loanDepot officially moved into marketplace lending on Wednesday, becoming the first national nonbank lender to offer both home and personal loans nationwide.
The lender now offers mortgage, personal and home improvement loans to borrowers in all 50 states.
HousingWire released details about the company’s plans to be the No. 1 nonbank consumer lender in April after an interview with loanDepot CEO and Founder Anthony Hsieh.
"For decades, consumers looked to traditional banks for financing. But as banks continue to retreat and lose market share, choices and service levels for consumers are becoming scarce," Hsieh said.
"Our vision is to be a national consumer lender delivering products that serve all stages of a consumer's financial lifecycle. Leveraging loanDepot's current marketing and operational scale, it's now time to evolve our brand and move into marketplace lending,” Hsieh added.
“Our nation is at the forefront of a new generation of lenders, where technology, simplicity, and product choice must converge to meet consumer demand,” Hsieh said. “In today's marketplace, loanDepot is best poised to build a new lending experience with products that anticipate our borrower's financial needs as they pursue their dreams.”
Personal loans include:
- Approval in five minutes or less from proprietary, internally built credit-score modeling
- Funds deposited into borrower accounts in as little as three days
- Repayment terms of three or five year
- No application fees and no pre-payment penalty
- Rates starting as low as 6.17% APR
loanDepot anticipates the delivery of personal lending to be widely accepted by its current base of borrowers. During a survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2014, 13% of loanDepot's customers said they may be interested in a personal loan of up to $35,000.
loanDepot recently acquired an additional 90,000 square feet of office space in Orange County, Calif., and the company plans to hire 1000 additional employees to prepare for growth.
The company has already come a long way from opening its new co-headquarters in Plano, Texas, just two years ago. At that time, the lender said it was eager to fill its unattended desks with new employees. Now, it's done that, and more.
