loanDepot Names Former CoreLogic Exec Its New CFO

loanDepot continued its shakeup of its corporate leadership, announcing on Friday it has hired a CoreLogic executive as its chief financial officer and other C-suite changes.

The Irvine, Calif.-based loanDepot, the nation’s third-largest mortgage lender, said the changes are part of its previously announced Vision 2025 plan.

The latest change includes the appointment of David Hayes, 48, as CFO, effective June 26, the company said. He succeeds Patrick Flanagan, who will leave the company after a transition period.

He joins loanDepot from CoreLogic Inc., where he most recently served as executive, finance and treasurer. In that role he oversaw financial management of CoreLogic’s business operations, including budgeting and forecasting, strategic planning, M&A, pricing, and capital expenditures. He also managed global enterprise liquidity, cash flow forecasting, investments, debt and capital markets, hedging, banking relationships, and corporate insurance.

Before joining CoreLogic in 2010, Hayes held various senior leadership positions across finance, treasury, and interest rate risk management at Prospect Mortgage LLC, and Indymac FSB. He has also served on the boards of ComplianceEase and Symbility.

He received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Santa Clara University and an MBA from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

Hayes will be based at the company’s Irvine headquarters, and will be responsible for managing loanDepot’s financial functions, including its accounting, treasury, tax, corporate finance, and investor and lender relations activities, the company said.

An employment agreement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) states that Hayes will start with a three-year contract and a base salary of $500,000, as well as an annual bonus of with a "target" of 140% of base salary (or $700,000) and a maximum of 200% of base salary (or $1 million). Hayes also will be eligible for an annual equity award with a target value of $1.65 million.

Other Changes

In addition to hiring Hayes, loanDepot said it will also consolidate LDI Digital (including mellohome) into its existing production channels, under the leadership of LDI Mortgage President Jeff Walsh. The move is expected to further integrate the company’s digital products and unify its customer offerings, it said.

As a result of this organizational change, LDI Digital President Zeenat Sidi will transition out of the organization, loanDepot said.

In addition, the company said it will further streamline its management structure with the departures of Chief Accounting Officer Nicole Carrillo and Chief Human Resources Officer Kevin Tackaberry, each of whom will leave after a transition period.

The company did not name successors for Carrillo or Tackaberry.

loanDepot President and CEO Frank Martell said that, as the company continues to implement its Vision 2025 plan, “we expect to drive automation and operating leverage and invest in customer-facing tools and solutions, as well as implement operational and structural changes to optimize and streamline our business and position loanDepot for long-term growth and success.” 

He continued, “We welcome David Hayes to Team loanDepot as our new chief financial officer. David brings a combination of strong leadership and deep mortgage industry knowledge to loanDepot. David is a consummate professional with significant financial leadership experience in our sector, and I look forward to partnering with him as we continue to execute our Vision 2025 plan.”

Martell also thanked Flanagan on behalf of loanDepot’s board and executive team. 

“Pat successfully helped steward the company from private to public ownership and helped guide loanDepot through the initial phases of the market downturn,” he said. “Pat, along with Nicole, Kevin, and Zeenat, have been valued colleagues, and we wish them the very best in their future endeavors.”

Vision 2025 Plan

The Vision 2025 plan, announced in July 2022, includes four “pillars”:

• Transforming loanDepot’s originations business to drive purchase money transactions with expanded emphasis on first-time home-buyers and serving diverse communities; 
• Aggressively “right-sizing” the company’s cost structure in line with current and anticipated market conditions and to achieve internal operating performance targets;
• Selectively investing in “profitable growth-generating initiatives; and
• Optimizing the company’s organizational structure. 

As part of the plan, the company ended its wholesale lending business.

Last month, when it announced its first-quarter results and its fourth-consecutive quarterly loss, loanDepot said it had exceeded its goal of reducing expenses by an annualized $400 million, reducing expenses by $130 million since the second quarter of 2022, or over $500 million annualized.

That reduction included slashing the company’s workforce by more than half. According to the report, loanDepot cut its staff from 10,000 at the end of the first quarter of 2022 to 4,800 people by the end of the first quarter of this year – a reduction of 5,200 people, or 52% of its workforce.