Guaranteed Rate


Guaranteed Rate, Inc. is a U.S. residential mortgage company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2000 by Victor Ciardelli, the company had $37 billion in funded volume in 2019. As of 2020, the company has approximately 5,000 employees and more than 700 offices nationwide and has licenses in 50 states.

History

Guaranteed Rate was founded in Chicago in 2000 by Victor F Ciardelli III, a native of Oak Brook, Illinois, who serves as chairman and CEO. The company has funded over $120 billion in home loans since inception.
Guaranteed Rate has been named to the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces list every year from 2012 through 2018. In 2013, Guaranteed Rate was listed by Crain's Chicago Business as one of the fastest growing companies in Chicago. The company was listed by U.S. News & World Report in 2018 as Top Lender for Online Service. Shant Banosian of Guaranteed Rate in Massachusetts ranked number 1 in the Scotsman Guide 2018 Top Originators rankings, with $536.4 million in 2018 origination volume.
Guaranteed Rate Foundation was formed in 2012 to help community members through difficult times. As of October 2018, the foundation has donated nearly $2.5 million in charitable grants.
In 2013, Guaranteed Rate grew to more than $15.9 billion in residential home loans, an increase of $1.2 billion over 2012. This moved the company from the 12th-largest retail mortgage lender in the U.S. to the 10th.
In February 2014, Guaranteed Rate launched its first national ad campaign, featuring Ty Pennington. The company budgeted up to $10 million for the campaign, growing to as much as $15 million in 2015. A 2016 Guaranteed Rate Super Bowl commercial featuring Pennington aired in regional markets.
In 2015, Guaranteed Rate became the 8th largest retail mortgage lender with volume of more than $18 billion in home loans and was named Lender of the Year by Chicago Agent magazine.
In March 2016, Guaranteed Rate and one of its loan officers were found guilty in California of diverting loans from Mount Olympus Mortgage, and ordered to pay $25 million in damages to the Irvine, California-based company.
In May 2016, Guaranteed Rate bought the URL Rate.com for $725,000.
In August 2016, the Chicago White Sox announced a 13-year agreement with Guaranteed Rate to rename their stadium to Guaranteed Rate Field beginning November 1, 2016. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote an article about this titled "There Can't Be a Worse Name Than Guaranteed Rate Field. Can't Be." In 2017 the team and Guaranteed Rate teamed up to create the Guaranteed Impact program, which honors kids who make a positive difference in their community.
In 2017, Guaranteed Rate entered into a joint venture with Realogy Holdings Corp to form Guaranteed Rate Affinity. Guaranteed Rate will provide marketing services to Realogy's subsidiaries, including NRT and Cartus, and will take over some assets of its former joint venture partner, PHH Mortgage out of New Jersey.
In December 2017, Guaranteed Rate announced plans to sell a minority stake of the company to an affiliate of Boston-based private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners. The partial sale was finalized in June 2018.
In December 2017, a former loan officer sued Guaranteed Rate claiming that he was owed $2 million and that executives at the company were manipulating and misreporting financial information for their own benefit.
In January 2018, Guaranteed Rate announced that its employees' and customers' personal information was in hackers' hands as the result of an email phishing attack.
As of October 2018, Guaranteed Rate is one of the seven-largest retail mortgage provider in the US.
In January 2019, The Wall Street Journal revealed Guaranteed Rate's and other firms' efforts to boost their Glassdoor ratings. According to the article, the company "pressured employees to write positive reviews in order to raise poor ratings, according to interviews with current and former employees." Prior to these efforts, the company's rating on Glassdoor was 2.6. As of June 30, 2020 the company is rated 3.7 on Glassdoor.com, falling from 4.0 in September 2019.
In April 2020, Guaranteed Rate was required to pay the federal government a $15 million fine to settle a lawsuit brought by a former employee whistle blower who alleged the company pushed its underwriters into endorsing ineligible loans for FHA and VA loan programs and making false statements to “induce the government” to extend insurance coverage. According to the Chicago Tribune, as part of the settlement, Guaranteed Rate admitted that it failed to adhere to self-reporting requirements and certified loans for government insurance that were not eligible. It also admitted to giving FHA underwriters commissions and gifts in violation of the rules.

Acquisitions

In 2012, Guaranteed Rate acquired Manhattan Mortgage, a residential mortgage brokerage in the New York Metropolitan Area. Founded in 1985 by Melissa L. Cohn, the company employed more than 100 home loan professionals and originated loans in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida and New Jersey. Cohn later sued Guaranteed Rate and CEO Victor Ciardelli for breach of contract and fraud among other complaints but was unsuccessful.
In 2012, Guaranteed Rate acquired Massachusetts-based Superior Mortgage.
In 2014, Guaranteed Rate acquired Sun State Home Loans, Nationwide Direct, and Arbor Mortgage in one deal. It also acquired lender FirsTrust Mortgage in Overland Park, Kansas.
In November 2018, Guaranteed Rate announced that it would acquire some assets of Honolulu HomeLoans and its affiliate Hawaii Lending Alliance, in order to expand further into the state.

Awards and accolades