ResCap CEO Thomas Marano resigns

NEW YORK (AP) -- The CEO of Residential Capital LLC, the bankrupt mortgage division of Ally Financial, has resigned.

Thomas Marano started at Residential Capital, or ResCap, in August 2008. His tenure included working on a significant restructuring of ResCap's servicing and origination business when the financial crisis struck. Marano, whose resignation is effective immediately, plans to help with the transition process for the company while he pursues other interests.

The 51-year-old Marano — who spent 25 years at Bear Stearns before it was sold to JPMorgan in 2008— will continue to serve as ResCap's chairman, according to Alex Stockham, a ResCap spokesman and vice president at Rubenstein Associates.

ResCap is not seeking to name a new CEO.

ResCap said Monday that former general counsel Tammy Hamzehpour, who will serve as chief business officer, will work with Chief Restructuring Officer Lewis Kruger on the restructuring efforts of the New York company.

ResCap filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2012 under the weight of toxic mortgages. Ally Financial Inc. — formerly known as GMAC Inc. — is 74 percent owned by the U.S. government as a result of bailouts. ResCap has been a drain on Ally's finances because it has struggled to make payments on its debt ever since the U.S. housing market collapsed in 2007.

In February ResCap completed the sale of a portfolio of mortgage loans to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Warren Buffett's company won the bankruptcy auction for ResCap's loan portfolio with a $1.5 billion bid last year. ResCap has also sold some assets to Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC and Walter Management Investment Corp. The company said that proceeds from the asset sales totaled more than $4 billion.