Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Jim’s practice focuses on financial services industry federal and state regulatory compliance matters, particularly with respect to reverse mortgage lending issues. Jim represents and advises mortgage companies, consumer finance companies, financial institutions and secondary market investors on issues such as: the review, design and implementation of mortgage loan programs, including adjustable rate mortgage programs, home equity lines of credit and reverse mortgage loan programs. state laws and regulations concerning fees, disclosures, interest rates, and practices. federal laws and regulations including, but not limited to, the National Housing Act, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulations, ECOA, FDCPA, HMDA, FCRA, GLBA (privacy), RESPA & TILA.    Jim is Co-General Counsel of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), the national trade association supporting reverse mortgage originators, servicers, investors and their vendors, and is nationally recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the area of reverse mortgage law.   Recent matters: Performed operational reviews, as well as implementation of compliance programs, for national and regional mortgage lenders, including a review of regulatory approvals, disclosures, fees, and policies and procedures. Counseled a top five (5) servicer in connection with acquisition of servicing rights regarding reverse mortgage loans.  Assisted a Wall Street bank in its acquisition of the stock of a subprime, wholesale lender.  Assisted investors acquiring reverse mortgage lenders.  Assisted a Wall Street bank in its granting of a warehouse credit facility to a regional consumer finance company.  Advised numerous mortgage originators regarding anti-predatory and abusive lending and servicing issues. Assisted various lenders with regulatory and compliance audit issues with state and federal mortgage banking regulators. Reviewed and commented upon federal and state legislation and regulatory pronouncements for various clients. Publications Author, At The Crossroads-Conflict and Uniformity in the Regulation of Mortgage Lending, 60 Consumer Fin. L.Q. Rep. 586. Author, U.S. Supreme Court Hears Preemption Arguments, 60 Consumer Fin. L.Q. Rep. 635.

Phil DeFronzo is the founder and CEO of Norcom Mortgage. He started Norcom in a rented, one-room office in the fall of 1989. Under his leadership, the Company has grown to become an upstanding and respected Regional Lender. Although he says that Norcom’s success has been “all about hiring good people,” Phil has been instrumental in the Company’s success. His achievements include increasing revenue, building brand awareness, and growing the business. In 2011, Norcom was recognized as one of the “Fastest Growing Lenders in New England.” While building his business, Phil also served as a Commissioner on the State of Connecticut Ethics Commission from 1991 to 1998, playing a key role in overseeing registered lobbyists in the enforcement of the State of Connecticut Ethics Code. Phil’s hands-on style has earned him numerous accolades for optimizing internal operations and building outstanding customer service.

Bart Dzivi currently practices law with the Dzivi Law Firm PC in Sausalito, Calif. He has previously served as special counsel to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, acting general counsel to the FHLB of San Francisco, and counsel to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

Melissa Koupal is Vice President of Loan Integrity at loanDepot.com, LLC, a nationally licensed residential mortgage company located in Orange County, California. Melissa is experienced in all regulatory and state compliance matters, ranging from licensing to examinations to quality control. She led the company in obtaining licensing nationwide and acquiring over 3000 loan officer licenses in less than 3 years. Further, since leading the quality control effort at loanDepot, she has increased the data integrity and quickness of reporting of defects, improving the feedback loop to days rather than months. Melissa is also the owner of the RegList Serv which is a national business organization of compliance, legal and quality control professionals with over 1100 members. She has prior experience in civil litigation and real estate transactions. Melissa interned at the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C, in 2001, and earned her B.A. in Economics, with a Minor in Computer Science, from the University of California at San Diego.

Binh is an experienced technologist that is focused on developing leading software solutions built with contemporary architecture designed to optimize lending operations. He has a proven track record of successfully building and growing software companies in the mortgage banking industry, and holds more than 15 years of experience driving the development of highly flexible and scalable mortgage technology solutions. Binh is currently the President and Founder of LendingQB, a browser-based end-to-end LOS platform, which was officially launched in 2011 and has gained rapid adoption among lenders of all types. Prior to LendingQB, he founded PriceMyLoan, a widely used best-of-breed pricing engine and AUS. Before that, he was the Director of Information Technology at TrueLink, a technology company that built the first web-based underwriting system.Binh’s business creed is that using the right philosophy and a well-defined mission, engineering forward-thinking technology solutions effectively solves highly complex business problems, which otherwise may take others years to identify as being a necessity. Binh is a member for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, serves as an expert speaker on panels, and is a regular thought leader in the mortgage media. He received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine.

Anthony Hughes is product development manager of Australian mortgage settlement technology and services provider LoanCloser.

Avi Chandiramani is a manager in the financial institutions practice of A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm. He can be reached at Avi.Chandiramani@ATKearney.com.