BUSINESS OPERATIONS TRACK: Control the Close - Managing Deal Friction
In today’s fast‑moving closing environment, many challenges feel outside a closer’s control, from tight timelines to delayed third party responses. This session focuses on how closers can maintain a sense of control by managing deals proactively, spotting issues early, and communicating clearly. Attendees learn practical ways to keep stakeholders aligned, resolve problems quickly, and move closings forward even when key elements are not fully within their direct influence. Sponsored by Cotality.
Speakers
Introductions
Aaron Eichenlaub is the Senior Vice President of Commercial Payment Solutions at Cotality, where he leads product, marketing, sales, and customer support for the commercial tax business. He recently spearheaded the successful launch of the division's new customer-facing platform, the Commercial Tax Portal. With nearly two decades of experience in the prop tech industry, Aaron is a recognized leader in scaling organizations both in the U.S. and internationally. His deep expertise in aligning cross-functional teams has been critical in building innovative solutions that address customer needs and drive business growth. He is passionate about helping companies scale and brings a unique and impactful experience set to his role. Aaron is an active participant in the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Institute for Professionals in Taxation, contributing to the broader industry dialogue.
Moderator
Sherry Witt is a Senior Vice President within Key’s Commercial Mortgage Group (CMG), leading the Closing and Delivery Groups across the CMG platform. In her role, Witt oversees the closing and delivery operations for all commercial mortgage loans within CMG, including Fannie, Freddie, FHA, CMBS, Investor Placement and Life companies. Witt frequently navigates complex transactional issues as well as works as a liaison with risk, audit and legal partners for the line of business. Witt is an active participant in Key’s mentoring and Dallas KeyWN programs. CMG is comprised of approximately 200 individuals and plays a significant role in KeyBank Real Estate Capital by providing permanent financing solutions to our clients. The CMG platform builds client relationships by providing a broad spectrum of innovative real estate financing transactions. Prior to joining Key in 2021, Witt was counsel for a large international law firm, where she represented various institutional lenders on a variety of real estate and finance transactions. As a practicing lawyer, Witt held various positions as both in house and outside counsel, including as Real Estate and Finance Counsel for the Neiman Marcus Group. In this role, she oversaw the real estate division of the company within the legal department and supported critical functions including finance, risk/compliance, marketing/vendor contracts, liquor law compliance, internal and external audits, and a variety of general corporate work.
Speakers
Tara Darling is a Shareholder in Polsinelli’s Finance, Investment Strategies, and Real Estate Department where she developed and leads the firm’s Agency Lending practice. In this role, Tara draws on her extensive knowledge of GSE requirements to represent lenders on conventional and Affordable bridge to Agency financing transactions and conventional and Affordable Agency financing transactions and servicing matters (through the Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing Program and the Freddie Mac Seller-Servicer Program). In addition to Tara’s lender representation, she also represents buyers, sellers, and investors in financing transactions for primarily, multifamily projects.
Bianca Geary is the Senior Vice President of GSE Closings at Merchants Capital, where she leads the execution and delivery of complex multifamily transactions under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs. With more than a decade of agency lending experience, she has overseen the closing and delivery of over five billion dollars in multifamily loans, guiding transactions from application through final purchase while ensuring rigorous compliance with GSE requirements. Her work has been consistently recognized for its accuracy, operational discipline, and risk management. She brings a client first approach to getting deals closed, frequently employing creative problem solving to balance efficient execution with thoughtful risk oversight at a firm consistently ranked as a top five Freddie Mac Target Affordable Housing lender and recently recognized as a top five Fannie Mae Multifamily Affordable Housing lender. In her leadership role, Bianca manages and mentors high performing closing teams and works closely with production, underwriting, legal, accounting, asset management, and servicing partners to drive efficient, well controlled outcomes across the loan lifecycle. She is known for fostering collaboration, developing talent, and translating complex agency requirements into practical, executable processes that reduce deal friction and support long term servicing success.
Kristen Sween serves as Assistant Vice President of Closing within Newmark’s Multifamily Capital Markets group. Leveraging over a decade of real estate experience, Kristen began her career as a paralegal at Troutman Pepper before joining Newmark in March of 2020. During her time at Newmark, Kristen has successfully facilitated the closing of over $4.5 billion in Agency debt, which represents nearly 300 loans with individual loan amounts ranging from $2 million to $150 million.
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