Bellman, Christensen, Farrar, Landini, Romano, and others recognized for their service
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 22, 2022
RESTON, VIRGINIA – On August 11, 2022, during its 2022 Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) announced the recipients of this year’s Distinguished Service Awards. These awards are presented annually in recognition of those individuals who have contributed to the Association’s many successes and to the important work of mortgage regulation and compliance.
2022 AARMR Individual Distinguished Service Award
Over the years, AARMR’s annual Distinguished Service Award has been presented to many well-deserving individuals who have made outstanding contributions in their field, and who are known for frequently going above and beyond their usual responsibilities and what is expected of them. This year was no exception.
The 2022 Distinguished Service Award was presented to former regulator, Jedd Bellman, who previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for Non-Depository Supervision in the Maryland Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, and who now serves as Senior Attorney at Buckley LLP.
Although Jedd recently left state service and moved to private practice, as a regulator he was extremely dedicated to the state system, serving as lead negotiator on numerous multi-state enforcement actions. At times, major settlements seemed to rest solely on Jedd’s shoulders as he worked tirelessly to negotiate on behalf of the states. A very respected and hard-working individual, Jedd could frequently be found working late and contacting colleagues at other states after hours just to keep cases progressing. He also could be routinely counted on to share his state’s perspective at conference roundtable discussions and at meetings with the NMLS Ombudsman. Over the course of many years, Jedd was fully engaged in support of state regulation.
We congratulate Jedd Bellman on receiving this prestigious award, and thank him for his dedicated service.
2022 AARMR Examiners-In-Charge (EIC) Distinguished Service Awards
The 2022 EIC Distinguished Service Awards were presented to the One Company, One Exam (OCOE) Pilot leadership team:
- Craig Christensen, Iowa – Origination lead
- Craig Farrar, New York – Cybersecurity/IT lead
- Daniel Landini, Connecticut – Servicing lead
- Chris Romano, Montana – EIC lead
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) & AARMR Nationwide Cooperative Protocol for Mortgage Supervision is designed to assist state mortgage regulators by outlining a basic framework for the coordination and supervision of Multi-State Mortgage Entities, or MMEs.
The Multistate Mortgage Committee contacts participating Joint Examination State Regulators to staff Joint Examination Teams and also designates an Examiner-in-Charge (EIC) for each team. The EIC serves as the primary point of contact between the MME and the Joint Examination Team. The Joint Examination EICs manage the flow of information during the examinations and coordinate the work of the Examination Teams.
On July 7, 2021, the OCOE Pilot officially kicked off, and became the largest multi-state examination effort to date. In addition, it was one of the first multi-state examinations conducted in the State Examination System (SES). The examination team consisted of over 80 examiners from 36 states. More than 480 information requests were sent to the company in the areas of origination, servicing, and information technology, and over 2,600 loan files were reviewed.
The OCOE leadership team managed to keep the examination on track, meeting all milestones, including issuing the Report of Examination on time, which was no easy feat, given the scope of the examination and the number of participants involved. Throughout the process, the leadership team provided clear guidance and expectations to the exam team. Members of the leadership team were responsive and helpful to exam participants – answering questions on the workflow, expectations, SES usage, and exam findings. The expertise, professionalism, and dedication exemplified by each member of the OCOE leadership team enabled the MMC and the state system as a whole to learn from the process as efforts continue to refine the OCOE initiative.
In addition, a number of individuals were also recognized during the awards ceremony for making significant contributions to mortgage supervision through their dedicated work in 2022 as Examiners-In-Charge or Single Points of Contact.
Examiners-In-Charge:
- Aaron Clifton (Washington, DC) – two exams
- Jeff Peterson (Nebraska)
- Leonard Smith (Washington, DC)
Single Points of Contact:
- Jacob Monson (Washington)
- Jenny Tipton (Washington)
# # #
The American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote the exchange of information and education concerning the licensing, supervision and regulation of the residential mortgage industry, to ensure the ability of state mortgage regulators to provide effective mortgage supervision for a safe and sound industry meeting the needs of the local financial markets and to protect the rights of consumers.
Press contact:
David Saunders, Executive Director
American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators
703-782-5920