LoanDepot

LoanDepot
Company typePublic
NYSE: LDI
IndustryMortgage lending
Founded2009; 15 years ago (2009)
FounderAnthony Hsieh
Headquarters
Irvine, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Frank Martell (president and CEO)
Productsconsumer mortgages,[1] mello mortgage technology platform[2]
RevenueIncrease$1.8billion (2022 forecast)[3]
Number of employees
4,532 (as of September 1, 2023)[4]
Websitewww.loandepot.com

LoanDepot, sometimes stylized as loanDepot, is an Irvine, California-based nonbank holding company which sells mortgage and non-mortgage lending products.[5][6]

History

LoanDepot was founded in 2010 by entrepreneur Anthony Hsieh, who had previously founded mortgage companies LoansDirect.com which he sold to E*Trade in 2001, and HomeLoanCenter.com, which he sold to LendingTree in 2004.[7][8][9] The company's products at the time included fixed rate, jumbo, FHA and home equity loans, in addition to more controversial adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) and negative amortization products.[citation needed]

In November 2015, loanDepot claimed to be the second largest non-bank provider of direct-to-consumer loans in the United States and postponed a planned IPO, citing poor market conditions.[10] In March 2017, the company introduced technology to automate the loan process, allowing customers to apply for a mortgage without talking to a loan officer.[11] In January 2018, the company announced two products as part of its technology platform, a home improvement unit to allow contractors to offer financing to customers, and Mello Home, a platform to connect pre-approved buyers to realtors.[2] In September 2019, the company partnered with Century 21 Redwood Realty to form a new mortgage platform for the mid-Atlantic area, Day 1 Mortgage.[12]

In 2020, loanDepot made $100 billion of mortgage originations for the first time, with just under 300,000 loans originated,[13] which was twice the amount of loans originated the previous year, according to industry data tracker iEmergent, which also found loanDepot to be the fourth-largest mortgage provider based on the dollar amount of the loans.[8] In 2020, Hsieh was paid "a special one-time discretionary bonus" of $42.5 million, and other executives received smaller bonuses, between $9 million and about $12 million.[8]

loanDepot went public on the New York Stock Exchange on February 11, 2021, under the ticker symbol LDI.[14][9] Shares were sold at $14 and by September 2021 had lost about half of their value, with the company valued at $2.2 billion.[8][9]

In March 2021, the company bought the naming rights to Marlins Park, the home ballpark of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball and renamed it loanDepot park.[15]

In April 2022, Hsieh stepped down from his role as chairman and CEO to become the executive chairman of the company, and Frank Martell became president and CEO.[16] In July 2022, LoanDepot filed a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission announcing it would reduce its workforce from 11,300 to 6,500, and that it currently had 8,500 employees.[6] On July 12, the LoanDepot stock price was about $1.50 per share.[6]

Litigation

In 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed against LoanDepot in the U.S. District Court of Arizona alleging violations of a federal robocall law.[17] In September 2021, former LoanDepot chief operations officer Tammy Richards filed a lawsuit against the company in the California Superior Court.[8] In 2021, a class action lawsuit alleging securities fraud was filed against LoanDepot in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and in March 2022, LoanDepot was sued by shareholder Tuyet Vu in the U.S. District Court of Delaware.[18]

2024 Data Breach

On January 8, 2024 LoanDepot, in a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, reported that "an unauthorized third party" had accessed the company's phone and loan processing systems, with the earliest access having occurred on January 4, 2024. Later in January the company said the cyberattack "exposed sensitive personal information belonging to 16.6 million consumers in its systems."[19]

References

  1. ^ Koren, James (March 31, 2016). "LoanDepot CEO Anthony Hsieh is banking on growth". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Brennan, Peter (January 23, 2018). "LoanDepot Unveils 2 New Businesses". Orange County Business Journal. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  3. ^ "Downgrade: Here's How Analysts See loanDepot, Inc. (NYSE:LDI) Performing In The Near Term". Simply Wall St. YahooFinance. May 12, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  4. ^ "3Q 2023 INVESTOR PRESENTATION" (PDF). Q4 Inc. November 7, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  5. ^ "Company Overview of loanDepot, Inc". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Nunes, Flávia Furlan (July 12, 2022). "Struggling loanDepot to cut nearly 5,000 jobs in 2022". HousingWire. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  7. ^ Sherter, Alaine (January 7, 2010). "Mortgage Entrepreneur Anthony Hsieh Says He's No Predator and Plans to Prove It". CBS News. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d e Cowley, Stacy (September 22, 2021). "Mortgage Lender Cut Corners in Echo of 2008 Crisis, Ex-Executive Says". The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Lee, Lisa; Scigliuzzo, Davide (June 9, 2021). "How LoanDepot's Anthony Hsieh went from cashier to mortgage billionaire". Bloomberg. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  10. ^ Bomey, Nathan (November 13, 2015). "Mortgage lender LoanDepot halts plans for IPO". USA Today. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  11. ^ Koren, James (March 6, 2017). "Apply for a home loan from your phone? That's just the start of LoanDepot's plans". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  12. ^ Mendoza, Candyd (September 20, 2019). "loanDepot and Century 21 Redwood Realty create Day 1 Mortgage platform". Mortgage Professional America Magazine. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  13. ^ "loanDepot Mortgage Originations 2020". Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  14. ^ Melendez, John (February 18, 2021). "LoanDepot Closes IPO". Mergers & Acquisitions. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  15. ^ "Miami Marlins' ballpark to be renamed LoanDepot Park". ESPN. Associated Press. March 31, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  16. ^ Nunes, Flávia Furlan (April 26, 2022). "Hsieh stepping back to be loanDepot's executive chairman". Housingwire. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  17. ^ Hawkins, Samantha (March 18, 2022). "LoanDepot Loses Robocall Class Lawsuit Constitutional Challenge". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  18. ^ Andrew Martinez (March 15, 2022). "LoanDepot faces new shareholder lawsuit". National Mortgage News. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  19. ^ Edgerton, Kennedy; Nici, Dawn (January 24, 2024). "Mortgage Giant LoanDepot Now Says Cyberattack Exposed 16 Million Customers' Personal Info". Forbes Advisor. Retrieved August 27, 2024.