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38 families. So, I congratulate Mr. Chopra on his confirmation and as Chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, I look forward to working with him closely to better protect consumers." "e CFPB will have a leader who is ready to stand up to the biggest banks and the most powerful corporations to protect families, service members, students, and the elderly," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. "Congratulations to Mr. Chopra. I applaud my colleagues for coming together to confirm this key nominee and look forward to working with Director Chopra to protect all consumers." S E R V I C E R S WELLS FARGO NAMES ANN THORN HEAD OF HOME LENDING SERVICING Wells Fargo & Co. announced that Ann orn has been named head of the company's Home Lending servicing operations. In this role, orn will report to Kristy Fercho, head of Home Lending, and will oversee the nation's largest mortgage servicing portfolio including loans with total unpaid principal balances of nearly $1.1 trillion as of June 30, 2021. "I'm thrilled to welcome Ann to the team, and incredibly excited about the good work we'll do for our customers in the years ahead," Fercho said. "She knows this industry inside and out, understands what customers expect, and is a perfect fit for this critical role as we work to resolve our legacy issues and chart our transformation path forward." A 25-year veteran of the mortgage industry, orn joins Wells Fargo from Caliber Home Loans, where she served as Chief Loan Administration Officer and was responsible for all production and servicing operations in Caliber's four channels of Retail, Wholesale, Direct to Consumer, and Correspondent. She has led large teams and complex operations with particular expertise in areas like servicing and default, including the Mortgage and Vehicle Servicing team at Bank of America and Default Services at JPMorgan Chase. orn will succeed Jeff Smith, who has served as head of Wells Fargo Home Lending's servicing group since 2018. Smith has been with the company in a variety of roles since 1997 and previously announced plans to retire. PLANET HOME LENDING, LLC, HIRES ANDREW WATSON AS SVP, CONTACT CENTER Planet Home Lending, LLC, a national lender and servicer, has hired Andrew Watson as SVP, Contact Center. A well-regarded mortgage servicing leader, Watson has experience in strategically elevating the call-center customer experience. "As we continue to grow, Andy will be laser-focused on the customer experience at Planet, making sure we not only meet but exceed our call metrics and goals," Planet Home Lending President Sandra Jarish said. "He will bring a fresh perspective to the team along with new ideas and additional automation tools to ensure we continue to provide best-in-class service to our borrowers and clients. He has a knack for inspiring borrower-facing teams and building a collaborative environment in which employees are empowered to genuinely serve and support customers. Everywhere he goes, the metrics improve and customer satisfaction is elevated." Watson's first task will be to finalize the staffing and build-out of the servicing center Planet Home Lending opened last year in Irving, Texas. "I've been in mortgage servicing a long time," Watson said. "I know what works during growth cycles, how to improve service levels, and what it takes to be smarter and more efficient than the competition." Watson said he joined Planet for three reasons: "First, Planet has a good reputation as a company and servicer. Second, the culture is team-driven, and people reach across channels to share ideas and resources. And finally, the portfolio is on an upward trajectory, hitting $45 billion at the end of the second quarter. at's a 117% year-over- year increase, including $11.7 billion in subservicing," Watson said. Before joining Planet Home Lending, Watson was VP of Call Center Operations at Rushmore Loan Management Services, LLC. Prior to that, he was VP of Default Servicing at Ditech Financial LLC (now New Residential Investments), Director of Servicing at SoFi and Managing Director of Servicing Strategy and Analytics at IBM. S E R V I C E P R O V I D E R S WFG NATIONAL TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY HIRES NEW VP WFG National Title Insurance Company (WFG) has announced that Jason Vasek has joined WFG as VP of Strategic Growth, where he will oversee the company's growth into the market in southern Texas and beyond. "We are thrilled to have Jason onboard to support our expansion within the Southern Texas market and beyond," WFG President and CEO Steve Ozonian said. "We're fortunate to have someone with his breadth of experience across a range of areas that have been identified as key to WFG's second decade of growth." Vasek said he was attracted to WFG by its unique corporate culture and the dedicated support of its employees and looks to use his training in the John Maxwell Company leadership program to be a part of the cultural development at WPG. "We talk a lot about management in our industry, but we sometimes fail to discuss leadership, which are two separate components," Vasek said. "After getting certified through the John Maxwell leadership program, I started focusing on the leadership component with the constituents and then fell in love with the personal Movers & Shakers Got something to share with us? Send it to Editor@DSNews.com.

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