Sherman Oaks, CA, February 17, 2005 - As part of its ongoing expansion of Affiliated Business Arrangement (ABA)-related business, Metrocities Mortgage, a leader in the residential mortgage lending market, has appointed Joseph E. Carroll as First Vice President of the company's Western Region. In his new role, Carroll will be responsible for business development of ABA relationships within Orange, San Diego and parts of Los Angeles and Riverside counties, including supporting the West Los Angeles, Irvine and San Diego Loan Centers.

"Joe has outstanding credentials and we are very pleased to welcome him to Metrocities Mortgage. In addition to having 20 years of real estate and mortgage experience with some of the country's top companies, he has expertise in developing ABA relationships, which are the cornerstone of our business," explained Don Rosselli, Executive Vice President, Southern California Region, Metrocities Mortgage. "Joe joins a team which includes a significant number of leaders who have managed mortgage companies that have worked with the top 10 realty companies in the United States."

"As I have a great deal of experience working with companies that provide 'bundled' services, I look forward to further developing Metrocities' ABA business within the Southern California area," Carroll said. "Metrocities has established its reputation by being the recognized industry Affiliated Business Arrangement leader and my goal is to further build that business."

Carroll most recently served as Executive Vice President of Assurance Capital, where he helped increase revenue by 59% and integrated company services (real estate, mortgage, title and escrow) at the point of sale, while leading mortgage operations. Assurance Capital shares common ownership with First Team Real Estate, the No. 1 homeownership firm in Orange County, California, and a provider of real estate, mortgage, title and escrow services.

Prior to that, Carroll served as President of DeWolfe Direct, Inc., in Lexington, MA, a real estate, mortgage, insurance and moving company, where he helped grow the company from 58 offices and $1.7 billion in real estate sales, to more than 100 offices and sales of over $6.8 billion. He also served as Senior Vice President at DeWolfe Mortgage Services, Inc., prior to its sale to NRT, a division of Cendant, Coldwell Banker, in September 2002.

From 2000 to 2001, Carroll served as National Chairman of the Realty Alliance Mortgage Group, an organization of the 50 largest real estate companies in the United States; he has worked with the FNMA (Fannie Mae) Homestore.com Development Group, and has served as a RESPRO (Real Estate Settlement and Providers Organization) Liaison.

Carroll holds real estate Broker licenses in California, Massachusetts and Maine, and he is a licensed construction contractor.

Attention Editors: A photo of Mr. Carroll is available at:
www.metrocitiesmtg.com/images/JoeCarroll.jpg

ABOUT METROCITIES MORTGAGE

Established in 1989, Metrocities Mortgage is ranked in the top 1 percent of residential mortgage lenders nationwide for closed loan volume, closing over $6.3 billion* in 2004. Headquartered in Sherman Oaks, California, Metrocities Mortgage has become a leading nationwide lender based on unique loan programs and successful joint ventures (affiliated business arrangements) with key real estate companies, credit unions, financial advisor/business management companies, builders and other affinity groups. Loan Officers have access to over 7,000 loan programs and proprietary search engine technology enabling them to find the best loan products for their clients. As America's Best Relationship Lender^sm, Metrocities Mortgage is renowned for its in-house lending expertise, wide selection of loan programs and Heroic Customer Service ^sm.

*Includes Metrocities' family of companies.