Strategies to Grow and Expand Your Construction Lending Program

Shannon Faries
Director of Strategic Relationships, Land Gorilla

Shannon Faries has lifelong experience in mortgage banking and construction lending. Shannon has founded and managed mortgage banking operations and is the former Chief Lending Officer of a Federal Savings and Loan. Throughout his career, starting as a loan officer, Shannon has focused on construction and renovation lending, A&D loans, and builder financing.  In his role at Land Gorilla, Shannon oversees consulting and new product development for lenders looking to enter the construction lending space and provides best practices for loan program development and risk management. Shannon also manages strategic partnerships and provides consulting services for Land Gorilla’s industry partners, including loan closing doc providers, MI companies, insurance providers, and government agencies.

Nestor Villanueva
AVP Mortgage Production, Northwest Federal Credit Union

Nestor Villanueva is the Assistant Vice President of Mortgage Production at Northwest Federal Credit Union. He has close to 20 years of banking experience with the last 16 in mortgages. Having worked for some of the largest mortgage lenders in the industry, he was instrumental in expanding the mortgage team at Northwest from 4 loan originators to a total of 19 loan originators in four different states. Nestor currently oversees loan production, product development, marketing efforts, and secondary market responsibilities for the entire mortgage department. A motivational leader, he helps others strive to be the best version of themselves.

Nestor graduated from Strayer University with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and will be receiving his MBA in Real Estate from Longwood University in the Spring.  He lives in Lake Ridge, VA with his wife and two teenage boys, and enjoys actively participating in his kids’ team sports which include swimming, lacrosse, and wrestling.

Peter J. Benjamin, CMB
President, ACUMA

Peter J. Benjamin, CMB is the President of the American Credit Union Mortgage Association (ACUMA). A mortgage professional with 20 years of experience, Benjamin has held various positions throughout the mortgage industry including Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending for Lafayette Federal Credit Union in Rockville, MD. During his time at Lafayette Federal, Benjamin led a high-performing mortgage team that exceeded production and budget goals each year, reduced the Credit Union’s cycle times to the industry-required timeframes; and improved the credit union’s application pull-through rate. As an association, Benjamin wants to see ACUMA members continue to foster the collaborative spirit that has made the association so great and work together to support the American Dream of homeownership. He sees ACUMA as a vital education arm that helps Member Credit Unions gain market share in the mortgage industry.