From the November issue: Mortgage broker and WPIX television show host Jeffrey Appel took a new
job at Bank of America last month after his former employer, Preferred
Empire Mortgage, was reconfigured in a joint venture with
California-based lender Wells Fargo Bank. Appel, now a vice president at Bank of America’s home lending
division, was a senior vice president at Preferred Empire Mortgage, a
mortgage brokerage owned by the city’s biggest residential real estate
brokerage, Prudential Douglas Elliman. In a past study, The Real Deal ranked Appel as one of the city’s top mortgage producers.
Preferred ceased operations as an entity in September and a new
company, DE Capital Mortgage, was created as a joint venture between
Prudential and Wells Fargo. Appel, who led a team of brokers that at
its height had seven members, said although he thought the joint
venture was a good decision, he opted to move to Bank of America on
Oct. 13.