Winokur joins Carrington as TPO marketing vice president

Former Angel Oak Lending Chief Marketing Officer Steven Winokur has returned to the real estate finance industry, taking a role as the vice president of marketing, third party originations at non-qualified mortgage lender Carrington Mortgage Services.

“Non-QM is an important part of Carrington’s commitment to potential homeowners with non-traditional kinds of income,” said Greg Austin, executive vice president of lending in a press release. “During his career, Steven Winokur has demonstrated a unique understanding of non-QM, and we are proud to add his expertise to CMS, allowing us to better serve American homeowners.”

Winokur was at another non-QM player, Angel Oak Lending, from August 2016 through December 2022, where he was responsible for the retail and the wholesale/correspondent channels, according to his LinkedIn profile.

During his time at Angel Oak, he increased monthly non-QM volume from $50 million to $600 million in five years, the profile said.

Prior to that, between two periods at Turning Point Strategies (which he was a founder of in 1999 according to the LinkedIn profile), Winokur worked at private mortgage insurer United Guaranty and at Buyers Protection Group in marketing roles.

“Non-QM loans are a vital part of the loan mix for Carrington’s customers,” said Winokur. “We have a responsibility to make loans that are based on bank statements, and other non-W-2-related financial documents, available to ensure all Americans have an equal opportunity to achieve their dream of homeownership, or purchase investment properties to secure their financial future.”

Winokur is not the only recent addition on the TPO side; in January, Samuel Bjelac rejoined Carrington as senior vice president, national sales, third party origination.

“The addition of his expertise to our combination of loan programs, leading-edge technology and imminently capable operations teams demonstrate that CMS is more committed than ever to providing steadfast non-QM support to our mortgage industry partners,” Bjelac said.

Carrington entered the subprime mortgage business in 2018, which it saw as a natural outgrowth of its plan of servicing borrowers with credit scores under 640 through government lending programs.

In November of 2018, it added a non delegated correspondent lending channel as an outgrowth of the wholesale production it was already doing. A delegated underwriting option in its correspondent business became available in May 2021.

On April 25, the company announced that across all of its channels, including retail, it was adding individual taxpayer identification, or ITIN, mortgage products to its roster.

“The inclusion of ITIN loans in our diverse mix of products for homebuyers gives creditworthy, tax-paying customers a unique opportunity to realize their dream of homeownership,” Austin said in that press release. “Our ITIN program demonstrates Carrington’s commitment to the unique financial needs of non-U.S. citizens and residents who contribute to our communities and our country’s economy.”

Carrington Cos., parent of CMS, promoted Andrew Taffet to chief executive from chief investment officer in March.