Industry Mortgage Products Mortgage CEO Victor Ciardelli Founded 2000 Type of business Private | Founder Victor Ciardelli Website www.guaranteedrate.com Number of employees 3,000 Number of locations 175 | |
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Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, United States Subsidiaries Stewards Investments, Inc. Profiles | ||
Guaranteed Rate Inc., is a U.S. residential mortgage company, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2000 by Victor Ciardelli, the company employs approximately 3,000 and was ranked as the 8th largest lender in 2015. The company has approximately 175 offices nationwide and has licenses in 50 states. Guaranteed Rate is one of the fastest growing companies in Chicago and funded a record-high $18.1 billion in home loans in 2015, a 46% increase over the $12.4 billion in home loans they funded the previous year.
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History
Guaranteed Rate was founded in Chicago in 2000 by Victor F Ciardelli III. The company is now a top 10 retail mortgage lender with approximately 3,000 employees in 175 offices across all 50 states. Guaranteed Rate has funded over $100 billion in home loans since inception and over $18 billion in 2016.
In 2013, Guaranteed Rate grew to more than $15.9 billion in residential home loans, an increase of $1.2 billion over 2012.
Guaranteed Rate was named to the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces list in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. The company is rated 3.2 (out of 5) on Glassdoor.com and has an employee turnover rate of 50%.
Guaranteed Rate was the 10th-largest retail mortgage lender in the country in the first nine months of 2013 while in 2012, it was 12th.
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.
In September 2014, Guaranteed Rate founder Victor Ciardelli was named CEO of The Year by the Illinois Technology Association in the 15th annual ITA CityLIGHTS awards.
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 February 2016, Guaranteed Rate ran its first Super Bowl television commercials. The commercials featured Guaranteed Rate's celebrity spokesperson, Ty Pennington, and aired in four separate regional markets: Chicago, Boston, Tampa and Salt Lake City.
In March 2016, Guaranteed Rate and one of its loan officers was 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. Guaranteed Rate denied any involvement and is pursuing appeal.
In August 2016, the Chicago White Sox announced a 13-year naming rights agreement with Guaranteed Rate to rename their stadium to Guaranteed Rate Field beginning November 1, 2016. When this was announced, social media reacted in an overwhelmingly negative way.
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. Ms. Cohn later sued Guaranteed Rate and CEO Victor Ciardelli for breach of contract and fraud among other complaints
In 2014, Guaranteed Rate acquired Sun State Home Loans, Nationwide Direct, and Arbor Mortgage in one deal. In also acquired lender FirsTrust Mortgage in Overland Park, Kansas.