Clarocity Corporation, based in Carlsbad, California, announced Monday that Bill Waltenbaugh is taking on the role of Chief Appraiser at Clarocity Valuation Services. Waltenbaugh brings 30 years of real estate industry experience to his new role, including past experience as a Chief Appraiser and Director of Compliance at several appraisal management firms. “Bill Waltenbaugh is a nationally recognized appraiser, with vast experience in ensuring exceptional appraisal quality and compliance,” said Aleksandra James, President of Clarocity Valuation Services.

Guild Mortgage, a large independent mortgage lender with offices in 25 states, welcomes experienced mortgage technology professional Gabe Minton to its leadership team as EVP of information technology. Minton brings to his new role more than 25 years of experience spanning the realms of strategy, software development, vendor relations, and communications. "I am pleased to be joining Guild as it enters a new era of technology innovation with MyMortgage and other IT platforms and applications to improve the experience for every customer, employee, partner and supplier that we work with throughout the entire mortgage lending process,” Minton said.

Independent Settlement Services, a Pittsburgh-based appraisal and title management services firm serving the real estate finance industry, announced last week it will enhance its valuation products with Value Report, an automated property valuation with an instant automated valuation model (AVM) that combines the data and algorithms of Independent Settlement Services and HouseCanary. HouseCanary is a real estate valuation provider that leverages decades of data and proprietary algorithms for its valuations. The Value Report offers instant AVMs, risk assessments, and real estate market data for individual single-family homes and condos, as well as portfolios.

Perfect Practice, an Orlando, Florida-based provider of legal management services technology, announced this week a partnership with Affinity Consulting Group, which offers technology and management solutions for law firms and legal departments. “The partnership will create a streamlined array of services,” according to Perfect Practice.

Tyneia (Tye) Merritt, a managing partner at Marinosci Law Group, P.C., in California, has joined the board of the Council for Inclusion in Financial Services.

MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., announced this week it will support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s updated Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requirements by facilitating legal entity identifier (LEI) registrations and renewals for users of MERS System and other industry participants.

Adolfo Marzol has been appointed to the position of Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Following his appointment, he resigned from the Board of Directors of Essent Group Ltd.

Alterra Home Loans, a minority-owned mortgage bank based in Las Vegas and with a presence in 26 states, announced Monday the addition of Tom Middleton as SVP of Business Development and National Expansion.

Optimal Blue, a provider of a secondary mortgage market eCommerce platform, announced a partnership with Media Center CRM, which provides customer relationship management solutions to the mortgage industry. Mortgage and real estate professionals using Media Center CRM will have access to real-time prices from Optimal Blue.

Black Knight Financial Services announced last week the release of LoanSphere Empower 7.0, a new version of its loan origination system (LOS), including updates aimed at compliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and enhanced technological integrations.