Ditech, based in Costa Mesa, California,[1] was a lender, offering mortgages and lines of credit as a member of Ally Financial, specifically GMAC ResCap (GMAC) which purchased Ditech from its private owner in 1999. The company's name is a portmanteau derived from the phrase Direct Technology.[2]
In late 2006, a controlling interest(51%) of GMAC was acquired by private equity outfit Cerberus Capital Management. As of 2008, Ditech is part of Residential Capital, LLC (also known as "ResCap") which includes ditech and several GMAC-branded lending businesses. Ditech opened in 1995 and is based in Costa Mesa, Orange County, California; several significant firms in the mortgage lending and mortgage brokerage industry are based in Orange County.
Contents |
While Ditech is best known to many people for its past commercials featuring a loan officer played by actor Ron Michaelson shouting the catch phrase "Lost another loan to Ditech!" In May, 2007, the company introduced a new marketing campaign, adding the tagline "People Are Smart" and including the signature line Home financing by GMAC to further help separate and elevate the Ditech brand from other direct-to-consumer lenders of questionable repute. Ditech had immensely high unaided brand awareness and customer satisfaction, but among those were too many people who thought Ditech was a sub-prime lender.[3]
Along with the new tagline and distinctive, new illustration-based TV campaign, Ditech also introduced, for the first time, a menu of branded products. These products included the "Sleep EZ Loan" (a fixed rate mortgage that gives borrowers payment relief by allowing them to pay interest only for the first ten years without any negative amortization), and "Real Life Plan," (combining a first mortgage, home equity loan, and a credit card that builds points to pay down mortgage principle).
Despite advertising efforts, Ditech's loans and mortgages have been categorized as subprime lending products. Ditech was a pioneer in offering 125 percent loans, in which the borrower could get more than the property was worth. It specialized in low-documentation mortgages, or state income loans where many borrowers falsified their income.[4]
Many holders of these mortgages have defaulted or, unable to repay them, have received interest rate adjustments, creating the possibility of losses among those who in turn lent to Ditech's parent, ResCap. "Owners of some notes issued by ResCap are being asked to trade them in for new bonds with face values of as little as 80 cents on the dollar. Other holders are being offered the chance to sell back bonds to the company, for as little as 65 cents on the dollar."[5]
On February 3, 2010, Ditech closed their Costa Mesa office. Ditech still is in operation out of their Fort Washington, PA office.
Saturday Night Live parodied the popularity and ubiquity of Ditech's earlier advertising tag. A sketch featuring an impression of US President George W. Bush stated,
| “ | You know, we're roughly $7 billion in debt. Uh, but don't worry, I've got a plan. I've decided to consolidate all of our debt with one of those debt consolidation companies. That's right. We're gonna go with Ditech. Like me, you've probably seen their commercials late at night on ESPN 2. You know, the ones with the guy who says, "Lost another loan to Ditech!" It's a funny commercial! | ” |
|
—Saturday Night Live, [6] |
||
On September 11, 2001 during a break on CNN in the United States, a Ditech commercial was running before being cut midway, to announce that a plane had struck one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. This would then begin CNN's ongoing live footage of the September 11 attacks.[7]