Mark Lamela

I bring nearly seven years of experience in HUD-certified housing counseling at O.C.E.A.N., Inc., where I evaluate financially distressed and at-risk homeowners, underwrite loan modification and loss mitigation packages against lender guidelines, and determine eligibility for programs like HAF and Emergency Relief Mortgage Assistance in coordination with the NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. I also run our First Time Homebuyer’s Program from intake through county approval, and I design and deliver workshops on Fair Housing compliance, credit, and financial literacy. That’s built on top of a mortgage-industry foundation — loan processing at Stearns Lending and Wells Fargo, and retail banking as a Personal Banker — so I bring both direct client counseling experience and hands-on underwriting and compliance knowledge.

What I’m looking for is a role that lets me build on that trajectory — continuing to take on more program and process ownership, staying close to loss mitigation and foreclosure prevention casework, and working with an organization that values both the client-facing counseling side and the technical mortgage background I bring to it.