SERVICING LITIGATION TRACK: State of the States - Servicing Legislation and Law

Director, State Government Affairs, Mortgage Bankers Association

Liz Facemire is the Director of State Government Affairs at MBA and takes part in leading the association’s policy and advocacy engagement at the state and local level, which includes serving as primary staff to the association’s State Legislative and Regulatory Committee. Prior to joining MBA in 2023, Liz spent her career in the industry in a variety of roles, including as a licensed mortgage loan originator and underwriter. In 2018 she served as a state policy lobbyist mostly covering Northwestern states. In 2021, she moved into a specialized role in mortgage policy supporting MBA membership priorities and advocacy efforts externally. She has been a member of many of our state MBA counterparts and has assisted in driving MBA’s policy initiatives throughout her time in Government Affairs.

Partner, Bradley

Anna Craft advises financial services companies on a variety of complex compliance and regulatory matters. Her practice has focused on the negotiation and implementation of consent judgments with various regulators and the proactive implementation of changes to business practices that are required as a result of new statutes and regulations. Anna uses her experience with and knowledge of the financial services industry to identify and mitigate risks that may arise in various business practices as a result of a dynamic and unpredictable regulatory environment. She works directly with her clients’ internal legal department and business leaders to identify the most efficient and effective measures to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local requirements or to identify.

Senior Vice President, Servicing Risk and Compliance, CMG Financial

Melissa Koupal serves as the Senior Vice President of Servicing Risk and Compliance at CMG Financial, a comprehensive lender based in San Ramon, California, specializing in retail, correspondent, wholesale, and servicing. In her current role, she is responsible for overseeing all aspects of risk and compliance related to servicing operations. As a seasoned professional in the mortgage industry, Melissa was a founding member of loanDepot in 2009, where she played a pivotal role in shaping the overall direction and strategy for Mortgage Operations Risk. Her responsibilities included managing the compliance management system, overseeing origination and servicing mortgage compliance programs, managing licensing, compliance quality control, and handling agency and regulatory examinations, audits, and enforcement matters across all channels of loanDepot. Since 2008, Melissa has been the owner and leader of the Reglist, a community of over 1,900 mortgage compliance professionals specializing in compliance and legal issues within the residential mortgage field. Her expertise and insights have made her a sought-after speaker at industry conferences, including the Mortgage Bankers Association and NMLS. Melissa's commitment to the industry is further demonstrated through her leadership roles, currently servicing as Chair of the California MBA Mortgage Quality and Compliance Committee and having served as the Chair for the MBA State Legislative and Regulatory Committee and the Chair of the MBA Regulatory Compliance Committee. Additionally, she actively participates in the Industry Working Group for the NMLS, showcasing her dedication to advancing regulatory practices and standards in the mortgage sector.

Partner, Wright, Finlay & Zak, LLP

Michelle A. Mierzwa is a Compliance Partner at Wright, Finlay & Zak LLP, a Western Regional law firm in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Utah, providing the mortgage industry with state and federal compliance and regulatory counsel. Over 24 years in practice, she resolved litigation through trials and appellate practice, headed legal for a multi-state non-judicial foreclosure trustee, coordinated compliance audits, and managed the California branch of a national law firm. She works with lenders and servicers of all sizes to ensure compliance with state and federal laws, including FDCPA, SCRA, FCRA, RESPA, TILA, CFPB Rules, CARES Act, state collection, foreclosure and licensing laws, and regulatory agency investigations. She is admitted to practice in CA and WA.

Partner, McCarter & English, LLP

McCarter & English, LLP, partner Adam Swanson helps consumer mortgage lending and servicing clients address legal challenges to enforcing agency and non-agency mortgages and their securitization vehicles and mitigate risk to large residential mortgage portfolios. Adam represents major industry players in claims arising from loan origination, servicing, default servicing, foreclosures, bankruptcy, evictions, and REO properties and advises them on compliance with consumer lending regulations. RMBS industry stakeholders rely on Adam to challenge adverse laws and regulations, and to help mitigate negative impacts on multimillion-dollar RMBS portfolios. Adam is currently engaged in challenging the constitutionality of the retroactive application of New York’s Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act.