GENERAL SESSION: Weathering a Stormy Market

Co-Chair, IMB Executive Council; Chief Executive Officer, Success Mortgage Partners, Inc.

Owen Lee is the 2025 MBA Vice Chair and Chief Executive Officer at Success Mortgage Partners, Inc., (SMP). He co-founded the company with his father, Vincent, in 2002. Under his leadership, SMP has closed billions of dollars of mortgage loans yearly since 2016, is licensed in 42 states, and has more than 600 employees. Lee is also a Managing Member of Title Partners, LLC, a full-service title insurance and escrow services agency. An active leader in the mortgage and financial services sectors, Lee serves on MBA’s Board of Directors, is Co-Chair of its Independent Mortgage Bankers Executive Council, and is currently the 2023-2024 Chairman of MORPAC, MBA’s political action committee, where he has been a successful political fundraiser, helping to advance the association’s top legislative priorities.

Executive Vice President, Capital Markets, Guild Mortgage Company

Mr. Battany is the Executive Vice President of Capital Markets for Guild Mortgage Company. He oversees the firm’s capital market activities, including pricing, hedging, and secondary market execution. He’s also responsible for Guild’s credit policy, shipping, and product development functions. Mr. Battany manages investor relationships with GSEs, government agencies, and private investors. Prior to joining Guild, Mr. Battany was Chief Product Strategist for Penny Mac from 2012 to 2015, where he was responsible for managing the product development group, as well as its relationships with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, USDA, Ginnie Mae, and mortgage insurance companies. From 1990 to 2012, Mr. Battany was with Fannie Mae, based in Pasadena, California where he served as Director of Single Family Business and was responsible for managing the firm's relationships with west coast based lenders. Mr. Battany began his career in 1986 with First Interstate Bank of California, where he traded and hedged the bank's mortgage production. Mr. Battany is a member of the MBA’s Residential Board of Governors and is a member of the MBA’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. He was the previous chairman of the MBA’s Secondary and Capital Markets Committee, the MBA’s Residential Production Committee, and Co-Chair of the MBA’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Mr. Battany is presently the Co-Chair of the National Housing Conference’s Black Homeownership Collaborative’s Credit and Lending Workstream Committee. He was previously a board member of the California MBA, Habitat for Humanity, and Rebuilding Together. Mr. Battany graduated from the University of Colorado's school of Business Administration with a BS degree in Finance.

Founder & CEO, Evergreen Home Loans

Don Burton founded Evergreen Home Loans™ in 1987 with this idea: that his business would coach customers through the home buying process with incredible WOW. More than 30 years later, Don is still at the reins, and Evergreen has grown to become a leading home loan originator with an all-in-house servicing department. Prior to Evergreen, Don was a successful real estate agent. A visionary by nature, he is as passionate as ever about the home loan business, focused on providing affordable strategies to buy a home and make a winning offer, which provides their customers stability and creates generational wealth.

Chief Executive Officer, Freedom Mortgage Corporation

Stanley C. Middleman serves as the President and CEO of Freedom Mortgage Corporation, one of the largest and fastest-growing independent mortgage companies in the country. He is a nationally recognized business strategist, investor, and philanthropist with over 30 years of experience in the mortgage banking industry. Since founding Freedom Mortgage in 1990, Mr. Middleman has grown the company into one of the nation’s largest non-bank mortgage lenders/servicers and a top VA and FHA (government-insured) lender. This year, for the third time in a row, Freedom Mortgage was honored with the 2023 Top Workplaces USA Award as well as a Top Workplace Award in Central Indiana, New Jersey, and the Philadelphia region. Freedom Mortgage also joined the Inc. 5000 Honor Roll (since 2021) for the ninth time as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. In 2022, Freedom Mortgage was name as a Best-in-Class Employer by Gallagher and in 2021, the company was named one of Newsweek’s Most Loved Workplaces. Freedom Mortgage’s mission is to foster homeownership for all consumers across America.