Rival Hires HomEq Exec.(Fairbanks Capital Corp. appoints hires Valorie Kacherian )

Fairbanks Capital Corp., the nation's largest subprime servicer, has a new compliance chief.

In and of itself, that might not sound like a big deal, but until a year ago, the Salt Lake City-based Fairbanks didn't have a compliance department and until it hired Valorie Kacherian away from HomEq Servicing in April, it never had a chief compliance officer.

Right about now, Fairbanks could use a chief compliance officer as well as a good compliance department. The company is under investigation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Trade Commission for its servicing practices.

A spokeswoman for Fairbanks confirmed to Mortgage Servicing News that Ms. Kacherian joined the company April 1 to head the non-depository's compliance effort.

The spokeswoman said that until the hiring of Ms. Kacherian, the company did not have a chief compliance officer. "It's an enhancement to what they have," she said. "It's a new position, a new title."

At HomEq, a subsidiary of Wachovia Corp., Charlotte, N.C., Ms. Kacherian was a vice president.

The spokeswoman noted that even though Fairbanks did not establish an official compliance department until the first quarter of 2002, "there were always compliance people working at the company. They worked under the legal department."