Ameriquest Mortgage

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with
AmeriQuest, Inc.
.
Ameriquest Mortgage
Defunct2007
FateChapter 11 liquidation
Successor
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California,
United States
Area served
United States
Key people
Products
  • Subprime mortgage
  • Investment Banking
Number of employees
2,000 (2007)
WebsiteAmeriquest Mortgage

Ameriquest was one of the largest

2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis, but also a catalyst to Ameriquest's own demise.[2][3]

Ameriquest was widely known throughout the

American dream," and its company motto was "do the right thing." Ameriquest frequently reiterated that their customers were "more than a number," producing a series of commercials with the theme "Don't judge too quickly. We won't."[4]

History

Ameriquest was founded in 1979 by

publicly traded company that was ultimately purchased by Washington Mutual in 1999.[citation needed
]

Long Beach Savings & Loan was subsequently reorganized into three divisions under the auspices of

private conglomerate owned entirely by Arnall: Ameriquest Mortgage Company (retail banking), Argent Mortgage (wholesale banking), and AMC Mortgage Services (loan servicing).[citation needed
]

In 2004 alone, Ameriquest was estimated to have originated over $50 billion in new subprime mortgages.[5]

The home stadium of the

Globe Life Park in Arlington.[citation needed
]

On September 1, 2007, Citigroup completed its acquisition of Argent Mortgage and AMC Mortgage Services, shutting down Ameriquest Mortgage.[6][7]

Predatory lending allegation

In 1996, the company agreed to pay $3 million into an "educational fund" to settle a

settlement, Ameriquest (then still known as Long Beach Mortgage) agreed to use the educational fund to train its employees in proper mortgage techniques and to refrain from utilizing predatory lending techniques, but only within the State of California. Shortly after entering into this settlement agreement, the company "switched" names with its subsidiary and began aggressively seeking refinance-mortgage business throughout the United States.[citation needed]“Ameriquest was very, very engaged,” recalls Georgia state Sen. Vincent Fort, who authored the law. Mr. Fort says that Adam Bass Adam J. Bass a lawyer for Ameriquest, lobbied him directly. The state senator says he accused Mr. Bass of victimizing poor minorities, which angered Mr. Bass.[8]

In 2001, after being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission, the company settled a dispute with ACORN, a national organization of community groups, promising to offer $360 million in low-cost loans.[citation needed][6]

In February 2005, reporters Michael Hudson and E. Scott Reckard broke a story in the Los Angeles Times about "boiler room" sales tactics at Ameriquest. Their investigation found evidence that the company had undertaken various questionable practices, including "deceiving borrowers about the terms of their loans, forging documents, falsifying appraisals and fabricating borrowers' income to qualify them for loans they couldn't afford."[5]

On August 1, 2005, Ameriquest announced that it would set aside $325 million to settle investigations by 30

Brian Montgomery stated that the settlement reinforced his concern that the industry was exploiting borrowers and that he was "shocked to find those customers had been lured away by the 'fool's gold' of subprime loans".[9]

In May 2006, Ameriquest Mortgage announced it was closing all of its retail offices and in the future would make its loans through mortgage brokers, a channel not covered by the predatory-lending settlement.[citation needed]

On June 13, 2007, lawyers for borrowers seeking

class status asserted in a filing with the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that "assets of the Ameriquest entities were transferred to Arnall with the actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud the plaintiffs in this action."[10]

Former Ameriquest employees alleged that they were pushed to falsify documents on bad mortgages and then sell them to

financial crisis of 2007 to 2010.[3]

Charity

Ameriquest operated the Soaring Dreams Fund, which donated money to initiatives that help

race cars, whose designs were picked in a contest.[citation needed
]

See also

References

  1. Harvard University Library
    -Lehman Brothers Collection. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  2. ISBN 978-0-470-55465-4
    .
  3. ^
    The Real News
    . May 13, 2009.
  4. ^ "Don't Judge Too Quickly Funny Commercials Compilation". YouTube. Retrieved 22 December 2017.[dead YouTube link]
  5. ^ a b Hudson, Mike; Reckard, E. Scott (February 4, 2005). "Workers say lender ran 'boiler rooms'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  6. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  7. ^ Reckard, Scott E. (September 1, 2007). "Citi to buy remains of Ameriquest". Los Angeles Times. No. C-1. Archived from the original on September 10, 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  8. ISSN 0099-9660
    . Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  9. ^ a b Becker, Jo; Sheryl Gay Stolberg; Stephen Labaton (December 20, 2008). "White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire". New York Times.
  10. ^ Reckard, E. Scott (June 19, 2007). "Lawsuit sets sights on Ameriquest founder". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 May 2018.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ameriquest_Mortgage&oldid=1219790260"