loanDepot CEO Anthony Hsieh shocked the mortgage business a bit earlier this month when he announced that the company’s chief technology officer, Dominick Marchetti, was leaving the company.

Marchetti played a key role in the lender’s technological advancements over the last few years, including the rollout of mello, loanDepot’s proprietary digital lending platform. The company later expanded mello to become mellohome, which connects borrowers with real estate agents and home improvement providers. loanDepot also recently rolled out comprehensive digital mortgage technology under the mello umbrella.

Marchetti oversaw all of those developments, so it came as a bit of surprise when Hsieh said Marchetti would be leaving the company. At the time, Hsieh wished Marchetti well on his “continued professional journey,” but did not say where Marchetti was going.

Well, it’s not a mystery anymore.

HousingWire can now report that Marchetti has joined Guaranteed Rate to lead the company’s “product innovation agenda.” Additionally, the company states that Marchetti will build “groundbreaking tools and platforms for the fintech industry” while at Guaranteed Rate, one of the country’s largest retail mortgage lenders.

“Dom is one of the top mortgage technology leaders in the country,” Guaranteed Rate Founder and CEO Victor Ciardelli said. “We are absolutely thrilled to have Dom as part of our team to build the best-in-class technology. Together, we will continue to lead the industry in technology innovation that advances the consumer experience as well as streamline the process for mortgage professionals.”

Marchetti brings a wealth of mortgage technology experience and knowledge to his new role at Guaranteed Rate.

While at loanDepot, Marchetti led the development of the mello smartloan, the company’s digital mortgage platform that digitizes the income, asset and employment verification process; the credit check process; appraisal, title and flood validation; and loan closing process.

The company claims that the mello smartloan enables the company to close a loan in eight days, far quicker than the industry average of roughly a month-and-a-half.

And now, Marchetti will likely help Guaranteed Rate build similar technology.

Additionally, there’s a potential tie to the recently announced massive partnership between Amazon and Realogy, the largest U.S. residential real estate brokerage, to match potential homebuyers with real estate agents through a program called TurnKey. 

The TurnKey program offers up to $5,000 of Amazon products and assistance as a “Move-In Benefit” for using TurnKey to find their real estate agent from among the Realogy brands, which include Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, ERA, and Sotheby’s International Realty.

The move could be a boon for Realogy’s real estate agents, and in turn for Guaranteed Rate. Here’s why. Each of those new clients will likely need mortgage funding when buying their home, and Realogy will be able to provide that for them as well, with help from Guaranteed Rate.

That’s because Guaranteed Rate and Realogy are partners in a joint venture called Guaranteed Rate Affinity that markets mortgages across the Realogy real estate companies.

So, with a potential flood of new clients that are likely digitally focused (given that they started their search on Amazon) heading to Realogy agents, the company would be benefited from having a technologically sound mortgage lending platform to handle those customers. And now, it may soon have one through Guaranteed Rate Affinity, thanks to Marchetti and the rest of the Guaranteed Rate technology team.

And that’s where Marchetti could very well prove to be a massively important hire.

“With nearly two decades in the mortgage and financial sectors, Marchetti brings a sharp perspective on what customers expect during the mortgage process and is adept in driving relationships through predictive consumer behavior,” Guaranteed Rate said in a statement. “He has spent much of his career building and leading IT teams, redefining the way mortgage companies do business.”

Marchetti started in his new role at Guaranteed Rate on Monday.

“Joining the management team at Guaranteed Rate is a great opportunity with limitless possibilities to collaborate with the best talent in financial services and run fast,” Marchetti said. “I look forward to working with this world-class team to develop and innovate new products that will shape the future.”