Power Moves: UWM, Better, Rocket, ALTA, MBA and others make notable personnel decisions

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) has named Vandad “Vandy” Fartaj to the newly created role of chief investment officer. Fartaj spent 15 years at Pennymac before joining CrossCountry Mortgage in 2023, where he also held the title of chief investment officer.

Linda Yaccarino, the former CEO of social media platform X, has joined the board of Better Home & Finance Holding Co. It marks the first board appointment since founder Vishal Garg won a hotly contested proxy fight and retook control of the company, ousting five board members including interim CEO Daniel Lewis.

Nicole Beattie has returned to Rocket Mortgage as chief servicing officer, CEO Jay Bray announced on LinkedIn. Beattie, who joined Rocket predecessor Quicken Loans in 2004 as a mortgage banker, was named CEO of Amrock — now called Rocket Close — in 2021. Bray also announced that Jared Bourcier is shifting from Rocket’s finance department to lead subservicing, specialty servicing, master servicing and business operations as executive vice president.

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) has elected Craig Haskins as president for the 2026-27 association year. The president and CEO of Milwaukee-based Knight Barry Title, Haskins has previously served on ALTA’s board of governors and as vice chair of its best practices work group. He currently sits on the Florida Land Title Association’s board of directors and was previously president of the Wisconsin Land Title Association.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced that Lauryn Enrico has joined the association as vice president of commercial real estate finance policy, where she will lead policy strategy and advocacy on multifamily issues involving the Federal Housing Administration and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She recently served as a senior financial analyst at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was formerly a director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service, and worked as a senior policy adviser at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Optimal Blue announced that CEO Joe Tyrrell has been appointed to the board of directors of the MBA for the 2027 membership year. Tyrrell, who has led Optimal Blue since 2024, previously served as CEO of Medallia and president of ICE Mortgage Technology, also holding several executive roles at Ellie Mae, including chief operating officer.

Veristone Capital, a private lender based in Kirkland, Wash., has named Joe Gonsalves to the new role of executive vice president of capital markets and strategy. He previously served as director of origination partnerships at Saluda Grade, where he developed the company’s residential transition loan aggregation business. Splitting time between Kirkland and the San Francisco Bay Area, Gonsalves will direct Veristone’s long-term funding strategy and lead the expansion of the company’s credit facilities and institutional capital.

Mullinix Mortgage Group is joining the New American Funding family of companies. Founded by Will Mullinix, who ranked No. 33 overall in Scotsman Guide’s 2026 Top Originator Rankings, the group has offices in Charlotte and Wrightsville Beach, N.C., and is licensed in seven states. Loan officers and support staff joining New American as part of the move include Taylor Linde, Morgan Wise, Lenzi Moore, Don Walker and Marty Pizzo.

New American Funding separately named Stacy Chevalier regional vice president in the Northwest region to oversee growth and sales strategy across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. She joined New American Funding as an area sales manager in January following roles over the past decade at Kind Lending, Revolution Mortgage and loanDepot.

Jeff Gilmore and Matt Gray have returned to Fairway Home Mortgage after two years with Novus Home Mortgage. Based in Matthews, N.C., they previously worked at Fairway from 2010 to 2024 and bring a 28-member team that will be called Fairway Custom Mortgage.

Wholesale lender Flyhomes, known for its “buy before you sell” platform, has made several key hires. Tyler Moynihan, who previously led business development efforts at Zillow, has joined as vice president of business development, with a focus on expanding strategic distribution partnerships with mortgage lenders, home builders, brokerages and technology platforms.

Flyhomes also added Nihit Nirmal as vice president of product, who brings executive-level fintech experience from positions at PayU and Lendingkart. And Wendy Tieu returns to Flyhomes as director of partner and sales enablement. She previously spent seven years with the company, most recently as director of sales operations from 2022 to 2024.

Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group has opened its first Louisiana branch in the capital city of Baton Rouge. It will be led by Lindsay Barbera as area sales manager, who joined the company in 2024 as vice president of third-party risk and strategy. She will report to Christopher Brown, executive vice president and Southern regional manager.

Todd Bookspan and Matt Baker have joined Nexa Lending, launching an umbrella brand known as Keepsake Loans. The pair have worked together for more than 15 years as the Bookspan Baker Team, which will continue operating with its established team under the Keepsake banner.

Guaranteed Rate Affinity announced the hiring of Josh Rakiey as vice president of mortgage lending. Based in Maine, Rakiey formerly held origination roles at CMG Financial and Hanscom Federal Credit Union.

Planet has tapped Derek Vandlen as a regional sales manager based in Tennessee. A military veteran with nearly 30 years of mortgage industry experience, Vandlen will lead teams in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee, with plans to expand Planet’s footprint into the Carolinas and Mississippi.

ServiceLink announced several key leadership changes, effective Jan. 1, 2027. Miriam Moore, longtime president of the company’s default services division, will take on the position of executive adviser. In a corresponding move, Dave Steinmetz will succeed Moore in her previous role. Steinmetz led ServiceLink’s origination businesses for the past 15 years. David Holland, the firm’s chief financial officer, will serve as interim president of origination services while also continuing as CFO and will lead the outreach effort for a permanent president of the origination services division.

Mortgage subservicer LoanCare has hired Amy Jones as chief information officer, where she will be tasked with leading AI-based technology solutions and digital strategy. She previously spent more than 15 years at Wells Fargo, including five years in an executive role focused on supporting home lending servicing.

Down Payment Resource has hired Melissa Roy, a former senior loan officer and mortgage product manager, as a partner solutions engineer; April Espinosa, a housing portfolio specialist with the city of Tampa, as a downpayment assistance programs specialist; and Jeff Smith, a risk management veteran who worked for Fifth Third Bank and Discover Financial Services, as a housing finance agency relationship manager.

Auction.com has named John Ken senior vice president of marketing to grow the buyer base for the company’s distressed property investment platform. Ken previously served as head of customer lifecycle and marketing technology at Experian.

Dark Matter Technologies has promoted Don Oliver to chief technology officer, Chris Medvidofsky to chief financial officer and Blaine Prober to general counsel. All three have been with the mortgage tech company since it launched in 2023. The moves come on the heels of Salvatore Piccola’s appointment as senior vice president of product strategy and Gil Valera being named vice president of professional services.

Longbridge Financial has promoted Larissa Morrell to vice president of product development as part of an enhanced focus on home equity products geared toward homeowners 55 and older. She helped launch the HELOC For Seniors product at Longbridge and previously served as director of sales logistics and development at Reverse Mortgage Funding.

Mortgage point-of-sale software provider Floify has named Bryan Traeger as its new general manager. He most recently served in corporate development at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Minnesota and formerly served in executive roles at Maxwell, where he was instrumental in acquiring LenderSelect Mortgage Group, the wholesale lending and capital markets division of Blue Ridge Bank.

Mortgage data, credit and verification firm Informative Research announced that Tim Cox has rejoined the company as executive vice president of business process automation. Most recently senior vice president of strategic solutions and client success at Xactus, Cox previously held senior operations and sales roles at Informative Research.

SingleSource Property Solutions has named Holly Wilson senior vice president of operations. She arrives from Freedom Mortgage, where she held several leadership roles including director of information technology product management. Previously, she managed vendor relations and served as a closing leader for Title Resource Group.

TrustEngine has appointed Brandon Durham to the new role of vice president of adoption and partnerships. He spent more than a decade at Homeowners Financial Group, overseeing a 15-platform technology ecosystem spanning loan origination, point-of-sale solutions and customer relationship management software.

Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield announced that Michael Schirick has joined the organization as tri-state market lead for valuation and advisory in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Schirick, who recently led Morgan Stanley’s global commercial real estate valuation platform, succeeds Rob Nardella, who will remain with Cushman & Wakefield as client and strategy adviser to tri-state market leadership.

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