Quicken Rises to #3 Mortgage Lender

Quicken Loans more than doubled its mortgage volume in 2012, originating $70 billion in home loans to move up to become the nation’s third-largest retail mortgage lender, the company reports.

The figure represents a 133 percent increase over the company’s old annual record of $30 billion in mortgages that Quicken closed in 2011 and further cements its status as the nation’s leading online lender. The company was the nation’s eighth-largest mortgage lender in 2011, according to rankings from Mortgage Daily.

Now servicing mortgages as well

The company also took a big step by entering the mortgage servicing business in 2012 – that is, handling billing, payment collection and other management services for outstanding loans – building a portfolio of some $80 billion in residential mortgages as of the end of the year.

The company nearly doubled its full-time staff over the past year and now employs more than 8,000 workers based in offices in Detroit, Cleveland and Scottsdale, Ariz.

“We handled our explosive growth quite well over the past year,” said Bill Emerson, Quicken CEO. “In addition to record revenue and volume, we positioned ourselves for 2013 and beyond by developing key partnerships that will serve as a foundation for the continued future growth of our business and market share.”

Those partnerships include becoming the exclusive residential mortgage provider for Charles Schwab Bank, and licensing its loan processing technology to JP Morgan Chase.

Kudos from J.P. Power

The company was also ranked highest in customer satisfaction among all U.S. mortgage lenders for the third consecutive year by J.P. Power and Associates.

The success of the 27-year-old company has enabled it to become a major player in the revitalization of the downtown of its home base of Detroit. Rock Ventures, the umbrella company coordinating operations among Quicken founder Dan Gilbert’s business ventures, purchased eight buildings in downtown Detroit this past year to bring its total holdings there to 15 buildings.

The nation’s two largest mortgage lenders ahead of Quicken are Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase, according to data collected by Mortgage Daily.

First published at: http://www.mortgageloan.com/quicken-rises-3-mortgage-lender-9334