 years, Mary; his six children; and 13 grandchildren. The family has asked in lieu of flowers, to consider making a donation in memory of Dan Mulvihill to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church (c/o St. Joseph’s Church 1026 N. 8th Avenue Winterset, IA 50273; or to Scripps Mercy Hospital Hospital c/o Scripps Health Foundation, P.O. Box 2669 La Jolla, CA 92038.