Rocket Mortgage, LLC, formerly Quicken Loans, LLC, is an American

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

lender, headquartered in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan. Rocket Mortgage uses

wholesale funding Wholesale funding is a method that banks use in addition to core demand deposits to finance operations, make loans, and manage risk. In the United States wholesale funding sources include, but are not limited to, Federal funds, public funds (su ...

for loans and online applications as opposed to a branch system.

History

Early history: 1985–1998

Rock Financial was founded as a

mortgage broker A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who brokers mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses. Traditionally, banks and other lending institutions have sold their own products. As markets for mortgages have become more competitive, ...

in 1985 by

Dan Gilbert Daniel Gilbert (born January 17, 1962) is an American billionaire, businessman, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and majority owner of Rocket Mortgage and founder of Rock Ventures. Gilbert owns several sports franchises, including the ...

, Ron Berman, Lindsay Gross, and

Gary Gilbert Gary Gilbert (born 1965) is an American film producer and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of Gilbert Films, a media production and financing company based in Los Angeles, California. He is also a co-founder of Rocket Mortgage, as well a ...

. The company became a mortgage lender in 1988, and in May 1998 became publicly traded, launching an

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. In the late 1990s, the company shifted from a traditional mortgage provider to an online-focused lender. Traditionally, the home mortgage business in America has been fragmented due to varying regulations in each state and locality. Gilbert challenged this orthodoxy, however, by offering loan applications online that were reviewed by experts versed in the regulations of each region but who were located in a central headquarters.

Quicken Loans

1999–2013

In October 1999, almost a year and a half after Rock Financial’s 1998 IPO,

Intuit Intuit Inc. is an American multinational business software company that specializes in financial software. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and the CEO is Sasan Goodarzi. Intuit's products include the tax preparati ...

agreed to buy the company at a valuation of $370 million. The name changed to Quicken Loans. In 2002, Dan Gilbert and a group of private investors bought the company back. In 2004, Quicken Loans became a defendant in a class action lawsuit on behalf of employees who had worked as loan consultants. In 2011, a jury ruled in favor of Quicken. In August 2007, Quicken Loans discontinued second mortgages, home equity lines of credit,

Alt-A An Alt-A mortgage, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. Mortgage loan, mortgage that, for various reasons, is considered riskier than A-paper, or "prime", and less risky than "subprime lending, subprime," the riskiest category. For thes ...

products, and deferred interest loans. On November 12, 2007, it moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit under a development agreement with the city.Howes, Daniel (November 12, 2007
Quicken moving to downtown Detroit
''The Detroit News''. Retrieved on November 12, 2007. Quicken Loans moved into its downtown Detroit headquarters in August 2010. The initial move brought 1,700 employees to the city. QuickenLoanslogo2019

2014–2020

In 2014, Quicken Loans was the nation's largest online mortgage lender. In January 2018, they became the nation's largest mortgage lender. On October 15, 2018 Quicken Loans announced that it was expanding into Canada by opening a tech center in downtown

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

. On August 6, 2020, Rocket Companies, Inc. went public on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

under the symbol RKT, raising $1.8 billion. Quicken Loans was the largest subsidiary of the newly formed, public traded entity that also included Rocket Homes, Rocket Loans, Amrock and other tech-driven personal finance companies.

Rocket Mortgage

2015–2020

In 2015, the company developed an online only mortgage process called "Rocket Mortgage." In its first full year, the Rocket Mortgage platform funded $7 billion in closed loans. In 2019, the company became the first mortgage lender to perform electronic closings (eClosings) in all 50 states. That year the company doubled its mortgage originations.

2021–present

In March 2021, the company was the number one mortgage lender by overall business in the United States, a title it held until October 2022. On May 12, 2021, Quicken Loans announced that it would be rebranded to Rocket Mortgage, by July 31, 2021. In 2021, Rocket Community Fund announced an investment of $500 million in

, to be spent over the course of 10 years. In 2023 the company announced that its team members, along with those from partner companies, have spent 1 million hours volunteering in the community. In March 2025, Rocket Companies announced its acquisition of real estate brokerage

Redfin Redfin Corporation is an American company that provides residential real estate brokerage and mortgage origination services. Based in Seattle, the company operates in more than 100 markets in the United States and Canada. In 2024, the company h ...

in a $1.75 billion all-stock deal, and rival mortgage lender Mr. Cooper in a $9.4 billion all-stock deal. In 2025, Rocket Mortgage introduced the RocketRentRewards program, that offers up to $5,000 to help renters become homeowners. The company's

Super Bowl LIX Super Bowl LIX was an American football championship game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2024 NFL season, 2024 season. In a rematch of Super Bowl LVII two years prior, the National Football Conf ...

ad included a live sing along to the song

Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two on ''Billboard''s U ...

References

External links

Quicken Loans
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Rocket Mortgage Canada
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Rocket Innovation Studio
{{Authority control Companies based in Detroit American companies established in 1985 Financial services companies established in 1985 Financial services companies of the United States Mortgage lenders of the United States Rock Ventures Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange 1985 establishments in Michigan 2020 initial public offerings