W. Patrick Connolly
Principal, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer
With a project risk career spanning more than 30 years, Patrick has experienced first-hand what a lack of attention to detail can yield from a loan performance perspective. Overzealous application of fluctuating guideline benchmarks has, from time to time, been unkind to the mortgage industry. Patrick began his mortgage banking career in 1990 as a Real Estate Owned (REO) Liquidator, re-selling the foreclosed Cooperative Loans of a large regional thrift. From this experience, where borrowers were mailing the keys to their homes to the bank on a weekly basis, through and beyond one of the worst periods in the history of the real estate industry, Patrick was at the forefront of the solution. Driven by a steadfast belief that you had to truly understand the risk before you could ever hope to manage it, Patrick saw his approach to risk management forged by these experiences.
Prior to launching Project Risk Evaluation Partners with partner Stuart Nahas, Patrick was a Senior Risk Manager with Fannie Mae. During his tenure, Patrick was involved in all aspects of policy support and operational processes pertaining to the risk and eligibility evaluation of condominiums, cooperatives, and planned unit developments working to ensure lender compliance with Fannie Mae’s eligibility policies. Prior to Fannie Mae, Patrick held project risk management positions with some of the largest lenders in the country. Throughout his career, Patrick’s philosophy has never changed, be honest and forthright about the risk and never compromise your integrity.
Patrick believes strongly that managing risk is about more than reading guidelines; it’s about experience! It is the breadth of experience that his long career has provided that created the belief that it can, and should, be done better. Understanding risk, and providing actionable intelligence upon which a client can base sound lending decisions, is of critical importance.
Patrick’s experiences have yielded a skill set uniquely suited to managing client risk in the condominium and cooperative eligibility space.
