Governance

Lori Arute

Chairwoman and CEO

As Chairwoman and CEO of The National Groups (TNG) and its subsidiaries, Ms. Arute assumes overall responsibility for the oversight of TNG and all related business entities to ensure continued growth as a best-in-class end-to-end default servicing organization. Ms. Arute chairs the Board, and works closely with the senior management team to oversee key initiatives, developmental opportunities and financial performance. Under her leadership, The National Groups has grown its revenue and net income organically from its inception 28 years ago to be a highly profitable, woman-owned organization. Under Ms. Arute's stewardship the organization has expanded exponentially and currently has over 300 hundred employees disbursed across its offices located in Meriden, CT, Austin, TX and San Diego, CA. Ms. Arute began her career as a real estate broker and developer, eventually organizing and opening a real estate appraisal, valuations company, as well as a property management firm that has enjoyed success for more than 20 years.

Wayne Arute

President

As President, Mr. Arute is the business leader and visionary responsible for the growth, direction and effective management of The National Groups and its five subsidiaries. Mr. Arute provides strategic direction to the senior management team and is responsible for strategy and client planning. With over 28 years of experience in the management and operations of default servicing, REO asset management, loss mitigation services and valuations, Mr. Arute has a proven track record of building and developing innovative products and services that exceed client needs in the ever-changing default environment. From 1984-1988, he served as President of Arute & Associates, a full-service real estate valuation and appraisal firm, and in 1986, he founded a property asset management company which he developed into one of the most successful REO brokerage/asset management servicing platforms in the northeast, closing over $4B in residential real estate during his tenure. As President of the National Groups Mr. Arute continues to lead the organization on a daily basis and is the driving force that facilitates the overall planning and future direction of The National Groups.

Bruce Wentworth

Executive Vice President – Administration & Strategy

As Executive Vice President – Administration & Strategy, Mr. Wentworth is responsible for the oversight of all administrative aspects, including service delivery contracts, client relations, facilities, as well as risk, quality control, supplier oversight and compliance management for The National Groups and its subsidiaries. With over 30 years of experience in residential loan and tax lien servicing and REO asset management oversight, Mr. Wentworth held several executive positions prior to joining The National Groups. For the 7 years prior, he was a Senior Vice President at Clayton Holdings serving in loan and tax lien servicing. He also held the position of President of the tax lien-servicing subsidiary of MBIA Insurance, a Clayton client, for 6 years. This position included the direct responsibility of 10 state offices and over 100 staff members. In this role Mr. Wentworth was responsible for all of the firm's operations including portfolio disposition strategy development on a portfolio of approximately one million liens with a redemptive balance outstanding of 800 million dollars. He also served as division President of a small, privately held tax lien servicer and as a senior manager with J.E. Robert Companies (JER). While with JER, he was one of the senior implementation managers of the firm's northeast FDIC asset management contract.

Mitchell Oringer

Executive Vice President - Asset Disposition

As EVP, Asset Disposition, Mr. Oringer currently oversees all aspects of the REO management and Loss Mitigation Operations across all related businesses at The National Groups. He brings 20+ years of experience in default management and has directed loss mitigation and collections operations at IndyMac Federal Bank, GMAC/ResCap and Clayton Holdings. With a background in REO management and special servicing of non-performing loans, Mr. Oringer has used special servicing principles across platforms to create a highly effective approach towards loss mitigation, earning the highest industry ratings from rating agencies and the GSE's. Mr. Oringer was instrumental in the implementation and oversight of the FDIC modification program developed at IndyMac, and is a former member of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's default advisory groups.

Rick Smith

Executive Vice President - Business Development & Special Servicing

Rick Smith joined TNG in September of 2012 and brings over 30 years experience in the mortgage industry with him. Mr. Smith joins us a Executive Vice President and is responsible for managing the executive sales strategy for the TNG business, managing the client business development experience with existing and potential customers, as well as identifying their needs and marketing the appropriate services to meet those needs.

Prior to joining TNG, Rick has held numerous executive management positions including Senior Managing Director with Clayton Holdings, President and Chief Executive Officer at Marix Servicing, LLC and other executive positions at Chase, KeyBank and Mortgage Lenders Network US, Inc. Mr. Smith has a proven ability to be a thourough leader in the area of special servicing both on the conference circuit as panel speaker and in one-on-one client consultations. He can proactively identify and resolve client problems and establish client-centric strategies to allow owners of non-performing assets to achieve their objectives.

Carla Ulufanua

Managing Director - Asset Disposition

As Managing Director of Asset Disposition, Ms. Ulufanua currently oversees all aspects of the REO management operations and disposition for The National Groups. She serves as the asset management operational leader and technical expert. She is responsible for performance, operational reporting and client interaction. She joined The National Groups in 2007 bringing 18 years of experience in default management and business development. Before joining The National Groups, she served as VP of National Sales/Business Development Executive for Ticor Title and ServiceLink/AssetLink, National Lender Solutions. She was instrumental in spearheading and increasing customer base and growing revenue nationally for REO Title/Closings, Trustee Sale Guarantees, REO Asset Management and Valuations.

Julie Lank

Managing Director - Asset Disposition

Ms. Lank is the Managing Director of Asset Disposition overseeing the Customer Contact Center for The National Groups. Ms. Lank is responsible for all customer inbound and outbound telephone correspondence activities relating to the solicitation of loss mitigation programs within the company. Ms. Lank has over 20 years of mortgage and default servicing experience including collections, foreclosure and bankruptcy, loss mitigation and real estate dispositions.

Bryce Fendall

Managing Director - Asset Disposition

Mr. Fendall is the Managing Director of Asset Disposition for The National Groups in Austin, Tx and brings 27 years of industry experience in the valuation, marketing and liquidation of real estate. Prior to joining The National Groups he served as Assistant Vice President of Loss Mitigation Liquidation & REO for IBM Seterus, formerly known as Wilshire Credit Corporation where he successfully managed REO, Valuation, Property Preservation and the Hazard Claims Departments before migrating to Loss Mitigation to streamline and enhance the short sale liquidation and deed in lieu process.. Prior to joining the organization, Mr. Fendall served as President of the Yamhill County Association of Realtors where he earned the designation of Certified Residential Specialist, CRS.

Lise Horeff Grillo

Manager - Short Sales

As Manager, Ms. Lise Horeff Grillo has responsibility for the overall production management of Short Sale negotiator activity, ensuring that quality products are delivered to our clients and customers in a timely and cost effective manner. She provides her project management experience to many new business and technology initiatives that benefit the company and the clients. Lise has over 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry, to include: operational management, underwriting, audit review and compliance oversight. She has managed teams of up to 100 to 400 team members, as a GSVP at World Savings and Loan, and as an SVP at Wachovia Bank. Her responsibilities have included; planning to support the corporate and department vision, implementation of standards and use of technology to accomplish and exceed organizational goals, and team development.

Elizabeth Cruce

Operations Manager - Closing Escrow Title

As Closing Escrow Title Operations Manager for the National Groups, Ms. Cruce is responsible for the oversight of the closing process for every type of Real Estate Transaction. Ms. Cruce has been in the Closing/Title business for 30+ years and maintains her Senior Certified Certification and is always up to date and well versed on the industry's governmental and legal changes. Ms. Cruce is responsible for maintaining an experienced staff to customize and streamline all your closing and title needs. During her business career, Ms. Cruce has owned and operated two independent escrow companies and has worked for National Companies such as Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title and Lawyer's Title and has worked closely with and oversaw national accounts including Bank of America, National City Mortgage, American Home Mortgage and Centex.

Robert Moore

Valuations Operations and Compliance Manager, National Valuation Services, LLC

Bob Moore brings over 25 years in the real estate appraisal and valuations industry and will be responsible for the day to day operations of National Valuation Services, LLC, a subsidiary of The National Groups.
Bob joins The National Groups team from Pro-Teck Valuation Services where, as a certified real estate appraiser, he was responsible for in-depth valuation product reviews, appraisal reporting and analyzing market values. Prior to his position at Pro-Teck, Bob held several roles during his successful tenure at Mortgage Lenders Network USA, Inc., his last position with their organization was as the Manager of Asset Valuation and Preservation.
Mr. Moore holds of Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Connecticut. He is also a Certified Real Estate Appraiser.

Steven Randall

Director – Technology Services

As Director of Technology Services at the National Groups, Mr. Randall serves as managing technical expert on all aspects of application development and support, data management and analytic reporting development. He brings 20+ years of experience in software development and product management. Prior to joining The National Groups in 2009, he served as Senior Application Systems Programmer at J.E. Robert Companies (JER) developing solutions for the tax lien servicer and as Director of Development for Dagar Software (SDC), a software development company.

Greg Sanders

Controller

As the Controller for The National Groups and its subsidiaries, Mr. Sanders currently oversees the accounting and finance department team and is responsible for managing the National Groups assets, operating expenses, financial reporting, and directing the budget process. Mr. Sanders has been in the Banking and Finance industry for over Twenty years, with a well rounded knowledge of GAAP accounting and internal controls. Mr. Sanders has led accounting departments at financial companies to include; Farmers and Mechanics Bank, First International Bank and Mortgage Lenders Network, USA. He joined the National Groups in 2011.

Elizabeth Bowser-Darienzo

Director - Human Resources

As Director of Human Resources, Ms. Bowser-Darienzo conducts the organizations day-to-day human resource functions. Working with senior management, she is responsible for designing and implementing HR programs, recruitment and selection, performance management, and administering all other human resource functions to support the organization. She has created and has continued to develop the "Workplace of Choice" for all of The National Groups entities. She joined The National Groups in 2007. Prior to her current role, Ms. Bowser-Darienzo was part of The National Groups Accounting team. She came to the company from Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, where she served as an Administrative Officer overseeing the day-to-day business operations.