NEW YORK — SunTrust Banks Inc. shifted the head of its mortgage business Tuesday, naming its head of strategic finance and administration to lead the unit.
Jerome Lienhard was named the chief executive of SunTrust Mortgage while the current chief executive, Sterling Edmunds, becomes an executive vice president in charge of production channels at the morgage business.
The move comes a month after the Atlanta-based bank disclosed it has discovered problems in about 4,000 foreclosure filings, or 15% of its active proceedings, and said there would be delays in its foreclosures because of it.
A spokesman for the bank declined to comment beyond a press release Tuesday.
Lienhard joined SunTrust in 2006 as treasurer, coming from the same position at Freddie Mac. Edmunds has been a part of the mortgage business since 1987.
In February, SunTrust disclosed in a federal filing it had found problems with its foreclosures after an internal review. SunTrust said, as many of its peers had admitted beforehand, that some employees signed affidavits that stated they had verified the documents in the foreclosure proceedings. But those employees hadn't verified them to the extent the law demands, leaving SunTrust open to challenges.
The bank said at the time it didn't believe any of the problems violated the law.
The head of consumer banking, C.T. Hill, to whom Lienhard will report, praised both executives in the release, crediting the new mortgage head as "uniquely suited" for the job in the midst of the current environment. Meanwhile, he noted the bank will continue "to benefit" from Edmunds' "strong sales and service skills as the mortgage industry evolves."
