Quicken Loans Inc., is a mortgage lending company headquartered in the One Campus Martius building in the heart of the financial district of downtown Detroit, Michigan. In January 2018, the company became the largest overall retail lender in the U.S. (it is also the largest online retail mortgage lender). Unlike other large mortgage lenders that depend on deposits, Quicken Loans relies on wholesale funding to make its loans and uses online applications rather than a branch system. Title Source and One Reverse Mortgage are also part of the Quicken Loans Family of Companies. The company closed more than $400 billion of mortgage volume across all 50 states from 2013 through 2017.
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History
Quicken Loans, originally Rock Financial, was founded in 1985 by Dan Gilbert, Gary Gilbert and Lindsay Gross. In July 1987 the name was changed to Rock Financial Corp.
As RFC grew so did the head count, hitting 50 employees in August 1991. In May 1998, Gilbert took Rock Financial public, launching an IPO underwritten by Bear Stearns and Prudential Securities.
In December 1999, Intuit Inc. (makers of QuickBooks, TurboTax, Quicken, and an online lending platform QuickenMortgage) purchased Rock Financial Corp. for $532M. The company was renamed Quicken Loans. In June 2002, Dan Gilbert led a small group of private investors in purchasing the Quicken Loans subsidiary back from Intuit for $64M.
The company started to change course in the late 1990s, shifting from a traditional mortgage provider to an online-focused lender. Traditionally, the home mortgage business in America has been fragmented due to varying regulations in each state and locality. Gilbert challenged this orthodoxy, however, by offering loan applications online that were reviewed by experts versed in the regulations of each region but who were located in a central headquarters.
On November 12, 2007, Gilbert announced a development agreement with the city of Detroit to move the company headquarters downtown, consolidating suburban offices. The construction sites reserved for development by the agreement included the location of the former Statler Hotel on Grand Circus Park and the former Hudson's location. Quicken Loans moved into its downtown headquarters in August 2010. The initial move brought 1,700 employees to the city.
Since 2009, Quicken has leased office space in the Compuware building facing Campus Martius Park in Detroit. The company also houses its employees in Downtown Detroit's First National Building, The Qube, Chrysler House, One Woodward Avenue, and 1001 Woodward, all owned by Quicken Loans' parent company, Rock Ventures.
In the spring of 2008, Rock Holdings entered the reverse mortgage market with the acquisition of One Reverse Mortgage.
The company saw a small drop in employment levels following the 2008 financial crisis.
In August 2007, the entire mortgage industry faced a crisis in obtaining new credit from banking institutions and hedge funds. In response, Quicken Loans discontinued:
- Second mortgages
- Home equity lines of credit (HELOC)
- Alt-A products
- Deferred interest loans
In 2004, Quicken Loans became a defendant in a class action lawsuit. This was filed against the company on behalf of employees who had worked as loan consultants for any Quicken office within the past three years. The claimants alleged that Quicken violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to pay the plaintiffs overtime for working beyond a 40-hour work week. Quicken Loans denied these claims, and said it is not aware of any such violations of the FLSA. On March 17, 2011, a federal jury found in favor of Quicken Loans, ending the seven-year-old lawsuit. The decision means that Quicken Loans is not obligated to pay overtime payments to the plaintiffs.
In 2014, Quicken Loans grew to be the 2nd largest mortgage lender in the United States, and remains the nation's largest online mortgage lender. The company employs 24,000 people nationwide, with approximately 17,000 now working in the city of Detroit, making it Detroit's largest employer, minority employer, and taxpayer.
In 2016, Quicken Loans launched Rocket Mortgage, one of the first fully online mortgage lenders.
In January 2018, Quicken Loans became the nation's largest mortgage lender.
Maps Quicken Loans
See also
- Quicken Loans Arena - A multi-purpose arena in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio.
- Suburban Collection Showplace (previously known as the Rock Financial Showplace) - A convention center in Novi, Michigan
References
External links
- Quicken Loans
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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