As founder and president of Bernard Financial Group, Dennis manages the day-to-day operations of the firm. Additionally, he serves as the largest loan producer at the firm.
Joshua serves as a member of the senior management and loan production teams at Bernard Financial Group. Before joining Bernard, Joshua was an associate with TPG Capital in New York City specializing in bridge, mezzanine and preferred equity lending for all commercial real estate asset classes. Prior to TPG, Joshua was an analyst with Wells Fargo Bank’s Large Loan group specializing in both portfolio and securitized lending products. Joshua graduated with a BBA and high honors from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Joshua lives in downtown Detroit and primarily works out of BFG’s downtown office. Besides overall loan originations, Joshua will focus on further growing BFG’s presence in the city of Detroit and expanding the downtown Detroit office.
Dan serves as a loan producer for Bernard Financial Group. He comes to Bernard after more than a decade of commercial real estate experience both in Detroit and Chicago.
He has financed projects large and small in both the city of Detroit and suburbs, including office, multifamily, industrial and retail properties. Dan’s experience includes construction loans, refinancing stabilized properties and arranging transitional bridge loans.
He is a proud graduate of Michigan State University and the fifth generation of his family to call metropolitan Detroit his home.
Outside the office, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Melissa, and their three children; Maddy, Connor and Emmett.
Jeffrey serves as the head of BFGs Detroit office specializing in loan production. Before joining Bernard, Jeffrey worked in Detroit at Quicken Loans in Mortgage Banking and within the family of companies. Jeffrey graduated from Denison University with a BA in Communication with a concentration in Organizational Studies. He was the captain of the Denison Men’s Tennis team that was ranked #25 in the country.
Adam serves as the Director of Underwriting for Bernard Financial Group. He joined Bernard Financial Servicing Group in 2010 as a Portfolio Manager after graduating from Wayne State University with a bachelor’s degree in finance.
Adam has underwritten over $4 Billion of commercial real estate financing spanning all asset classes and lending platforms.
As the firm’s senior underwriter, David is responsible for evaluating and underwriting various loan requests. After graduation from Eastern Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in finance, David began working at Quicken Loans as a Mortgage Loan Originator. David joined Bernard Financial Group’s Servicing Department in 2015 as a Portfolio Manager.
Outside of the office David enjoys spending time outdoors, along with his wife Emily, and their two dogs.
Kathy serves as the Director of Loan Closing for Bernard Financial Group. She started her career at a local credit union as an accounting clerk. After eight years of superior member service, she joined Bernard Financial Group to expand her knowledge of the financial industry.
While away from the office, Kathy enjoys spending time with her husband Lane and their son Elliott.
Shelby serves as a loan closer for Bernard Financial Group. She joined Bernard Financial Group in the role of Origination and Servicing Specialist. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University. Her responsibilities include loan closings, property inspections, escrow analysis, and making sure that Bernard Financial Group’s clients needs are met.
While away from the office, Shelby enjoys exercising, spending time with her husband Jerome, and their families.
Alia’s responsibilities include monthly invoicing of payments and escrow statements, payment processing, taxes and tax receipts, running trial balances and post draft payments while ensuring the office runs smoothly and effectively.
She started her career as a senior executive assistant to the VP of Information Security Technology at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Alia has a master’s degree from Wayne State University.
Justin serves as the Director of Asset Management for Bernard Financial Servicing Group. Justin handles all types of borrower requests including loan modifications, assumptions, material alterations, major leases, defeasances, easements, and any other request that may require Lender consent. In addition to handling borrower requests, Justin is responsible for monitoring loan covenants and the financial performance of all assets in Bernard’s servicing portfolio. Justin joined Bernard in 2014 shortly after graduating from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He is currently taking classes at Wayne State University with the goal of obtaining his MBA by Spring 2020.
In his spare time, Justin enjoys golfing, coding, and most of all, spending time with his wife and dog.
Stefanie serves as the Director of Loan Servicing Administration. She comes to Bernard Financial from Comerica Bank, where her work as a Global Trade Analyst honed her analytical skills. She is responsible for overseeing and managing regulatory compliance and insurance for the Servicing Portfolio. Also, she is proficient in bank reconciliations, property inspections, escrow analysis, UCC filings, lien releases and the new loan on-boarding process.
Stefanie is a graduate of Wayne State University with a bachelor’s degree in merchandising.
Barbara joined Bernard Financial Group in 2002. With over 30 years of accounting experience in varied business backgrounds, she is proficient in account analysis and complex bank reconciliations. As the Servicing Controller for Bernard Financial Group, Barbara oversees the monthly processes in Mortgage Servicing and also performs the daily corporate accounting functions. She is responsible for disbursements to Master Servicers; and timely payments from the tax and insurance escrow accounts. Barb responds to requests from borrowers, and also does property site inspections.
Jada Duncan joined Bernard Financial Group in 2016 after graduating from Western Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Jada has prior accounting experience in various business backgrounds including the banking industry and retail. She is proficient in account analysis and complex bank reconciliations.
As the Assistant Servicing Controller, Jada assists the mortgage servicing department in several capacities, including but not limited to the daily corporate accounting functions, entering new loan information, bank reconciliation, payroll, processing property tax payments along with escrow analysis.
While away from the office, Jada enjoys family time, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her four-legged baby.
Samantha serves as a Portfolio Manager for Bernard Financial Servicing Group. Samantha joined Bernard in 2017 as an Asset Manager and graduated with honors from Walsh College with a BBA in finance. Her prior experience includes working as a Commercial Loan Credit Analyst at a Community Bank and as a Bank Examiner for the State of Michigan.
While away from the office, Samantha enjoys spending time with her husband, Matt, and their son Anson.
Darrien serves as a Portfolio Manager for Bernard Financial Group. Before joining Bernard, Darrien worked in Portfolio Management at a residential mortgage servicer based in South Carolina managing loan portfolios containing re-performing and bridge loans for institutional investors. Darrien graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in Finance.
Ashlea serves as a servicing specialist for Bernard Financial Group. She started her career in real estate, specializing in declining property takeovers. She now provides support for the servicing department, including but not limited to insurance compliance, loan onboarding, property inspections, and recording property tax information.
While away from the office, Ashlea enjoys kickboxing, museums, cycling and international travel.
Samira serves as a financial analyst for Bernard Financial Group. She is currently a senior at Wayne State University as an accounting and finance dual major, soon to be graduating with her Bachelor’s Degree. Her responsibilities include preparing monthly reports, financial property analysis and property inspections.
