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MOVERS & SHAKERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 CrossCheck Hires Regulatory Compliance Expert Loretta Kirkwood, an executive with experience in regulatory compliance and risk management who has worked directly with regulators and other enforcement agencies, was named managing director at CrossCheck Compliance, LLC. Kirkwood will expand CrossCheck's regulatory consulting practice in fair and responsible lending. She joins CrossCheck from BancSolutions, LLC. Safeguard Announces Promotions, Hires New Attorney Safeguard Properties recently announced four promotions and one new hire. Amy Nauer moved up the ranks to become AVP of property preservation and REO operations. Most recently, she served as director for the company's property preservation and REO operations business. In her new position, Nauer oversees certain operations at Safeguard, including evictions, utility coordination, bid desk, and order audit and processing. Nauer first came on board with the company in 1998 as a property preservation updater and also worked as team lead and manager. Holly Fletcher was promoted to director of client relations. Fletcher began her career at Safeguard in 2003 as a hazard claim specialist and in 2006 was appointed manager of hazard claims. Before joining Safeguard, Fletcher worked within the insurance industry managing corporate client accounts. As Safeguard's director of client relations, Fletcher manages clients' post-sale of Federal Housing Administration properties, from sale through conveyance to HUD. Brian Gecewich, who started with the company in 2007, is now director of field quality control and service quality assurance. Before his promotion, Gecewich served as manager of the service quality assurance division. In his new role, he oversees the company's field quality control team and the creation of the service quality assurance group. Gecewich is currently pursuing a degree in business logistics at John Carroll University in Ohio. Steve Goberish was promoted to director of application development and vendor systems. He was brought on in 2012 to serve as manager of the application development team, where he was responsible for vendor systems. In his new role, Goberish oversees all development activities, including business requirements gathering, architecture and design of code enhancements and topologies, quality assurance testing, and overall functionality of the vendor-facing Web applications. Goberish has experience leading teams at companies such as First American Title Insurance Company and Broadvox. Attorney Robert Lewis was hired to join Safeguard's legal department. His focus is on all corporate and business line litigation and claim activity. Prior to joining Safeguard, Lewis worked as a construction litigation attorney for more than 10 years at Thompson Hine, LLP. He obtained his J. D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland. He is a member of the American Bar Association, as well as the Forum on the Construction Industry, the Ohio State Bar Association, and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Gerner & Kearns Adds Senior Associate to Litigation Team Gerner & Kearns Co., LPA, announced that Michael R. Brinkman joined the firm as a senior associate in its litigation department in the Ft. Wright, Kentucky, office. Brinkman has nearly 30 years' experience practicing in the areas of foreclosure, eviction, real estate title and closing, and creditors' rights litigation. He received his J.D. from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law and is licensed in Kentucky. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 "Although conditions vary around the country, 45 percent of real estate firms are actively recruiting agents, largely due to growth in their primary business," said NAR president Gary Thomas. Out of those who are currently on staff at these firms, 72 percent have an academic degree. More than eight in 10 firms have licensees with professional certifications or designations, and more than six out of 10 provide training and education programs for their staff or sales agents. The typical firm requires new agents to receive a median of 21 hours of training or continuing education each year, while experienced agents must receive 12 hours. Taking a look at potential obstacles ahead, Thomas noted "six in 10 firms cite profitability, 44 percent identified local or regional economic conditions, and 42 percent are concerned about both maintaining sufficient inventory and keeping up with technology." STAT INSIGHT MBA's Chief Economist Announces Retirement Jay Brinkmann, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), announced he will retire in early 2014. Brinkmann also serves as SVP of the association's research and education groups, is responsible for information standards organization MISMO, and is trustee of MBA's Research Institute for Housing America. He joined the MBA in 2001. Albertelli Law Restructures Leadership Albertelli Law, a creditors' rights firm operating in Florida and Georgia, announced a new leadership structure meant to improve efficiency and client service with dedicated legal teams matched to clients' functional teams. Scott Barnes, formerly senior managing director for Lender Processing Services, has been appointed as the new COO at Albertelli. Barnes has more than 20 years' experience in default mortgage servicing. His areas of expertise include foreclosure, bankruptcy, and special asset services. John Shelley, formerly VP of foreclosure at Select Portfolio Servicing, was named EVP of firm operations. Shelley has managed foreclosure default operations, platform integrations, implementations of client subservicing requirements, and fulfillment of the National Mortgage Settlement. The StoneHill Group Brings Compliance and Audit Manager on Board The StoneHill Group has hired John Freda as manager of compliance and internal audit. Freda has more than 10 years of both residential and commercial lending experience, including legacy asset servicing underwriting responsibilities and origination at Bank of America. He also lead the correspondent lending division at Guaranty Bank. Freda is an Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP). 34 Adult consumers who rate their personal finances as good or excellent; 19% rate their finances as poor. Source: Rasmussen Reports

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