Doma, formerly States Title, appoints Cerberus president as chairman

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Matt Zames, who is stepping down as president of Cerberus Capital Management this week, is adding a new title at a property tech startup that he has advised for years.

Zames said he will be chairman of Doma, which earlier this month agreed to go public through a SPAC merger. Zames was an adviser to Doma before he joined its board in 2018, and is also a shareholder.

Doma, formerly known as States Title, uses machine learning to cut steps out of the notoriously lengthy process of closing a mortgage. The company says its services save time and money for mortgage originators while improving the home buyers’ experience.

“As a former bank executive, this is actually game-changing for a bank,” Zames said in an interview. “To say you can go from 5 days to basically instant underwriting, there’s extraordinary savings associated with that. And the client journey is so much more friendly.”

Matt Zames

Zames, who has not yet decided on his next career move, met Doma CEO Max Simkoff through former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who is also on the company’s board.

“The company is fortunate to have him taking this role,” Simkoff said in an interview.

Doma has facilitated more than 800,000 closings for lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co., PennyMac Financial Services Inc. and Homepoint Capital Inc.

The company has 1% market share in the $23 billion title and escrow business and wants to increase that to 5% by 2023, according to an investor presentation.