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36 As CRO at Selene, John Vella is responsible for driving revenue generation through ongoing leadership of sales, marketing, client management, and product innovation. Vella brings over 20 years' experience leading organizations and delivering exceptional results across multiple industries. Prior to joining Selene, Vella served as Chief Revenue Officer of Altisource. Before that, he served as COO of Equator, LLC. Vella began his financial services career with the FDIC and Freddie Mac. He later served as Chief Sales Officer for H&R Block's mortgage company, CEO of Household International's Automotive Business, President and CEO of Bear Stearns EMC Mortgage Company, and as EVP for Special Servicing of GMAC/RESCAP. He holds a Bachelor of Science in English from Springfield College. Vella recently spoke to DS News about the state of servicing in 2022 and how Selene is working to excel amid a challenging industry landscape. How did you get your start in the mortgage servicing business? What attracted you to this field? My mortgage career started after college when I was released by the New England Patriots and had no idea what I was going to do. I received a call from a friend of a friend who said he had a job for me in Oklahoma City. Coming from New York and living in Boston, I had almost no knowledge of Oklahoma City, but I took a shot. Little did I know that I would be working for the FDIC on one of the biggest bank failures in history, Penn Square Bank. At a young age, I moved from collecting on Quarter Horse and oil and gas loans to running bank closings all over the country for the FDIC. e myriad of responsibilities from lending, servicing, secondary marketing, and working with various regulators and partners was very challenging and exciting. A year into your role as CRO of Selene, what have been some of your greatest accomplishments to date? Over the last year with Selene, we have positioned the company to compete aggressively in the subservicing, diligence, and title business lines. e team that has been built under focused and determined leadership at the top and, with our parent Pretium, has allowed us to grow our business in a very controlled and strategic manner. e client focus and portfolio management approach has allowed us to expand products and volume with existing clients while adding new clients. What trends are you observing in the servicing space these days? In the servicing business, we continue to see the aftereffects of borrowers coming off forbearance plans and loan modifications, along with the post-moratorium foreclosure activity. ese events have led to increased borrower engagement, dealing with tighter borrower cash flow due to economic conditions. The Mortgage Bankers Association recently reported that 370,000 homeowners nationwide are currently in forbearance plans. How has Selene handled this volume of borrowers entering and eventually exiting forbearance? Selene has been very successful in working with borrowers who were and continue to be in forbearance plans. e dedicated teams and single points of contact have allowed Selene to manage through forbearance inventory with no major issues. e culture of listening and working with borrowers has resulted in successful resolution of forbearance plans. What are some of the challenges or headwinds facing the servicing marketplace that most occupy your focus? How should the industry overall be working to address them? e current economic conditions continue to put stress on the borrower's net income, which could lead to defaulted loans, broken modifications, and in-flows into foreclosures. With home appreciation slowing down, the The Exchange John Vella Chief Revenue Officer, Selene Finance "There is always going to be pressure on becoming more efficient using technology and artificial intelligence."