Key facts
- NEXA Lending appointed Susie Cheatham, previously of Bay Equity, as national sales director.
- New American Funding added The Brandon Drew Group, a Southern California team founded by Robert and Colleen Olivas.
- Better Home & Finance added Josh Burruss and The Home Team as a producing branch of NEO Home Loans.
- The Home Team brought $82.5 million in 2025 funded volume to NEO's platform, per the report.
- Carter Bank added loan officers Carl Garnett and Tom Ulbrich to expand Virginia coverage.
NEXA Lending appointed Susie Cheatham as national sales director, the company said in a report published November 6, 2026. Cheatham previously worked at Bay Equity, where she managed a Kansas City branch and later oversaw regional operations. At NEXA she will focus on recruiting, business development and coaching loan officers.
New American Funding added The Brandon Drew Group, a Southern California-based mortgage team founded by Robert and Colleen Olivas. The family-run team includes six of the couple's 10 children, two daughters-in-law and Robert Olivas's mother, and specializes in serving first-time homebuyers, veterans, active-duty military members and refinance borrowers.
Better Home & Finance added Josh Burruss and The Home Team as a producing branch of NEO Home Loans, bringing $82.5 million in 2025 funded volume to its platform. Burruss, who has 24 years of mortgage industry experience, will continue originating loans while serving as NEO's head of retail innovation, focusing on coaching, training and product development.
Angel Romero, the housing finance agency relationship manager for Down Payment Resource, was named vice chair of the Technology Impact and Enablement Community of Practice at the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO). Romero, who joined Down Payment Resource in 2023, will help guide discussions on mortgage technology standards and represent the interests of down payment assistance programs and the housing finance agencies and lenders that offer them.
Carter Bank added mortgage loan officers Carl Garnett and Tom Ulbrich to its mortgage lending team, expanding its coverage in Virginia. Garnett, who has nearly 30 years of mortgage industry experience, will primarily serve Charlottesville and Lynchburg, while Ulbrich, who has more than 30 years of experience, will serve Bedford and Smith Mountain Lake.