Planet Home Lending Expands Senior Executive Team

Planet Home Lending, LLC, a national lender and servicer, has three new senior vice presidents (SVPs). Joining Planet are Mike Eckrote, SVP of Quality Control (QC), and Christopher Joles, SVP and Enterprise Risk Officer. Kathy Keller, former Division Production Leader, has been promoted to SVP of Strategic Initiatives.

“As Planet continues to grow, Mike, Chris and Kathy are bringing their expertise and experience in risk, quality and policy to our Planet family, which is on a path to increase more than 20% this year,” said Michael Dubeck, CEO and President of Planet Financial Group, LLC. “They each have results-oriented backgrounds and are helping to strategically position the company for continued expansion. We are excited to have their contributions.”

Mike Eckrote

In his position as SVP of QC, Eckrote is charged with enhancing the company’s quality control and anti-fraud programs, responding accurately to compliance reviews and implementing action plans to improve quality in all business units. Eckrote also leads the origination and servicing QC teams.

“I’m excited to bring my prior leadership experience to Planet because the company has a great reputation for quality in its origination and servicing platforms,” he said. “We’re well-positioned to continue to improve the quality of our products and services and respond efficiently to changes in markets, regulation and legislation.”

Before joining Planet Home Lending, Eckrote had several leadership positions at mortgage firms. He was SVP of Retail Finance at Pacific Union Financial, LLC, and during his time at Nationstar Mortgage (Mr. Cooper), he had several SVP roles, including finance, finance originations and QC and quality assurance.

Christopher Joles

Joles oversees the development, deployment and maintenance of the enterprise operational risk program at Planet Home Lending. He will also enhance the governance, risk management and compliance processes for the organization.

“I’ve always had a passion for improving how companies approach risk and finding solutions for enhancements between the business and risk, legal and compliance. Joining Planet is an exciting opportunity because the management team places great emphasis on being a leader in all processes, including risks, controls, compliance, audit and regulatory examinations,” Joles said.

Prior to joining the company, Joles was the VP of Internal Audit at Finance of America Mortgage, where he performed risk assessments and evaluated potential exposures. He has also had additional risk and internal audit leadership positions, including VP of Risk and Compliance at Nationstar Mortgage (Mr. Cooper) and VP of Risk Management at Pacific Union Financial, LLC.

Kathy Keller

Keller joined Planet Home Lending in 2018 as the Eastern Division Production Manager. Now, as SVP of Strategic Initiatives, Keller helps the company achieve competitive advantages and gain cost efficiencies. She will also formulate policies and procedures to keep the company first in class in compliance.

Keller has spent more than 20 years in the mortgage industry. Her extensive knowledge positions her perfectly to lead strategic initiatives across Planet’s correspondent, distributed and retention retail, servicing, sub-servicing and residential transition loan business lines.

“Having been at Planet for the last year and a half, I have been able to strategically assist with developing the retail sector of the company,” said Keller. “In my new position, I’m looking forward to building on Planet’s strengths, implementing new procedures to streamline our lines of business and sharing what works best across our multiple channels.”