Key Mortgage Services, a Chicago-based financial products provider, has appointed Ralph Melbourne as its new president. Selected from a nationwide search, Melbourne joins the team with decades of industry experience.

In addition to various executive positions, Melbourne has served as the national head of mortgage lending for BMO Harris and as a managing director for Guaranteed Rate prior to joining Key Mortgage Services. He begins his career there in the mortgage arm of Baird & Warner, Illinois’ largest family-owned independent real estate services company.

Steve Baird, the president and CEO of Baird & Warner looks forward to the development. “We’re proud to add the expertise and knowledge of Ralph Melbourne as we continue making the process easier for homebuyers and sellers in the Chicago area and beyond,” he said in a press release. “We’re amid another record-breaking year and Ralph’s 25-plus years of work as an innovative change leader in the financial services industry will help us further elevate the transaction-to-closing experience with a vision toward future growth.” In 2020 alone, Baird & Warner earned $11.5 billion in sales with more than 37,500 companywide transactions: the most successful year in its 166-year history. Baird & Warner Title Services and Key Mortgage Services contributed to those results.

Melbourne is also excited about the mission at Baird & Warner. “Consumers want easy mortgage solutions, and the one-stop-shop model Baird & Warner has perfected over three decades quickly connects clients to finance products that get them into the house of their dreams,” he said. “I’m proud to lead such a successful independent mortgage firm and work with the talented team at Key Mortgage in developing new methods and processes to support additional volume as the market continues its trajectory.”