Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation has promoted Paul Walnick to president of mortgage operations and Dan Cutaia to president of capital markets and risk management. The promotions of both mortgage veterans are intended to position the company for further growth after the company’s record volume in 2009.
Walnick will oversee Fairway Independent Mortgage’s day-to-day mortgage business and underwriting operations while providing branch and product support, and Cutaia will oversee the overhaul of Fairway's loan origination platform, as well as all technical and compliance related issues, systems, and secondary business. Both moves come on the heels of the company’s most successful year in its 14-year history. In 2009, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation closed $3.3 billion in mortgage volume, a 70 percent increase from the prior year.
“While 2009 was a fantastic year for our mortgage business, the current challenges in our industry require that our senior team be prepared for anything and everything,” said Steve Jacobson, chief executive officer of Fairway Independent Mortgage. “Paul’s interpersonal skills and proven leadership are perfectly suited for managing our daily mortgage operations and providing support to our talented network of branch managers. Meanwhile, Dan’s experience developing infrastructure for lending operations and his expertise with capital markets and risk management will help lay the groundwork for even greater success in the years ahead.”
Walnick has nearly 20 years of mortgage lending experience and has held sales management positions at both Waterfield Financial Corporation and American Home Mortgage, where he oversaw retail sales production in Texas and Arizona. Walnick, previously Fairway’s senior vice president of information technology, is excited about his new role.
“I see a bright future ahead, in both the industry and our own business,” Walnick said. “I believe there is room for successful independent mortgage bankers that are not bank owned--particularly those that take care of the customer in a responsive manner and do things with professionalism. I think there will be tremendous opportunity in the market, too. As the pendulum swings away from the current regulatory demands, there will be extraordinary rewards for those firms that do things correctly.”
Cutaia has 22 years of executive level experience in the mortgage industry. He was the founder and former president of Aucita Mortgage Capital and has held executive positions with Waterfield Financial Corporation, where he oversaw numerous infrastructure initiatives involving post production and delivery, and product and credit risk. Formerly Fairway’s chief operating officer, Cutaia will oversee all of the company’s technology goals for 2010.
“I believe this is where our industry needs to be focusing its attention,” Cutaia said. “We are going through huge regulatory changes in our industry right now. With a record number of repurchase requests and insurance claim rejections, plus increased FHA enforcement and new RESPA guidelines, lenders have never been under more pressure from so many different fronts. We have great systems in place, but we also have an obligation to our partners, employees, and borrowers to stay proactive and ahead of the curve.”
For more information, visit www.FairwayIndependentMC.com.
