Quicken Loans

Infobox_Company
company_name = Quicken Loans Inc.
company_
company_type = Private
company_slogan =
foundation = 1985
location = Livonia, MI (Detroit by 2011)
key_people = Dan Gilbert, Founder and Chairman
William Emerson,
CEO Patrick McInnis, President
num_employees = 3,500 industry = Finance and Mortgage
products = Mortgage
homepage = [http://www.quickenloans.com/ www.quickenloans.com] ,

Quicken Loans Inc. consists of the QuickenLoans.com online lending site, the Rock Financial brand in southeast Michigan, One Reverse Mortgage [cite news | title = Quicken Loans Enters Reverse Mortgage Business| publisher = Reverse Mortgage Daily | date = 2008-01-23 | url = http://reversemortgagedaily.com/2008/01/23/quicken-enters-reverse-mortgage-business/ | accessdate = 2008-01-23] , based in San Diego, California, and Title Source, a mortgage settlement service provider. Quicken Loans closed $18 billion in residential mortgage loans in 2006.

The company employs about 3,500 workers and is currently headquartered in Livonia, Michigan. [cite news | title = Quicken lays off 250 in Mich., Ariz., Ohio| publisher = The Detroit News | date = 2008-06-20 | url = http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/BIZ/806200406 | accessdate = 2008-07-01]

History

Quicken Loans, originally Rock Financial Corporation, was founded in 1985 by Dan Gilbert and Ron Berman and soon became one of the largest independent mortgage companies in the country. In May 1998, Gilbert took Rock Financial public, launching a successful IPO underwritten by Bear Stearns and Prudential Securities.

In December 1999, Intuit Inc. (makers of QuickBooks, TurboTax, and Quicken) purchased Rock Financial for a sum of $532M. The company was renamed Quicken Loans. In June 2002, Gilbert led a small group of private investors in purchasing the Quicken Loans subsidiary back from Intuit for just $64M. [cite news | title = The 400 richest Americans| publisher = Forbes Magazine
date = 2007-08-24
url = http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Daniel-Gilbert_LIVH.html | accessdate = 2007-08-24]

Relocation

On November 12, 2007, Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert announced a development agreement with the city to move the company headquarters to downtown Detroit, consolidating suburban offices. [Howes, Daniel (November 12, 2007). [http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071112/OPINION03/711120450&imw=Y Quicken moving to downtown Detroit] ."The Detroit News". Retrieved on November 12, 2007.] The construction sites reserved for development by the agreement include the location of the former Statler on Grand Circus Park and the former Hudson's location. [Loc. cit.]

Locations

* Livonia, MI
* Southfield, MI
* Cleveland, OH
* Phoenix, AZ

Reverse mortgage

In the Spring of 2008 Rock Holdings entered the Reverse Mortgage market with the acquisition of One Reverse Mortgage in Southern California.

Employment levels

While Quicken Loans has not had the massive layoffs of other companies in the industry, the company has seen a drop in employment levels. According to the The Detroit News, Quicken Loans did not hire new staff in September or October 2007 for their Michigan offices, but continue to hire for its Cleveland and Scottsdale, Ariz., offices. [cite news | title = Gilbert: Housing slump hits Quicken| publisher = The Detroit News | date = 2007-10-15 | url = http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071015/BIZ/710150366/1001 | accessdate = 2007-10-15] Then on June 19, the company laid off 250 people "across the board" at locations in Michigan, Ohio, and Arizona. According to a company spokeswoman, the layoffs were caused by the slumping econonmy and improved efficiency. [cite news | title = Quicken lays off 250 in Mich., Ariz., Ohio| publisher = The Detroit News | date = 2008-06-20 | url = http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/BIZ/806200406 | accessdate = 2008-07-01]

2007 credit crunch

In August 2007 the entire mortgage industry faced a crisis in obtaining new credit from banking institutions and hedge funds. In response to that Quicken Loans stopped doing all: [cite news | title = Gilbert: Mortgage squeeze could be blessing for Quicken| publisher = The Detroit Free Press
date = 2007-08-16
url = http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/COL06/70816033&imw=Y | accessdate = 2007-08-16]

* Second mortgages
* Home equity lines of credit (HELOC)
* Alt-A products
* Deferred interest loans

Gilbert is quoted as saying that Quicken is active in closing "plain vanilla loans".

Class action lawsuit

Quicken Loans Inc. is currently the defendant in a class action lawsuit. This was filed against the company on behalf of employees who worked as loan consultants for any Quicken office within the past three years. The suit alleges that Quicken is in violation of the Fair Labor Act for failing to pay the plaintiffs overtime for working beyond a 40-hour work week. The officers of Quicken Loans have denied these claims, and say they are not aware of any such violations of the Fair Labor Act. [Citation| last = Dybis| first = Karen| title = Former Quicken Loans workers file suit| newspaper = The Detroit News| year = 2005| date = February 10| url = http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0502/10/C01-85672.htm]

External links

* [http://www.quickenloans.com Quicken Loans]
* [http://www.theqarena.com Quicken Loans Arena]
* [https://www.onereversemortgage.com One Reverse Mortgage] [cite news | title = Quicken Loans Enters Reverse Mortgage Business| publisher = Reverse Mortgage Daily | date = 2008-01-23 | url = http://reversemortgagedaily.com/2008/01/23/quicken-enters-reverse-mortgage-business/ | accessdate = 2008-01-23]
* [http://www.whatsthediff.com Quicken Loans blog] [cite news | title = The DIFF Blog -- Searching the World for the DIFFerence| publisher = WOMMA | date = 2007-08-30 | url = http://www.womma.org/casestudy/examples/create-a-blog/the-diff-blog-searching-the-wo/ | accessdate = 2007-08-30]

References