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Founded in 1990 in San Diego, California, Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., (NASDAQ: LEND) is one of the nation's premier mortgage banking institutions with over 2,500 employees engaged in the business of originating, servicing, and selling residential mortgage loans that do not generally conform to the credit or other criteria established by the Federal National Mortgage Corp. (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac). Accredited's loans are commonly referred to as nonconforming or non-prime mortgage loans. From its San Diego headquarters and with processing centers nationwide, Accredited's wholesale operations originate the majority of the company's loans through licensed and approved mortgage brokers. Accredited also originates direct-to-consumer loans and conducts business as Home Funds Direct. Accredited was recognized as IPO of the year in 2003. Prior to becoming a publicly owned company in February 2003, Accredited was ranked Number 357 on the 2002 Inc 500 list of America's Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies, and was recognized by the San Diego Business Journal as Number 11 in the publication's Fast-Growing Private Companies list for 2002. Additionally, Peter Barron Stark & Associates honored Accredited in 2000 and 2001 with its Award for Workplace Excellence. HISTORY AND CULTURE: Brick by brick, the foundation for Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., was set by co-founders Jim Konrath, former CEO of Security Pacific Financial Services, and Ray McKewon, venture capitalist. In the fall of 1990, the two entrepreneurs had a business plan, financial acumen, and a vision of how to build a premier, non-prime mortgage bank. Using the personal funds of its founders, Accredited originated both retail and wholesale loans. Obtaining its first warehouse line in 1994, and shortly thereafter receiving a capital infusion by two venture capital concerns--Crosspoint Venture Partners and Enterprise Partners--helped provide Accredited with greater access to capital and the ability to double its loan production at the time. Accredited has added geographic operations capabilities, staffing support, and profitability throughout the years. Internally, Accredited emphasizes rewarding quality and results, not volume and activities. Incentives are based on being able to meet customers' needs profitably and are offered at every level of the organization. This identifies the company as a "Profit Culture" organization. Corporate culture and integrity are essential to the tight-knit Accredited fabric, where empowerment, leadership, commitment to quality, excellence, and teamwork are more than workplace buzzwords. |