Guild Mortgage ‘Making Paradise Home’ Initiative to Benefit Community Devastated by Fire

CrossMod Model Homes Showcase Affordable, Sustainable Manufactured Housing Options for Paradise Residents Displaced by Disaster

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to California’s 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state’s history, Guild Mortgage (NYSE: GHLD) announced its Making Paradise Home initiative to provide affordable, sustainable manufactured housing options in the community hardest hit by the natural disaster.

Guild’s Making Paradise Home initiative is a partnership with Clayton Homes, Golden West Homes of Chico and Redline Installation to build CrossMod™ Homes to benefit the community. Guild, a growth-oriented mortgage lending company originating and servicing residential loans since 1960, and its partners purchased lots in Paradise, California where they are building four homes to help educate residents about the benefits of manufactured housing, while helping to rebuild the community.

A CrossMod home is a new classification of a HUD-code manufactured home. CrossMods offer the affordability of a traditional manufactured home but are built to the higher standards and with the style and array of amenities found in a traditional site-built home.

“At Guild, we’re always looking for new ways to make a difference in the communities we serve, and after visiting Paradise, we knew we wanted to help,” said David Battany, executive vice president of capital markets. “With this initiative, we’re taking a small step to rebuild a community devastated by fire. We will be using this project to educate and promote affordable homeownership, which has been our company focus for more than 60 years.”

David Blazek, Guild Mortgage’s director of product development, said building four homes and showcasing their attributes is aimed at helping people understand that affordable, energy-efficient, CrossMod homes have the same or better features and curb appeal as site-built homes. People interested in learning more about the advantages of CrossMod homes might include local residents, and local, state and national leaders, realtors, appraisers, developers, and potentially other lenders.

After completion, at least one of the CrossMod homes will be open for educational tours, and available for sale to local residents. Guild Mortgage provides extensive manufactured home financing options, and is dedicated to finding mortgage solutions for residents, which can include fixed-rate loans with credit scores starting as low as 540 and programs with low and no down payments.

Headquartered in San Diego, Guild Mortgage is a leading national lender with an established history of offering a comprehensive array of loan products and partnering with government organizations to help deliver the promise of home in every neighborhood and community. Its loan professionals can serve the needs of any homebuyer, from helping first-time buyers achieve homeownership, often through government loan programs, to homebuyers looking for a jumbo loan. Guild also helps active duty and retired military personnel who qualify for VA loans with 100% financing and flexible qualifying standards. The company is consistently recognized for its impact in the communities it serves, commitment to customer service, strength in regulatory compliance, and workplace culture.

About Guild Mortgage

Founded in 1960 when the modern U.S. mortgage industry was just forming, Guild Mortgage Company is a nationally recognized independent mortgage lender providing residential mortgage products and local in-house origination and servicing. Guild’s collaborative culture and commitment to diversity and inclusion enable it to deliver a personalized experience for each customer. With more than 4,000 employees and over 250 retail branches, Guild has relationships with credit unions, community banks, and other financial institutions and services loans in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Guild’s highly trained loan professionals are experienced in government-sponsored programs such as FHA, VA, USDA, down payment assistance programs and other specialized loan programs. Guild Mortgage Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guild Holdings Company, whose shares of Class A common stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GHLD.