Power Moves: Rocket, MISMO, Nexa, BAC and others make major personnel decisions

Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, announced the hiring of Alessio Sanfilippo as CEO of listings platform Redfin. He joins the company from Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, where he served as vice president of insights for Reality Labs, helping grow market share for the company’s AI-enabled wearable glasses. He previously led data and user research efforts for Meta-owned messaging service WhatsApp and held leadership positions at Intuit, SAP, GoSeek, Hotwire and United Airlines.

Rocket Companies separately announced it has appointed Sarah Watterson as an independent director to the company’s board. Watterson is president of investment platform 3 Star Sports & Entertainment and a special adviser at Brightline West, a privately run high-speed rail line under construction that will connect Southern California and Las Vegas.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) is a nonprofit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association that develops standards for exchanging information and conducting business in the real estate finance industry. It announced three appointments to its board of directors: Anthony Hutchinson, executive vice president and head of public affairs at VantageScore; Gemma Currier, senior vice president of corporate strategic initiatives at Guild Mortgage; and Eric Lapin, vice president and head of market strategy and intelligence at FICO.

Nexa Lending has named Geri Farr as CEO, with Mike Kortas transitioning from chief executive to executive partner. In July, Kortas assumed full ownership of the company after resolving litigation with former business partner Mat Grella. Farr joined Nexa in 2025 as chief growth officer and was promoted to president in March. She previously served as Kortas’ manager at Nova Home Loans.

Nexa, which acquired UMortgage in August, also announced that Wisconsin-based brokerage Mortgage Nerds, led by Mike Cox and Brian Hofmann, has joined the platform following an 18-month search by Nexa.

The Broker Action Coalition (BAC), a grassroots organization that advocates for the interests of mortgage brokers and homebuyers, has added Jamie Cavanaugh as CEO. Cavanaugh will focus on organizational growth, strategy and resources, while President and Co-Founder Brendan McKay will remain in that role, focusing on advocacy, policy and industry relationships. A 30-year mortgage industry veteran, Cavanaugh will retain her position as CEO of reAlpha Mortgage while taking on chief executive responsibilities at BAC. She succeeds Rachel Clark at the broker organization, who is stepping down after serving as BAC’s executive director since January 2025.

Nate Shultz has joined the National Housing Conference as senior vice president of policy. Shultz, who serves on the Virginia Housing Board of Commissioners, previously held senior roles at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority.

Place Inc. announced the appointment of Chad Smith as CEO of Envoy Mortgage and president of Place’s mortgage and financial services division. Smith recently departed fintech lender Better, where he served as president and chief operating officer since May 2024. He was previously the CEO of Mission Loans and president of direct lending at loanDepot. Better is currently embroiled in a legal battle after ousting founder and CEO Vishal Garg in August.

Commercial real estate lending platform CommLoan has named Noah Hershcoviz as CEO. In a corresponding move, company founder Mitch Ginsberg is shifting to an executive chairman role. A capital markets veteran, Hershcoviz most recently served as CEO of HUB Cyber Security Ltd.

Click n’ Close has added Blake Priest as director of whole loan trading, where he will lead the company’s scratch and dent purchasing. Priest will also oversee lead sourcing and pricing assessments, monitor hedging performance and participate in secondary distribution to support growth across the company’s correspondent division. Priest previously spent two years as a residential mortgage lender at Pinnacle Bank and was president of retail lending at Open Mortgage LLC.

Planet has added Ted Newton as an area sales manager based in Norman, Okla. His team includes loan officers Greg Nurse and Patricia Howard and loan assistant Lacey Brown. A 31-year industry veteran, Newton most recently worked at Union Home Mortgage after previously serving as president and co-owner of Capital Mortgage.

Rate announced the addition of a Dallas-based branch led by Jorge Aldrete and Edgar Vazquez. Aldrete and Vazquez cited Rate’s commitment to and investment in serving Spanish-speaking consumers as key factors ino their decision to join the Chicago-based lender. Both were formerly affiliated with CrossCountry Mortgage.

Rate also announced that Chicago-area mortgage originators Vito Roppo and Nick Ferrante have joined the company to establish a new branch in Elmhurst. Both previously worked at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. and will serve as producing partnership branch managers for Rate’s profit-and-loss platform.

Certainty Home Lending has named Troy Williamson as senior vice president of mortgage lending and producing sales manager. The North Carolina native, based in Wilmington since 1996, previously held a senior lending role at Cornerstone Home Lending.

Optimal Blue has named Kevin Foley as director of its newly launched AI Labs, a centralized hub for the company’s artificial intelligence initiatives for mortgage lenders. Foley has been with the company for six years, recently helping bring to market Optimal Blue’s Virtual Economist, an AI-driven on-demand forecasting tool for mortgage capital markets leaders.

Lereta, a provider of real estate tax and flood services for mortgage servicers, has named Khurram Malik as chief technology officer. He joins the company from CoStar Group, where he led a team supporting commercial real estate marketplace LoopNet.com, and previously served as vice president of software engineering at Capital Group.

Mortgage services provider ServiceLink has added Mike Barker, Cheryl McKenzie, Sara Nakae and Rick Trew as national sales executives within its origination division. Barker’s experience includes positions as customer care manager at Third Federal Savings and Loan and home lending manager at JPMorgan Chase. Recent roles for McKenzie include business analyst and senior sales consultant at Sagent and learning consultant at Citizens. Nakae previously served as vice president of enterprise sales at FirstClose and senior vice president of sales and marketing at Candor Technology. Trew’s background includes senior leadership roles at Acra Lending, Arc Loans and WesBanco Bank.

Mortgage tech company Dark Matter Technologies has hired Salvatore Piccola as senior vice president of product strategy and Gil Valera as vice president of professional services. Piccola spent nearly 24 years at PNC, most recently leading business innovation validation for home lending. Valera has more than 20 years of professional services leadership experience, including 13 years at ICE Mortgage Technology.

Real estate services company JLL has appointed Jamie Fitzgerald as senior director and financial services consulting lead within its Americas Consulting group. Fitzgerald previously spent nearly a decade at JLL before a four-year stint in senior real estate strategies roles at UnitedHealth Group. Fitzgerald will be tasked with driving growth across banking, investment management, fintech and insurance accounts.

Polunsky Beitel Green LLP, a law firm supporting the residential mortgage industry, has added Daniel Johnson and Jackson Hall as associates. Johnson, who spent two years with the firm as a document preparation specialist, is based in Houston. Hall, previously a managing attorney at Zwicker & Associates, is based in Dallas.

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