Longtime Ocwen Financial CEO Ron Faris to step down

Ron Faris plans to retire as head of Ocwen Financial and pass on his position to former PHH Corp. CEO Glen Messina around the time Ocwen acquires PHH.

The move would mark the end of a 27-year career at Ocwen for Faris, who has been president of the company since 2001, and the CEO since 2010. Faris plans to step down as president and CEO on June 30 and Ocwen plans to acquire PHH in the second half of this year. But the deal has to clear various approvals first.

Messina most recently was principal at consultancy Megallen Advisors. He stepped down as CEO at PHH last June, when Chief Financial Officer Robert Crowl moved up to replace him. Messina had remained a consultant at PHH through March, according to an Ocwen press release.

The planned change in leadership at Ocwen came just a day after another nonbank mortgage company, Ditech Holding Corp., named Chairman Thomas Marano to replace interim CEO Jeffrey Baker. Baker will continue to serve as president of the company's Reverse Mortgage Solutions unit.

Ditech also named Ritesh Chaturbedi, an executive with "a track record of helping businesses transform how they engage with customers through digital channel," as chief operating officer, Marano said in a press release. Chaturbedi's appointment is effective April 23.

The Ditech brand was initially associated with a precrisis online mortgage lender and was later purchased and brought back by a new company. Currently, many lenders are working to use digital mortgage strategies to compete in a market where loan volumes and margins are lower.