Cenlar announces successors to retiring leader

Following the retirement announcement of longtime Cenlar FSB executive Greg Tornquist, the Ewing-based financial institution named Dave Applegate as chairman of the board of directors, as well as Robert “Rob” Lux and D. James “Jim” Daras as co-CEOs. 

Retiring as chairman of the board, president and CEO, Tornquist, who has been with the mortgage loan subservicer and federally chartered wholesale bank for 35 years, was instrumental in building the company’s mortgage subservicing platform, according to an Aug. 8 statement. 

Meet the new leaders: 

Dave Applegate 

Applegate has been a member of the board since 2020 and has more than 30 years of experience in residential real estate, mortgage banking and housing finance. He was previously CEO for Common Securitization Solutions LLC, a joint venture owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  

Applegate also served as CEO for companies including Homeward Residential, Radian Mortgage Insurance and GMAC Mortgage and Bank, and has served on numerous boards, including the Fannie Mae advisory board, the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, and at GMAC Real Estate, among others. 

“I am proud to be part of an organization that grew to be the nation’s leading subservicer through a relentless focus on serving our clients and their homeowners. Continuous investment in all aspects of our franchise will ensure Cenlar’s commitment to providing both high quality service to our customers and a rewarding work environment for our talented team,” Applegate said in a statement. 

Jim Daras  

Daras, who will also serve as president, has more than 40 years in the banking and mortgage banking industry, including extensive knowledge in risk management, banking and corporate finance functions, bank restructuring, recapitalization and M&A.  

Daras initially joined Cenlar in 1985 as chief financial officer and left in 1990 to join Dime Bancorp in New York City. He returned to Cenlar in 2015 as executive vice president and was appointed chief risk officer. In 2019, he moved to an advisory role at the company. He joined Cenlar full time in 2022 as executive vice president. 

As president and co-CEO, Daras will manage all banking functions, capital markets, finance and risk activities. 

Rob Lux 

Lux has more than 30 years of experience in financial services, mostly in the mortgage industry. He joined Cenlar in 2017 as chief information officer and was appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2019. 

He was previously executive vice president, chief information officer at Freddie Mac for seven years. He has also held senior leadership positions at Towers Watson, GMAC Financial Services (now Ally), Electronic Data Systems and Reuters. 

As co-CEO, Lux will be responsible for Cenlar’s operations and technology, business development, client management, human resources, legal, corporate communications and marketing.