BREAKOUT SESSION: Best Practices in Insurance Exception Request

Misty Leeth

Managing Director - Insurance and Loan Servicing, Newmark

Misty joined Lument, fka RED Capital Group/ORIX Real Estate in August 2008 as Vice President, promoted to Director of Loan Servicing in 2010, and later promoted to Managing Director of Loan Servicing in 2013. In this position, she oversees the Tax Administration and Insurance Compliance groups which includes both production and servicing functions as related to tax and insurance processing. Prior to joining Lument, Ms. Leeth was employed as Insurance Services Manager and Risk Analyst for Capmark Financial Group where she worked with and managed insurance matters for a tax credit syndication limited partner on multifamily assets. Prior to that, she served as a paralegal for Paramount Financial Group and as a Commercial Specialist for State Farm Insurance Companies. Ms. Leeth holds a paralegal certificate from Ohio University, an Ohio Property and Casualty insurance license, and graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree of Business Administration at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

Kathleen Dufraine

Managing Director, Insurance Operations Executive & Head of the Corporate Flood Program, JP Morgan Chase

Kathleen Dufraine is the Managing Director of the Insurance Center of Excellence and Head of the Corporate Flood Program at JPMorgan Chase. With over 35 years of experience as a credentialed and licensed insurance professional, Kathleen leverages her extensive expertise to build high-performing teams, ensure compliance, transform business processes, and provide consultative insurance support to lending and servicing leaders. A recognized industry leader, Kathleen is a passionate advocate for reforming the Flood Disaster Protection Act and frequently speaks on this critical topic. Her past achievements include collaborating with the Mortgage Bankers Association to lobby Congress for the creation of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), developing the ACORD 28 Property Certificate, and co-authoring influential whitepapers such as “Blanket Insurance” and “Due Diligence for Force Placed Insurance.” More recently, she contributed to the first edition of the ABA’s Reference Guide to Flood Compliance. Outside of her professional endeavors, Kathleen enjoys spending quality time with her family, attending concerts, and traveling.

Whitney Ronning

Vice President, Director of Insurance, Northmarq

Whitney Ronning, Vice President – Director of Insurance at Northmarq, leads a department of dedicated professionals responsible for ensuring adherence to insurance requirements and mitigating risk associated with insurance coverage on commercial loans for all capital sources. Whitney oversees the operations, staffing, strategies, and performance of the Insurance Department. She also contributes to strategic initiatives that span Northmarq’s entire Loan Servicing division. Since joining Northmarq in 2013, Whitney has served in several different roles within the Insurance Department including Insurance Specialist I (2013), Insurance Specialist II (2014), Insurance Analyst II (2015) and Insurance Analyst III (2017). She joined Northmarq’s New Loan Insurance Team in 2015 to handle pre-closing insurance reviews for their Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae portfolios before being promoted in 2018 to Associate Manager leading a team of insurance analysts. In 2019, she was promoted to Manager overseeing the New Loan Insurance Team until her promotion to Senior Manager in 2022 and then her current role as Director in 2023. Whitney holds an Associate in Applied Science degree in health information technology and medical coding from St. Cloud Technical and Community College. In 2017, Whitney attained the Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) designation through the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research. Whitney is also a graduate of Northmarq’s 2023 “Built to Lead” program – a 7-month, people-focused leadership development program designed for continuous improvement and growth of leaders.

Laura J. Smith

Senior Managing Director, Resilience Insurance Analytics

Laura Smith joined Newmark in 2017 and currently serves as Senior Managing Director, Head of Servicing, in the company’s Lower Gwynedd, Pennsylvania office. Laura has a diverse industry background with over 28 years of experience in Servicing Operations, Offshore and Outsource platform development, Marketing, Project Management, Process Improvements, and a strong involvement in the industry through the Mortgage Bankers Association. Laura has experience with many portfolio types including Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Life Company, CMBS, Construction, Bridge and HUD. Laura works closely with many investors providing input and suggestions on insurance requirement revisions. In her current role, she is responsible for managing various servicing groups including Investor Services, Portfolio Management, Insurance, Insurance Claims, Tax, Escrow Analysis, New Loan Boarding, UCC’s, and Limited Sub Servicing for a $71B portfolio encompassing 3,700 loans. In her capacity at Newmark, Laura also supports the originations team reviewing insurance waivers, insurable value exceptions, and provides guidance surrounding insurance issues and exceptions. Additionally, Laura has industry experience speaking as a moderator or panelist in Mortgage Bankers Events from 2017 – 2022. In this role, she has co-authored several industry white papers – Natural Disasters and Catastrophe Insurance, Insurance Waiver Guide, and The Impact of the Hardening Insurance Market. Throughout her career, Laura has been responsible for managing a wide variety of the servicing teams including offshore teams – Insurance, Tax, Escrow Analysis, PPA’s, Escrow Disbursements, Workflow, UCC, New Loan Boarding, Servicing Data Center, Data Warehouse, and Accounts Payable Groups. Laura also co-developed and a proprietary Insurance Compliance Tracking tool. Laura holds a B.S. in Marketing from Penn State University, a Masters of Education from Arcadia University, and a Masters of Business Administration from LaSalle University.