Tony Renzi, a 24-year veteran of GMAC Inc.'s mortgage operations, has been forced out as chief operating officer and president, according to employees who work under him.
A spokeswoman confirmed this week that Renzi is departing March 2 because of "streamlining efforts" and that his duties have been given to others.
GMAC declined to elaborate but in a statement said: "Tony has made valuable contributions in the mortgage lending and servicing business during his tenure with the company and we thank him for his many years of service."
One employee said that "even though they said his last day" would be in early March, Renzi has not been at the company since Feb. 5 or so.
Over the years, Renzi helped build GMAC's servicing business into one of the nation's largest.
At Sept. 30, Residential Capital LLC, the umbrella unit for GMAC's mortgage businesses, was the nation's fifth-largest mortgage servicer, with $380 billion of loans in its portfolio, according to National Mortgage News data.
GMAC has been considering alternatives for ResCap, whose net loss swelled to $4 billion in the fourth quarter, pushing its parent company back into the red.
The mortgage unit had lost $9.2 billion over the previous eight quarters and was the main reason GMAC received $3.8 billion from the Treasury Department in December, on top of roughly $13.5 billion from two previous federal bailouts.
