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 August 27, 2026, the top 3 include DAE CHOI (JSB Mortgage Corporation, NMLS #2764547), Daniel Curtis (PennyMac Loan Services, LLC, NMLS #2737709), 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 | $23.4M | 33 | $708K |
| #2 | Daniel Curtis | 2737709 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | — | $4.0M | 15 | $267K |
| #3 | Ketch Gannon | 2757756 | OPTIMUM FIRST INC. | 240415 | Huntington Beach, CA | $9.2M | 14 | $654K |
| #3 | Jessica Dye | 2803052 | OPTIMUM FIRST INC. | 240415 | Huntington Beach, CA | $7.5M | 14 | $537K |
| #5 | Wayne Kim | 2786861 | JSB Mortgage Corporation | 1558084 | Monterey Park, CA | $12.5M | 13 | $964K |
| #5 | Jake Parker | 2763475 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Roseville, CA | $6.8M | 13 | $520K |
| #7 | Erickson Bondoc | 2831354 | Water and Power Community Credit Union | 525600 | Los Angeles, CA | $9.1M | 12 | $762K |
| #8 | Jose Cerrato | 1203665 | Golden Empire Mortgage, Inc. | 2427 | Escondido, CA | $4.2M | 11 | $381K |
| #8 | Eric Grollman | 2786401 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Pasadena, CA | $3.7M | 11 | $335K |
| #8 | Cody Hess | 2802793 | Onity Mortgage Corporation | 2726 | Plano, TX | $3.9M | 11 | $351K |
| #8 | Bobby Le | 2837928 | SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union | 405503 | Long Beach, CA | $1.0M | 11 | $95K |
| #8 | Sandy Jacob | 2812001 | Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 3030 | Phoenix, AZ | $1.5M | 11 | $133K |
| #13 | Daniel Denham | 2770436 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Carrollton, TX | $3.2M | 10 | $318K |
| #13 | Lee Garoutte | 360998 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Roseville, CA | $2.5M | 10 | $252K |
| #15 | Ramy Labib | 2162320 | JR PRIME INC | 2724050 | Bellflower, CA | $6.4M | 9 | $708K |
| #15 | Cristian Godina | 2802847 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 399798 | Jacksonville, FL | $541K | 9 | $60K |
| #17 | Cedric Gray | 2799393 | loanDepot.com, LLC | 174457 | Scottsdale, AZ | $3.7M | 8 | $468K |
| #17 | Arianna Avila | 1369402 | JPS Lenders, LTD. | 1206623 | Clovis, CA | $2.4M | 8 | $302K |
| #17 | Jonathan Nguyen | 2784835 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Roseville, CA | $2.4M | 8 | $295K |
| #20 | Joseph Romero | 2756861 | AdvantageFirst Lending Inc. | 1209177 | Lake Forest, CA | $3.3M | 7 | $477K |
| #20 | Janora Fisher | 2796779 | Amerisave Mortgage Corporation | 1168 | Sandy Springs, GA | $858K | 7 | $123K |
| #20 | John Wei | 1132996 | NEXA Mortgage, LLC | 1660690 | Mesa, AZ | $7.2M | 7 | $1.0M |
| #20 | Jesus Cruz | 2775718 | E Mortgage Capital, Inc. | 1416824 | Santa Ana, CA | $2.2M | 7 | $318K |
| #20 | Sean Dibsy | 2236623 | OPTIMUM FIRST INC. | 240415 | Huntington Beach, CA | $3.6M | 7 | $513K |
| #20 | Natalie Cortez | 2776422 | HILLHURST MORTGAGE, INC. | 248170 | Los Angeles, CA | $5.5M | 7 | $791K |
| #26 | Tyvan Lindbeck | 2806981 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Tampa, FL | $676K | 6 | $113K |
| #26 | Jagdish Singh | 2734008 | Loan Factory, Inc. | 320841 | Stockton, CA | $3.7M | 6 | $613K |
| #26 | Cristian Mendoza | 2802740 | Onity Mortgage Corporation | 2726 | Plano, TX | $2.5M | 6 | $413K |
| #26 | Kathryn Feldman | 2847544 | Third Federal Savings & Loan Association | 449401 | Cleveland, OH | $969K | 6 | $161K |
| #26 | Shawn Gavin | 2781239 | The Ciucevich Group LLC | 2481808 | Sanford, NC | $1.2M | 6 | $198K |
| #26 | Alejandro Antonio Gonzalez | 2590298 | CMR FINANCIAL SERVICES INC | 1947091 | West Covina, CA | $3.7M | 6 | $618K |
| #26 | Rachel Pepin | 2784838 | Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation | 2289 | Pensacola, FL | $1.8M | 6 | $293K |
| #26 | Yavuz Gorgulu | 2769426 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | — | $2.8M | 6 | $471K |
| #26 | Taylor Bills | 2785218 | Amerisave Mortgage Corporation | 1168 | Sandy Springs, GA | $803K | 6 | $134K |
| #26 | Matthew Schubert | 2778914 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Tampa, FL | $1.7M | 6 | $286K |
| #26 | Ali Midlij | 2811811 | Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 3030 | Detroit, MI | $942K | 6 | $157K |
| #26 | Jose Fuentes | 2811992 | Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 3030 | Phoenix, AZ | $853K | 6 | $142K |
| #26 | Edward Weber | 41763 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 399798 | Jacksonville, FL | $765K | 6 | $128K |
| #26 | Michael Gunderson | 2801442 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Tampa, FL | $1.0M | 6 | $173K |
| #26 | Edgar Ramirez | 2833640 | Pentagon Federal Credit Union | 401822 | San Antonio, TX | $1.1M | 6 | $187K |
| #26 | MUHAMMAD BAGRHIAY | 474501 | Xpert Home Lending Inc. | 2179191 | Braselton, GA | $2.4M | 6 | $395K |
| #42 | Jose Perdomo | 1564268 | Zenta Mortgage Services, LLC | 181658 | Sacramento, CA | $2.3M | 5 | $460K |
| #42 | Roger Martin | 2817636 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Tampa, FL | $600K | 5 | $120K |
| #42 | Michael Diana | 2833123 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 399798 | Jacksonville, FL | $656K | 5 | $131K |
| #42 | Taylor Hargate | 2773308 | CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC | 3029 | Cleveland, OH | $780K | 5 | $156K |
| #42 | Dimitri Jackson | 2559332 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | Carrollton, TX | $1.3M | 5 | $269K |
| #42 | Gregory Aller | 2780121 | Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 3030 | Coppell, TX | $603K | 5 | $121K |
| #42 | Gustavo Perez | 2821356 | Rocket Mortgage, LLC | 3030 | Phoenix, AZ | $1.5M | 5 | $304K |
| #42 | Chelysia Young | 2784864 | PennyMac Loan Services, LLC | 35953 | — | $1.5M | 5 | $304K |
| #42 | Julie Latney | 2818058 | American Internet Mortgage, Inc. | 2890 | San Diego, CA | $2.7M | 5 | $541K |
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 August 27, 2026. https://topmortgageoriginators.com/lo-leaderboard/california/top-rookie-by-units/2026
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