Stearns Lending

Last updated
Stearns Lending, LLC
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryFinancial Services
Founded1989
Founder Glenn Stearns
Defunct2021 (2021)
FateAcquired by Guaranteed Rate
Headquarters Lewisville, Texas,
U.S.
Key people
David Schneider, CEO
Steve Smith, President & CFO
Revenue$521.7 million (2014 [1] )
Number of employees
1,700 (2015 [1] )
Website www.stearns.com

Stearns Lending, LLC was an American wholesale, retail, and correspondent lender. Founded in 1989, it grew until it became the fifth-largest privately held lender in the US in 2013. [2] [3] [4] The company declared bankruptcy in 2019 and was acquired by Guaranteed Rate two years later.

Contents

History

Glenn Stearns, who founded the company in 1989, [1] [2] was chief executive officer (CEO) until May 2012, when he named as his successor Brian Hale, former president and national production executive of MetLife Home Loans. [5]

In May 2017, David Schneider joined Stearns Lending as CEO and a member of its board of managers. [6]

Stearns appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America in 2013, 2014, and 2015. [7] In August 2015, Stearns' parent company, Stearns Holdings, LLC, was purchased by The Blackstone Group. [1] [7] In May 2016, the American Bankers Association added Stearns Lending to its list of endorsed lending services through the Corporation for American Banking. [8]

2019 bankruptcy

Stearns Lending performed poorly amid the rising interest rates of 2017 and 2018. In mid-2019, the company sought an agreement to restructure its debt with Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), which owned 67% of the $183 million in senior secured notes owed by Stearns. The effort failed, [9] and on July 9, 2019, Stearns Lending filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [9] On September 11, 2019, Stearns announced that it had reached an agreement with its largest noteholders under which the noteholders will support a plan of reorganization. [10]

In 2021, Guaranteed Rate, a Chicago-based lender, bought Stearns for an undisclosed sum, [11] which discontinued the Stearns brand a year later. [12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Jane Yu (August 21, 2015). "Stearns to Sell Majority Stake to Blackstone". Orange County Business Journal. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Bill Quinnan (January 21, 2013). "Hard Times Yield Opportunities for Stearns Lending". OC Register. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  3. ↑ James Rufus Koren (November 30, 2015). "After subprime collapse, nonbank lenders again dominate riskier mortgages". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Fast Growing Lender Adding Correspondent Program". Mortgage Stats. March 18, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ Jane Yu (May 7, 2012). "Hale New CEO for Stearns Lending". Orange County Business Journal. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Stearns Lending, LLC Announces CEO Transition". www.businesswire.com. 2017-05-15. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  7. 1 2 "Will Blackstone's (BX) Deal with Stearns Boost Growth". Zacks. August 24, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  8. ↑ "ABA Endorses Stearns Lending's Fulfillment, Correspondent Services". ABA Banking Journal. May 9, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Stearns Lending files Chapter 11 bankruptcy after mortgage interest rate increases". USA Today. July 9, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Restructuring Information". stearnsrestructuring.com/. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  11. ↑ Kleimann, James (January 5, 2021). "Guaranteed Rate to acquire Stearns Lending". Housingwire.
  12. ↑ "Guaranteed Rate closes Stearns wholesale channel". HousingWire. 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2022-05-07.


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