Intrigued by an automated mortgage process developed by HomeLoanCenter.com, LendingTree is acquiring the California-based company.
LendingTree, a online lending and real estate exchange site, said the acquisition will help it provide more services.
HomeLoanCenter.com’s slogan is “A loan for every home,” and it is licensed to do business across the United States. The firm says it can provide home buyers and those seeking to refinance or get home equity loans to “receive a credit approval in minutes – all without the traditional application and loan process hassles and without any obligation. And because we control the entire mortgage process in-house, we are able to offer more accurate information and faster closing times than other mortgage lenders.” The lender also says it will make loans to consumers with less than perfect credit scores.
The company is a director lender and sole originator of its loans. HomeLoandCenter.com was founded by Anthony Hsieh, who founded LoansDirect.com. It was sold to E*Trade in 2001.
“HomeLoanCenter.com has built an impressive online loan origination platform, and we believe its innovative and successful approach to automating the mortgage lending process will be a great benefit to our consumers,” said Doug Lebda, the founder and CEO of LendingTree. “This acquisition will help us to increase our profit per customer, have greater input over the consumer experience, more effectively cross-sell our Realty Services offering, and gain market share. Importantly, we will continue to operate the same robust LendingTree lending exchange, and consumers will continue to receive multiple competing loan offers in an environment that offers choice, convenience and value.”
HomeLoanCenter.com is based in Irvine, CA.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Hsieh and Tomo Yebisu, its president, will join LendingTree, the companies said.
“We’ve built our business by leveraging technology for scalable growth, constantly looking for ways to improve,” Hsieh said, “and joining with LendingTree will now more than ever enable us to create a full technological infrastructure and deliver a broader variety of comprehensive programs to the full spectrum of consumers.”
The company was founded in 2002.
LendingTree: www.lendingtree.com
HomeLoanCenter: www.homeloancenter.com
