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Stearns, the 20th-largest U.S. home mortgage lender and parent to Stearns Lending, said in a court filing that the bankruptcy was partly due to rising interest rates from late 2016 through 2018. As part of a restructuring agreement, Stearns' majority owner Blackstone Group will give the company a $60 million cash infusion along with a loan to keep the business running, Stearns said in a statement.

Stearns had cut annual costs by 40%, in part through layoffs, but its debt load remained unsustainable, according to the court filing.

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