Lenders honored for helping Nevadans get into homes

The Nevada Rural Housing Authority (NRHA) and USDA Rural Development honored Northern Nevada lenders in real cowboy style, kicking up their heels at the annual Lender Appreciation Luncheon held at The Grove on March 22.

Keynote John Tyson and Master of Ceremonies Mark Ashworth kept the event lively. Ashworth was instrumental in helping NRHA and USDA recognize the achievements of local lenders who make home ownership dreams come true in rural Nevada.

NRHA Director of Homebuyer Services Diane Arvizo extolled the dedication of the real estate lending professionals who operate in rural Northern Nevada and who have obligated a significant number of NRHA loans through the Home At Last programs that provide down payment assistance grants and Mortgage Credit Certificates to rural home buyers.

“Working in rural Nevada is hard. We thank you for hanging in there, being committed to doing the deal, and making home ownership a reality in these rural areas,” Arvizo said. “Without you, rural home buyers would not have access to our programs that often provide the only affordable housing solution.”

Applying the cowboy themes to all awards, in the county category of “Head Hog at the Trough” the lending leaders were Dana Brown, Finance of America, Humboldt County; Annette Hunt, Guild Mortgage, Elko County; Shayla Gifford, Guild Mortgage, Washoe and Storey counties; Jane Capurro, PrimeLending, Churchill County; Deanna Cobb, American Pacific Mortgage, Lander County; Heather Creveling, Summit Funding, Eureka and Pershing counties; Kyle Rush, Guild Mortgage, Carson City and Douglas County; Amanda Rea, Guild Mortgage, Lyon County; Lisa Fleck, Summit Funding, Mineral County.

USDA Rural Development’s Housing Program Director Jeff Glass presented USDA’s lender awards. He presented USDA’s Top Roper Award to Kyle Rush of Guild Mortgage; the Get Along Little Dogie Award to Doug Kaller of Academy Mortgage; and the Re-Doubled Effort RE-FI Award to American Finance for refinancing the highest number of USDA Rural Development loans.

Glass and Arvizo presented the Team Roping Award to Owen Polkinghorne of Guild Mortgage in Elko.

NRHA’s “Mustang Awards” were presented to the top performing lenders — Jillian Heuer of Prime Lending for obligating the most conventional loans; Lew Carr of Summit Funding for completing the most Veterans Affairs loans; Jorge Montoya of Guild Mortgage for completing the most loans in Northern Nevada paired with NRHA’s Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC).

Celia Barrientos of Guild Mortgage was honored for providing the most Home At Last Down Payment Assistance Grants paired with MCCs. Todd Yankov of Summit Funding was honored for obligating the most FHA loans paired with a 5 percent grant, and Maria L. Arias of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage for completing the Smallest Loan in rural Nevada.

The “Gold Mine” Performance Awards were presented to Debbie Secord of Guild Mortgage as the Longest Steady Supporter of NRHA; Doug Kaller of Academy Mortgage was named the Biggest Homebuyer Education Supporter; Lisa Bertok of PrimeLending was honored for providing the Most Homebuyer Testimonials, Shaun Bittick of Summit Funding was honored as the Best Program Promoter; Brad Austin of PrimeLending was named outstanding Jack of All Trades for handling multiple lending tasks.

The Nevada’s Most Wanted Award for Outstanding Performance went to Shayla Gifford of Guild Mortgage for being the lender with the highest volume, lowest deficiencies on loan files, and quickest turn times.

The Keys to Homeownership Award for Outstanding Performance went to Marcy Cramer of Axia Home Loans for her role providing outstanding efficiency and technical support throughout the loan process.

For information about the NRHA Home At Last programs, go to www.nvrural.org/Home-At-Last. Information about the USDA Rural Development Housing program is available at https://www.rd.usda.gov/nv.