Freddie Mac has appointed David Brickman to succeed Donald Layton who is retiring as chief executive officer on July 1.

Brickman, who is the current president of Freddie Mac, will be the fourth CEO of the mortgage-finance company since the government took over the company 10 years ago. He will also join the board. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, Freddie Mac’s conservator, has approved the selection of Brickman.

Freddie Mac promoted Brickman to president in September, when Layton’s plans to retires were made known. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which determines in large part how Freddie Mac is run—has reduce the influence of the CEO. He joined Freddie Mac in 1999, had been executive vice president and head of Freddie Mac Multifamily before his promotion to president. Layton joined Freddie Mac as CEO in 2012.

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Fannie Mae has also experienced senior management changes. Timothy Mayopoulos, the former CEO, stepped down last year, and the company named board member Hugh Frater as its interim chief executive in the fall.

“The board engaged in a multi-year succession process to ensure we selected the right leader, and David is an outstanding choice to serve as our next CEO,” said Sara Mathew, chair of Freddie Mac’s board. “He is an exceptional business leader, having demonstrated great strategic and execution skills as the long-time head of our multifamily business. He led the process of driving credit risk transfer and attracting private capital to finance multifamily housing while protecting the American taxpayer.”

Two New Jersey men have been arraigned for their roles in a reverse mortgage scheme that took advantage of elderly homeowners face up to 30-year-prison terms, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito.

Philip Puccio Jr., 40, of Mahwah, N.J., and Rafael Peralta, 46, of Clifton, N.J., were indicted Feb. 8, 2019, by a federal grand jury on six counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.  They were arraigned March 15, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton, N.J., federal court.

Puccio was a loan officer at two mortgage brokerage firms and controlled, or had a financial interest in, and was associated with several home repair and remodeling companies, including Puccio Remodeling. Peralta had a financial interest in and was affiliated with several home repair and remodeling companies, including Puccio Remodeling and a financial services company, ATLAREP Financial Group

Between November 2007 and December 2010, Peralta and Puccio, home repair contractors, allegedly conspired to fraudulently obtain Home Equity Conversion Mortgage--also known as a reverse mortgage--proceeds by submitting inflated and fraudulent documentation to banks to influence their decision to approve and fund reverse mortgages.

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There were six loans involved, valued at $1.6 million and those funds were deposited into Peralta and Puccio's accounts for their personal benefit. In addition to the potential prison terms, the men face a $1 million fine, or twice their gross gain, or twice the gross loss to others, whichever is greater.

Peralta and Puccio recruited a conspirator to prepare inflated real estate appraisals that falsely increased the value of the properties securing the HECMs, thereby influencing the lender’s decision to provide loans in amounts greater than what would otherwise be available.

Also, they caused the submission of false and fraudulent loan documents that actively concealed the disbursement of loan proceeds to Peralta, Puccio, and entities they owned and controlled. The diverted loan proceeds were deposited into bank accounts of the two contractors  and was used for their personal benefit and to further the conspiracy.

A co-conspirator who wasn’t named as a defendant is an attorney who conducted the closings of real estate transactions and resided in Montville, N.J., and Joseph Soprano, a co-conspirator who also wasn’t named as a defendant, but was an unlicensed real-estate appraiser who resided in New Jersey.

U.S. Bank, the fifth largest commercial bank in the U.S., will implement Black Knight's Servicing Digital solution.

The web solution delivers detailed, timely and highly personalized loan information to the bank’s mortgage customers about their loans and delivers "what-if" simulators and tools to show how wealth can be built from these real estate assets.

Servicing Digital is a responsive web and mobile solution that gives customers of financial institutions fast, around-the-clock access to home and loan information that is relevant and easy to understand. It provides servicers with a platform for continual engagement with their customers to build stronger relationships.

"At U.S. Bank, we work hard to provide simple and useful customer experiences by offering tools such as the new Servicing Digital solution," said David Little, executive vice president of servicing and default for the bank. "This update allows us to give customers valuable details about their most important asset, their home."

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Servicing Digital provides customers with useful information specific to their mortgage, property and local housing market by accessing the servicer's data on the comprehensive, end-to-end Black Knight MSP system, as well as the company's industry-leading property records database; advanced analytics; and the option to use automated valuation models.

The solution, which was built for and tested by consumers, presents information on loan, home and neighborhood dashboards in a clear, intuitive design with easy-to-use navigation. Servicing Digital helps servicers connect regularly with customers by providing insightful, value-added information to customers wherever they are, when they want it.

"U.S. Bank will be able to offer this consumer-centric solution to help customers make more informed decisions about building wealth from their real-estate assets, and ultimately help them retain more customers," said Anthony Jabbour, CEO of Black Knight.

[caption id="attachment_11158" align="alignleft" width="244"] David Little[/caption]

Servicing Digital enables U.S. Bank to customize the application, integrate it into the bank's platforms, and to match U.S. Bank's brand identity, providing a seamless user experience. The bank will use Servicing Digital as a responsive web application integrated with its banking website and mobile apps.