Roy Williams -  President

Roy Williams has served as FHA Chief Underwriter for Wells Fargo Bank since October 2016.  He has been underwriting FHA insured transactions since 2003 with an emphasis on affordable housing.  Mr. Williams has successfully underwritten 64 FHA insured transactions totaling approximately $800 million and covering 9,883 housing units.  He holds a B.S. in Accounting from Samford University in Birmingham, AL.  He holds two post-graduate degrees including a Master of Accountancy (University of Georgia) and Master of Science in Real Estate (Georgia State University).  He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Alabama.

Abby Drummond - Executive Director 

Abby Drummond began working for Highland Commercial Mortgage in 2020 as the Marketing Director. Abby Is responsible for planning and executing all marketing efforts for HCM. This includes event planning, internal and external communications, advertisement, public relations and more.

Abby graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and business in 2016. She currently serves on the board, and is a founding member, of the Alabama Women's Affordable Housing Network chapter. Previously, she has served on the board of the Birmingham chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) as well as the Alabama chapter of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

Mark Eidson -  1st Vice President 

Mark Eidson is an Executive Director with PGIM Real Estate. In this role, he is responsible for loan originations and specialized product support on a nationwide basis. He specializes in the company's affordable and market rate loan programs including FHA/HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He is located in Atlanta, GA.

Mark has been involved in the development, acquisition and financing of multifamily projects for over 30 years. He has significant experience and expertise in affordable housing finance including tax exempt bonds, low-income housing tax credits, Section 8 rental assistance and Public Housing/RAD/Hope VI.

Prior to joining PGIM in 2004, Mark worked for a direct competitor, utilizing the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan programs concentrating on similar transactions. Earlier, he worked in the investment banking industry for one of the largest municipal bond underwriters specializing in tax-exempt bonds utilizing FHA, agency and private placement programs. Prior to that, he worked for various multifamily developers and owners as Chief Financial Officer focusing on all financing, financial reporting, financial management and legal/transactional aspects of the portfolios which included market rate and affordable projects.

Mark received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Finance and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting, both from the University of Tennessee. He currently serves on the board of the Southeast Mortgagee Advisory Council (SMAC), a trade group of national FHA/HUD multifamily lenders.

Angela Folkers -  2nd Vice President

Angela Folkers joined the SMAC Board in 2016 and currently holds the Secretary officer position.  She has leveraged 17 years’ FHA underwriting experience to represent member interests and assist with various industry meetings, including the annual SMAC training day.

Angela joined the HUD originations team at Berkadia in 2020.  She brings a unique background to loan originations, offering her expertise throughout the entire FHA loan process from engagement to closing.  She specializes in both market rate and affordable transactions.  

Prior to joining Berkadia, she served as the Chief Underwriter at Love Funding for nearly six years overseeing both multifamily and healthcare underwriting.  Angela’s vast knowledge of HUD’s standards, rules and regulations have assisted clients in closing over $1 billion in loan volume.  In addition to SMAC, Angela is also the past Vice President of the Healthcare Mortgagee Advisory Council.

Ann Cone - Treasurer 

Ann Cone is a Senior Vice President in the Atlanta office of CBRE HMF, Inc., CBRE’s FHA lending division. Ms. Cone is responsible for marketing and originating FHA insured construction and permanent financing for multifamily, senior living and healthcare housing. Ms. Cone has more than 35 years in commercial real estate with emphasis in FHA insured debt products.

Ms. Cone began her career in 1983 in Atlanta with the Center for Housing Alternatives, a non-profit organization that providing consulting and technical assistance for specialized housing for persons with disabilities. In 1986 she was promoted to Administrator responsible for the organization’s production of housing.

In 1994 she co-founded the Housing Resource Center (HRC) to provide consulting and technical services for housing for the elderly housing, persons with disabilities and veterans. That same year, HRC was awarded the Southeastern Master Technical Assistance Advisory role for the Resolution Trust Corporation to facilitate sales to non-profit organizations for affordable housing.

In 2006, she left HRC to work on the lending side of the business with Prudential Mortgage Capital Company as Director of Originations. In this capacity she was responsible for the origination of construction and permanent financing for market rate and affordable multifamily properties as well as healthcare properties. 

Amy Long - Secretary 

Amy Long has more than 20 years’ experience in the multifamily housing industry, and currently works for JLL Real Estate Capital, LLC as a MAP Senior Underwriter.  Amy has previously worked in both the public, including the Minneapolis HUD Office and private sectors, with a focus on affordable housing.  Amy joined the JLL Team in 2016 and since that time has closed more than $289 million in FHA Insured loans with the majority located in the Southeast Region.  Amy specializes in affordable housing with more than 38% of the SE deals being a “heavy” 223(f) transaction with new 4% LIHTC / TE Bonds.  In addition to serving on the SMAC Board, Amy also serves on the Finance Committee for the Land Bank, Twin Cities and holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Bethel University and an Undergraduate Degree in Social Work from the University of Minnesota, Mankato.  In her free time, Amy enjoys the running, biking, skiing, and spending time with her family.

Ken Buchanan - Director at Large

Ken Buchanan, Executive Vice President and FHA Finance Group Head for Walker & Dunlop, has been active in the FHA finance industry since 2004.  As FHA Group Head, Mr. Buchanan manages a talented team of over 80 professionals, and is responsible for managing the FHA platform, including coordinating the origination and underwriting process from initial loan screening to application, underwriting, submission, and closing.  

Since 2013, Mr. Buchanan successfully managed an FHA underwriting pipeline that resulted in over 930 closed loans in excess of $12.9 billion.  Over the past 18 years, Ken has structured a wide range of FHA loans for both multifamily and healthcare and has personally underwritten and closed more than 50 transactions totaling over $1.2 billion in loan proceeds.

From 2013 to 2021, Mr. Buchanan was the Director of FHA Underwriting and the HUD approved Chief Underwriter for Walker & Dunlop.  He is an approved FHA MAP Underwriter for multifamily programs and approved Lean underwriter for healthcare programs, and he has mentored numerous underwriter trainees that have gone on to earn their MAP and Lean underwriter designations from HUD.

Beyond the company, Mr. Buchanan has served as the Mortgage Bankers Association’s FHA Committee Chair (2018), Vice Chair of the Multifamily Counsel (2018 and 2019) and was a member of the Multifamily Steering Committee.  In addition, he created and chaired the FHA Chief Underwriter Forum, and is a past President of the Eastern Lenders Association.  He currently serves as a board member on the Southeast Mortgagee Advisory Counsel.  Mr. Buchanan is frequently invited to participate as a speaker at FHA-related conferences and seminars relating to HUD policy for both multifamily and healthcare topics.

Mr. Buchanan earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration and finance from the University of Delaware.  Ken is also a licensed real estate appraiser with over eight years’ experience, performing appraisals and market studies on a nationwide basis, specifically in the healthcare and senior housing industries.

Jennifer Massey -  Past President / Director at Large

Jennifer Massey has been with Highland Commercial Mortgage since its inception in 2012, and she currently serves as Chief Operations Officer for the company. Jennifer, a MAP approved underwriter, oversees the operations of the FHA lending and Servicing platforms. She also oversees company operations including staffing, planning and implementation of business policies and structure, and more. 

Prior to joining Highland Commercial Mortgage, Jennifer was a Principal of Prudential Huntoon Paige for six years where she managed the Birmingham office. Before that, she worked for Collateral Mortgage, a Birmingham-based commercial banking firm in the areas of loan servicing and compliance, originating, underwriting and secondary marketing under the company’s FHA lending platform. 

Jennifer is past president of the Southeast Mortgagee Advisory Council (SMAC) to HUD, and Vice President of the Southwest Mortgagee Advisory Council (SWAC). She remains active in other industry organizations including the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). 

 

Robert Warren - Past President / Director at Large 

Bob Warren is a Senior Vice President and Head of FHA Underwriting for Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC, the largest multifamily lender in the U.S.  Mr. Warren has over 27 years’ experience in the industry and has been involved in excess of $24 billion of closed HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Conventional loans. Mr. Warren has been involved in all aspects of the HUD process during his career and has worked with HUD offices around the country.  In 2012, he was involved in the financing of Coop City, at $621.5 million, the largest FHA Multifamily loan closed.  Additionally, Mr. Warren served as Chief Underwriter for Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital from 2009-2016.

Mr. Warren has written articles for regional publications and has been a speaker or moderator at various industry conferences throughout his career.  He currently serves as the Past President of Southeast Mortgage Advisory Council (SMAC), a HUD Multifamily lender group that works with HUD offices throughout the Southeast to improve the process of the Multifamily HUD Programs. He is a past Chair of the MBA FHA Insured Projects Committee and Vice Chair of the MBA Multifamily Council and is actively involved with the MBA in working with HUD to improve the FHA Insured Programs. He received his Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation in 1998. 

Sheri Davis - Director at Large

Sheri Davis is Senior Vice President at Highland Commercial Mortgage and joined the team in 2012. She originates and underwrites loans for new construction, substantial rehabilitation, acquisition and refinance for multifamily and healthcare FHA-insured transactions. This also includes both affordable and market rate properties.

Sheri began her career in the multifamily and healthcare industry in 2003. Prior to joining Highland, she served as Senior Underwriter and Loan Officer for Prudential Huntoon Paige for five years. Before that, Sheri worked on the FHA underwriting team for Collateral Mortgage Capital, a Birmingham-based commercial banking firm.

Sheri received a BA in Mathematics from Huntingdon College and an MA in Mathematics/Education from The University of Alabama. She is involved in numerous industry associations and organizations. Sheri also currently serves as a board member of the Georgia Affordable Housing Coalition and is a Capital Club Member in the National Association of Home Builders.

Andrew Nicoll - Director at Large

Andrew (Andy) Nicoll is a Director in FHA Production at Lument where he assists originators with screening, structuring and executing FHA‐insured affordable and market-rate multifamily loans. Based in Washington, D.C., Andy supports Lument’s offices nationwide, helping to identify opportunities for FHA execution, both in construction and refinance/acquisition financing. As a former Underwriter, Andy brings his expertise of HUD programs to serve as a liaison between the Production and Underwriting teams at Lument.

Prior to joining Lument in 2018, Andy served as Deputy Chief Underwriter at Dwight Capital for four years, where he was integral in establishing the Underwriting platform and building out the Underwriting team. In that time he personally underwrote 72 FHA-insured loans for over $1 billion in loan volume. Before that, Andy held Underwriting positions at Capital One/Beech Street Capital, and Metropolitan Funding Corporation.

Andy received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

John (Chip) O. Moore Jr - Founding Member / Emeritus Board 

Chip Moore is responsible for loan production as President of Highland Commercial Mortgage. Moore has been working in the FHA Multifamily Loan Insurance industry since 1991.

As former Senior Vice President and Principal of Highland Mortgage Company (subsequently Berkadia Commercial Mortgage), Moore was responsible for FHA multifamily loan originations, was an approved MAP underwriter and was actively involved in managing construction loans.

Chip is a past board member of the Commercial Board of Governors and is former Chairman of the Multifamily Housing Committee and the FHA Multifamily Loan Insurance Committee for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. During the service of his Chairmanship, FHA was in the process of developing the Multifamily Accelerated Processing program. As Chairman, Moore acted as the industry liaison with HUD and was intimately involved in the development of the MAP program.

Chip currently serves on the Board the Alabama Affordable Housing Association (AAHA) and is a founding member of, and still serves on, the board of the Southeast Mortgagee Advisory Council (SMAC) and the Multifamily Lenders Council, an organization established to directly lobby congress and the administration regarding issues impacting the FHA loan insurance programs.

Carolyn Whatley - Past President / Emeritus Board 

Carolyn Whatley is a 25+-year veteran of the mortgage banking and apartment development industry.  She has closed over $1 billion in multifamily, senior housing, healthcare and commercial real estate loans encompassing 43 states.  For more than 20 years, Carolyn has specialized in originating FHA insured (HUD) transactions for market rate and affordable housing properties nationwide.   Her successes have included closings for refinance, acquisition, new construction & sub-rehab of market rate, low income housing tax credit, historic tax credit and tax-exempt bond transactions.  In addition, she has experience with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, conduit and municipal pension fund placements.  For 13 years, Carolyn served as a principal with The MIG Companies where she was responsible for their national multifamily construction lending platform.  During her career, Carolyn has been recognized as a top producer on multiple occasions and recognized by her peers as a leader. 

Carolyn is proud to represent the industry by serving as an active member on the board of the Southeast Mortgagee Advisory Council since 2009, including a term as its president.  This organization works directly with the HUD offices, lenders and third-party vendors to educate and improve the process.

Susan Hall - Past President / SMAC Historian / Emeritus Emeritus

Susan Hall is the Chief Executive Officer of Highland Commercial Mortgage. Beginning her career in the FHA Multifamily Loan Industry over 35 years ago, she is recognized as one of the top leaders in FHA loan originations. Susan has originated, processed, underwritten and closed hundreds of new construction and refinance loans using all FHA multifamily programs in FHA offices throughout the country.

She oversees the operations of the Servicing Department and Ginnie Mae Director (oversight of Ginnie Mae Administrator) and is a MAP approved Construction Loan Administrator.

She has delivered loans to GNMA, State Agencies, and Bank Trustees and handled issuance of GNMA Mortgage Backed Securities. She is responsible for GMNA Mortgage Backed Securities Issuance and Servicing including obtaining Commitment Authority and pool numbers, assembling and submitting pool issuance documents, and monthly accounting reports. Susan has experience in construction loan administration from initial closing through final closing. She has also offered her expertise to non-profit mortgagors obtaining Section 202/811 loans or capital advances. Susan serves on the Board of the Southeast Mortgagee Advisory Council (SMAC) and maintains memberships in associations throughout the industry.