Ameriquest Mortgage

[stockbroker]

Ameriquest was one of the United States' leading wholesale lenders, and the largest sub-prime lender in the nation until all but four of its top-performing retail offices were closed in September of 2007. Its loan origination practices were at the heart of the Financial crisis of 2007–2010. Ameriquest originated the stated income loan, which allowed potential borrower(s) to state his/her/their income without any process of verification. Many of these stated income loans were the catalyst to the ultimate failure of Ameriquest itself, and a key factor in the 2008 housing bubble crisis.



Ameriquest was founded in 1979, in Orange County, California, as a savings and loan association, or thrift, called Long Beach Savings & Loan. It was founded by Roland Arnall. The bank moved to Orange County in 1991 and was converted to a pure mortgage lender in 1994, and renamed Long Beach Mortgage Co. In 1997, part of the business that funded loans made by independent brokers was spun off as a publicly traded company. This spin-off, which was originally founded as a subsidiary corporation under the name Ameriquest Mortgage, was now renamed "Long Beach Mortgage". The retail part of the business was renamed Ameriquest Capital, and remained private, solely owned by Roland Arnall. (In 1999, Washington Mutual purchased Long Beach Mortgage.) Ameriquest Mortgage was a private company held by ACC Capital Holdings, which was owned by Roland Arnall. At the time the company stopped originating loans in September of 2007, Long Beach Savings & Loan had ultimately become the conglomerate of ACC Capital Holdings. ACC Capital Holdings was divided into three parts: Ameriquest Mortgage Company, the retail division; Argent Mortgage, the wholesale division; and AMC Mortgage Services, which was Ameriquest's failed attempt to become a company that could service other loans besides its own.

[stockbroker]

On August 31, 2008, Citigroup completed its acquisition of its wholesale origination-lending unit, Argent Mortgage, and its loan-servicing unit, AMC Mortgage Services, and shut down its retail-lending unit, Ameriquest Mortgage.

Ameriquest was among the first mortgage companies to use computers to search for prospective borrowers and to speed up the loan process.

Ameriquest was widely known in the United States. It advertised widely on television, had blimps that flew over football and baseball stadiums, and sponsored the Rolling Stones (2005 U.S. tour), and NASCAR drivers. Its ad slogan is "proud sponsor of the American dream," and their company motto was to "do the right thing." Additionally, in their commercials, Ameriquest also reiterated more than once that their customers are "more than a number." This is, of course, in reference to potential borrowers who may have had poor credit but were able to find financing with Ameriquest.

The home stadium of the Texas Rangers was called Ameriquest Field until March 19, 2007, when in an undisclosed agreement between the two entities, Ameriquest relinquished the naming rights, and the stadium was renamed to the "Rangers Ballpark in Arlington".

Subprime lenders made $587 billion in new mortgages in 2004, up from $390 billion in 2003, according to National Mortgage News. Ameriquest's share of that is estimated at over $50 billion.[3].
On August 31, 2008, ACC Capital Holdings announced that it was closing Ameriquest by no longer taking loans and selling its loan-servicing unit to Citigroup.

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