eLEND/AFR has announced the hiring of Craig Chapman as the senior vice president of global affinity and strategic alliances, and Jay Patel as the vice president of global affinity and strategic alliances. Chapman, with more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry, was instrumental in opening a de novo bank, 1st Commonwealth Bank of Virginia. He grew the mortgage unit to a $30m monthly run rate, which propelled the bank to profitability in under 18 months. Chapman is well versed in asset valuation, loss mitigation, underwriting and secondary marketing in addition to sales and marketing best practices and execution.
Prior to joining the Bank, Chapman held executive management positions at First National Bank of Arizona (FNBA) and Greenpoint Financial (Capital One). While at FNBA, he developed, directed and managed 200 sales professionals, including two tiers of sales managers. He successfully grew the eastern division from a start up to $4 billion in annual production. He was then promoted to national sales manager with responsibility for over 300 sales people and $7 billion in annual production. At Greenpoint, Chapman held several leadership positions and ultimately was the Eastern Division correspondent manager and was responsible for increasing volume by 50 percent.
“We are excited to have Craig and Jay on-board,” said David Margulies, executive vice president of global sales for eLend/AFR. "Their leadership and experience will further expand AFR’s capabilities throughout all aspects of the business.”
Patel has over 14 years of experience in the mortgage industry. Prior to founding Salataris, a National mortgage consulting company, Patel ran national sales production for Mortgage Harmony Corp. During his tenure at Mortgage Harmony, Patel helped foster relationships with numerous mortgage insurance companies and spearheaded several strategic alliances with companies providing services related to mortgage banking.
During his tenure at the 1st Commonwealth Bank of VA, Patel oversaw secondary marketing as well as managed and recruited loan originators. His mortgage banking career began at First National Bank of Arizona (FNBA) where he worked in various areas, including loan processing, underwriting, and regional sales production. Patel was responsible for growing both New York and metro D.C. markets to over $400 million annual production each.
