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.
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]
