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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 44 May 2024 F E A T U R E S T O R Y T he National Mortgage Servicing Association (NMSA) is a nonpar- tisan organization driven by se- nior executives from the nation's leading mortgage servicing organizations. With a membership comprised of more than 90% of the mortgage servicing mar- ket, NMSA was formed for the purpose of pushing progress and change on the challenges faced on a day-to-day basis by those in the servicing sector. NMSA's aim as a group is to drive the conversation on shaping the American housing industry for the benefit of homeowners. At April's Five Star Government Forum in Washington, D.C., Jocelyn Martin-Leano, Founder, Enizio Strategies LLC, turned over the gavel of NMSA leadership to John Vella, Chief Revenue Officer of Selene Finance, who assumed the role of NMSA Chair. Martin-Leano formerly served as the Servicing Division President for Rush- more Loan Management Services, where she managed a team of more than 700 people. She began her career in finance at Citibank as a process engineer. She also held positions at ITT Residential Capital and Bank of America before a 10-year tenure at Irwin Home Equity where she served as President during the financial crisis before serving as COO of Genworth US Mortgage Insurance. As CRO at Selene, Vella is responsible for driving revenue generation through ongoing leadership of sales, market- ing, client management, and product innovation. Vella brings more than 20 years of experience leading organizations and delivering results across multiple industries to his new role as NMSA Chair. Prior to joining Selene, Vella served as CRO at Altisource and President of Equa- tor LLC. Vella began his financial services career with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (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 Stea- rns EMC Mortgage Company, and as EVP for Special Servicing of GMAC/RESCAP. MortgagePoint had a chance to catch up with both Martin-Leano and Vella, recap- ping the accomplishments of the NMSA over the past few years, and looking ahead to the future of the servicing space as Vella gets ready for his new endeavor. Jocelyn Martin-Leano NMSA Chair, 2022-2024 Q: As you look back at your tenure as NMSA Chair, what are some of the accomplishments or achievements that you are most proud of guiding that group over your term? Jocelyn Martin-Leano: One of the accomplishments I am most proud of is forging a stronger relationship with the Residential Loan Administration Com- mittee of the Mortgage Bankers Associ- ation (MBA), because there were several proposals on the table that we were able to collaborate with them on. The Residential Loan Administration Committee evaluates the impact of federal legislation and regu- lation on servicing operations, profitability, and efficiency, working with government agencies including Ginnie Mae, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Administration (VA), and with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to improve and stream- line servicing requirements. NMSA was part of the signatories, along with the Housing Policy Council, for some of the proposed changes to cer- tain programs—for example, the payment supplement program of the FHA. The second thing is that we increased NMSA membership during the last two years, thus giving us a much stronger voice. We had more servicers join and become members of the NMSA, so we have a wider cross-section and a bigger representation over the last two years. Q: When you came into your term as Chair, was fostering relationships with other trade groups already something on your mind, or did that just organically evolve? How did that process work, and what was involved with pursuing that relationship? Martin-Leano: A question was posed to me when I first became NMSA PASSING THE TORCH With Five Star's National Mortgage Servicing Association passing to new Chairman John Vella, MortgagePoint examines a moment of leadership in transition. NMSA NATIONAL MORTGAGE SERVICING ASSOCIATION