Finance of America Mortgage president leaves post in reorg

The president of Finance of America Mortgage, industry veteran Bill Dallas, has left his executive post to become an independent advisor to the unit’s parent company.

“Finance of America parted ways with Bill Dallas,” the company said in an emailed statement on Friday. “We are thankful to Bill for his contributions to our company’s mortgage segment over the past four years. He has been a driving force behind FAM’s success.”

After stepping down as president, Dallas, who has experience with non-agency loans that dates back to the era before the Great Recession, will be retained as an independent advisor to the CEO in the coming year. Current CEO Patricia (Patti) Cook plans to soon retire to hand the reins to a successor.

The move comes amid a broader reorganization at Finance of America, which took a $1.3 billion loss in its fourth-quarter earnings due to accounting adjustments for stock price declines and goodwill — the extent to which the purchase price for acquisitions are above the sum of the net fair value of the tangible assets bought.

The company has been looking to offset the down-cycle in mortgages with other financial products while simultaneously optimizing its home-loan operations. It’s making changes to its organizational leadership and business reporting lines to support these strategic priorities, the company said.

“These changes will allow us to maintain our ability to benefit from expected growth in the purchase and non-agency market, streamline our business lines, and further our transformation to a customer-centric company,” the Finance of America statement said.

Mortgages made outside the government-related market and to house buyers aren’t as sensitive to higher rates as the refinances that have bolstered lenders volumes in the past two years. The weekly average for the 30-year mortgage rate recently rose above 4% for the first time in almost three years.