Leading rookies in California in 2026, ranked by loan count. Powered by ChatMMI — the only fully conversational AI experience for mortgage and real estate data.
As of May 28, 2026, the top 3 include DAE CHOI (JSB Mortgage Corporation, NMLS #2764547), Wayne Kim (JSB Mortgage Corporation, NMLS #2786861), and Ketch Gannon (OPTIMUM FIRST INC., NMLS #2757756).
Updated · Recorded mortgage transactions typically appear in this dataset approximately 22 days after the recording date.
| Rank | Loan officer | LO NMLS | Current Lender / Broker | Lender NMLS | Location | 2026 Volume | 2026 Loans | Avg Loan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | DAE CHOI | 2764547 | JSB Mortgage Corporation | 1558084 | Monterey Park, CA | $13.0M | 20 | $651K |
| #2 | Wayne Kim | 2786861 | JSB Mortgage Corporation | 1558084 | Monterey Park, CA | $10.1M | 11 | $918K |
| #3 | Ketch Gannon | 2757756 | OPTIMUM FIRST INC. | 240415 | Huntington Beach, CA | $5.3M | 9 | $586K |
| #4 | Jake Parker | 2763475 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Roseville, CA | $4.5M | 7 | $637K |
| #5 | Yavuz Gorgulu | 2769426 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Carrollton, TX | $1.7M | 5 | $333K |
| #6 | Daniel Denham | 2770436 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Franklin, TN | $1.6M | 4 | $388K |
| #6 | Jesus Cruz | 2775718 | E Mortgage Capital, Inc. | 1416824 | Santa Ana, CA | $913K | 4 | $228K |
| #6 | Daniel Curtis | 2737709 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Pasadena, CA | $1.5M | 4 | $386K |
| #6 | Dominique Griffin | 2681084 | Stone Bridge Mortgage Inc | 1938081 | Solana Beach, CA | $3.2M | 4 | $798K |
| #10 | Cedric Gray | 2799393 | loanDepot.com, LLC | 174457 | Scottsdale, AZ | $905K | 3 | $302K |
| #10 | Cristian Godina | 2802847 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 399798 | Jacksonville, FL | $195K | 3 | $65K |
| #10 | Jessica Dye | 2803052 | OPTIMUM FIRST INC. | 240415 | Huntington Beach, CA | $2.1M | 3 | $705K |
| #10 | Taylor Hargate | 2773308 | CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC | 3029 | Cleveland, OH | $609K | 3 | $203K |
| #10 | Taylor Bills | 2785218 | Amerisave Mortgage Corporation | 1168 | Sandy Springs, GA | $526K | 3 | $175K |
| #10 | Bryan McCarthy | 2769344 | AdvantageFirst Lending Inc. | 1209177 | Lake Forest, CA | $1.7M | 3 | $579K |
| #10 | Trevor Otto | 2790502 | CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC | 3029 | Cleveland, OH | $942K | 3 | $314K |
| #17 | Edward DeJoy | 2113894 | Mortgage 2000 Inc | 313275 | Redondo Beach, CA | $940K | 2 | $470K |
| #17 | Andrew Busic | 2790491 | CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC | 3029 | Cleveland, OH | $690K | 2 | $345K |
| #17 | Cody Hess | 2802793 | Onity Mortgage Corporation | 2726 | Plano, TX | $573K | 2 | $286K |
| #17 | Gustavo Miranda | 2778019 | Residential Wholesale Mortgage, Inc. | 79445 | Canyon Lake, CA | $315K | 2 | $157K |
| #17 | George Damm | 2802792 | Village Capital & Investment LLC | 3317 | Draper, UT | $1.5M | 2 | $742K |
| #17 | Christopher Kendall | 2616023 | West Capital Lending, Inc. | 1566096 | Irvine, CA | $945K | 2 | $472K |
| #17 | Jose Perdomo | 1564268 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Pasadena, CA | $1.1M | 2 | $558K |
| #17 | Shant Avadisian | 2791441 | Apex Home Loans LLC | 2140181 | Glendale, CA | $3.6M | 2 | $1.8M |
| #17 | Richard Porter | 2804215 | More Than Mortgage, Inc | 1229052 | Roseville, CA | $766K | 2 | $383K |
| #17 | Eric Grollman | 2786401 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Pasadena, CA | $841K | 2 | $421K |
| #17 | Brittney Stellar | 2789326 | Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 3030 | — | $220K | 2 | $110K |
| #17 | Leon Rodriguez | 2784552 | CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC | 3029 | — | $1.1M | 2 | $535K |
| #17 | Harrison Rose | 2790499 | CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC | 3029 | Cleveland, OH | $163K | 2 | $82K |
| #17 | Zachary Burnash | 2799461 | loanDepot.com, LLC | 174457 | Southfield, MI | $187K | 2 | $94K |
| #17 | Michael Davis | 2329505 | C & C FINANCIAL, CORP | 1054224 | Anaheim, CA | $1.4M | 2 | $691K |
| #17 | SHAWNA ALCALA ANTONIO | 2668635 | Change Lending, LLC | 1839 | Anaheim, CA | $1.1M | 2 | $541K |
| #17 | Lee Garoutte | 360998 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Roseville, CA | $560K | 2 | $280K |
| #17 | Janora Fisher | 2796779 | Amerisave Mortgage Corporation | 1168 | Sandy Springs, GA | $151K | 2 | $75K |
| #17 | Michael Gunderson | 2801442 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Tampa, FL | $617K | 2 | $309K |
| #17 | Christopher Fusco | 2782148 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 399798 | Jacksonville, FL | $983K | 2 | $491K |
| #17 | Rachel Pepin | 2784838 | Amerisave Mortgage Corporation | 1168 | Sandy Springs, GA | $751K | 2 | $375K |
| #17 | Thomas Melnyk | 2790510 | CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC | 3029 | — | $480K | 2 | $240K |
| #17 | Mayra Montejano | 2508213 | Stigler Mortgage | 2087519 | Rancho Cucamonga, CA | $1.1M | 2 | $532K |
| #17 | Dustin Putt | 2764844 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Franklin, TN | $394K | 2 | $197K |
| #17 | William Toney | 2793065 | Amerisave Mortgage Corporation | 1168 | Sandy Springs, GA | $398K | 2 | $199K |
| #17 | Arianna Avila | 1369402 | JPS Lenders, LTD. | 1206623 | Clovis, CA | $375K | 2 | $188K |
| #17 | Derick Benitez | 2734285 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Carrollton, TX | $1.1M | 2 | $532K |
| #17 | Jonathan Nguyen | 2784835 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Roseville, CA | $851K | 2 | $426K |
| #17 | Levon Vartanian | 2772320 | Apex Home Loans LLC | 2140181 | Glendale, CA | $726K | 2 | $363K |
| #17 | Damian Saylor | 2771712 | loanDepot.com, LLC | 174457 | Chandler, AZ | $587K | 2 | $293K |
| #17 | Sean Dibsy | 2236623 | OPTIMUM FIRST INC. | 240415 | Huntington Beach, CA | $690K | 2 | $345K |
| #17 | Ali Midlij | 2811811 | Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 3030 | Detroit, MI | $117K | 2 | $58K |
| #17 | Gordon Jin | 2662133 | Grand Realty Group | 2076451 | Elk Grove, CA | $651K | 2 | $326K |
| #50 | Joseph Romero | 2756861 | AdvantageFirst Lending Inc. | 1209177 | Lake Forest, CA | $581K | 1 | $581K |
These rankings are powered by MMI's nationwide residential mortgage public record dataset. MMI collects mortgage transaction data from recording jurisdictions across the United States, with an average data latency of approximately 22 days from the recording date.
Transactions are matched to NMLS identifiers for loan officers, lenders, and brokers where applicable. MMI then deduplicates, normalizes, and validates this data to create an authoritative mortgage production dataset that powers MMI's analytics, recruiting, marketing, and intelligence products.
Rankings reflect recorded mortgage transactions available to MMI at the time of the last data refresh. Recent activity may continue to update as additional transactions are recorded and processed.
TopMortgageOriginators.com. Leading Rookies by Loan Count — California (2026). Powered by MMI public record mortgage production data, accessed May 28, 2026. https://topmortgageoriginators.com/lo-leaderboard/california/top-rookie-by-units/2026
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