Ameriquest pays $325m to settle predatory lending (gotta see this!)

[Bozita]

And the owner of Ameriquest is a GWB nominee for an ambassadorship. He's gonna represent the USA.The sheer audacity is mind-numbing.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/5111.html

Lender Ameriquest pays $325m to settle predatory lending case
Posted on : Wed, 25 Jan 2006 00:08:00 GMT | Author : Steve Walters
News Category : Legal

NEW YORK: Ameriquest Mortgage Co., the largest lender to people with poor credit agreed to pay $325 million as settlement of a predatory lending case.

The lender was accused of malpractices in 49 states in the US. A seven-state inquiry led by Washington that lasted two years found that the firm's salespeople had inflated home appraisals and encouraged borrowers to provide false information about income and employment.

Ameriquest said “High pressure sales tactics may have been used” to achieve individual sales targets, but admitted to no wrongdoing. It however agreed to implement corrective measures and to monitor its sales staff.

The settlement money will benefit people who borrowed from Ameriquest between 1999 and 2005. $295 million will be paid as compensation to these consumers and $30 million will go towards legal costs and to change its practices.

more...

[Bozita]

1. Ameriquest owner will get position as US Ambassador to Netherlands

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/011806/nominee.html

Stalled nominee now expected to move through Senate
By Elana Schor

Ameriquest Mortgage Co. Monday announced it would pay $325 million to resolve a 49-state inquiry into alleged predatory lending practices, clearing the way for Senate Democrats to drop their objections to Ameriquest founder Roland Arnall's ambassadorial nomination.

The Foreign Relations Committee deadlocked in October on the White House's bid to tap Arnall as ambassador to the Netherlands after Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) cast a surprising vote with Democrats. Hagel indicated he would wait to sign off on Arnall until the "cloud of investigation" hanging over Ameriquest evaporated.

The Ameriquest settlement, which also requires the company to revamp its loan agreement and appraisal processes, would appear to settle not only Hagel's concerns, but many Democrats' as well. 

more...

[zann725]

9. If someone were to write a work a fiction, a screenplay as peverted, dark.

as most of what TRULY goes on with these Thugs, it would be rejected as far too absurd and unbelievable. Well, there ya go...Truth IS stranger than fiction.

[f-bush]

2. Excellent

Shrub will probably figure a way to bail them out. I hate fuckin' companies like these that suck off of the misery and misfortune of others!

[TaleWgnDg]

3. Here's an excellent article on this . . .

.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/01/24/reilly_urges_consumers_to_avoid_ameriquest?mode=PF
(Boston Globe article regarding gubernatorial candidates and our Attorney General's (Tom Reilly's) lawsuit against Ameriquest Mortgage. BTW, I should add that Massachusetts Attorney General Reilly filed/joined this lawsuit long before Devel Patrick came to Massachusetts announcing he was running against Reilly for Massachusetts governor in 2006. Both Devel Patrick and Tom Reilly are Democrats running for the same governor's seat.)

[TaleWgnDg]

7. And more here at this DU thread . . .

.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=158&topic_id=7565&mesg_id=7565

[pinniped]

4. I read about these scumbag jerks a while ago.

They air commercials every ten minutes and still probably 'hook' a lot of people.

[uncle ray]

5. where can i find more about this?

such as who qualifies for a chunk of the settlement? which states etc. i had a mortgage with them during that time, and i fit in with the demographic, had a loan with crappy terms originating during that time with them, that ended in not the best way. maybe Ameriquest was partly to blame for my financial ruin at the time?:woohoo:

[TaleWgnDg]

8. Here try at these urls . . .

1. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/01/24/reilly_urges_consumers_to_avoid_ameriquest/
2. http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=986&id=1589
3. Contact your own state attorney general's office to inquire if there's any help for you. Have the dates of the transaction, the (recorded) mortgage deed, and mortgage note if possible and whatever other documentation regarding the transaction that you can get, all collected before you contact your state attorney general's office. Hopefully, it'll be an 800 or other free call for you.

I wish you well.

.

[zalinda]

6. Sorry, but I don't have anything bad to say about them.

Ameriquest gave me a mortgage when just about no one else would. I'm a small business owner, and I do mean small. We make just enough to pay the bills with very little left over. Ameriquest got my refinancing to go through. A friend had taken out a second on her home so I could get my house. I wanted to refinance and pay her off and pay off credit cards, they worked their magic. Now, I know that they may skirt the issue on some loans, but I was very thankful that I got let in. The owner of the mortgage does have to take responsibility in dealing with their finances, you do have to know what is going on. Yes, my interest was a little higher than what was the going rate, but it didn't matter. As a matter of fact, Chase led me on about getting a loan for months and after I jumped through all their hoops said that they don't give out those type of loans anymore. I thanked my lucky stars when Ameriquest came along.

zalinda