Post by Moses on Feb 4, 2005 19:37:34 GMT -5
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ameriquest4feb04,0,7844867.story?coll=la-home-headlines
THE NATION
Workers Say Lender Ran 'Boiler Rooms'
Critics say Ameriquest, touted as an industry model, fabricated data, forged documents and hid fees. The company denies wrongdoing.
l. to r.: Ms. Dawn Arnall, Sen. Joe "Torture is Progressive" Lieberman, and Ameriquest Mogul, Roland Arnall, the SOB.
By Mike Hudson and E. Scott Reckard
Special to The Times
February 4, 2005
Mark Bomchill says he'd like to forget the year he spent hustling mortgages for Ameriquest Capital Corp. in suburban Minneapolis.
Slugging down Red Bull caffeine drinks, sales agents would work the phones hour after hour, he said, trying to turn cold calls into lucrative "sub-prime" mortgages — high-cost loans made to people with spotty credit.
The demands were relentless: One manager prowled the aisles between desks like "a little Hitler," Bomchill said, hounding agents to make more calls and push more loans, bragging that he hired and fired people so fast that one worker would be cleaning out his desk as his replacement came through the door.
"It was like a boiler room," said Bomchill, 37. "You produce, you make a lot of money. Or you move on. There's no real compassion or understanding of the position they're putting their customers in."
Indeed, Bomchill — who said he left Ameriquest because he didn't like the way the company treated its employees and customers, and now works as a mortgage broker — contends that the drive to close deals and grab six-figure salaries led many Ameriquest employees astray: They forged documents, hyped customers' creditworthiness and "juiced" mortgages with hidden rates and fees.
Such claims are not unusual against sub-prime lenders, which are a frequent target of consumer groups.
Ameriquest, however, has been held up as an industry model since agreeing in 2000 to establish a fund for needy borrowers and to adhere to a list of "best practices." The company says it holds itself "to the highest standards" and does not tolerate unethical or improper behavior by its employees.
The nation's largest sub-prime mortgage lender, based in Orange, has sought to burnish its image as it moves into prime, or mainstream, mortgage lending. It has increased its political profile, donating heavily to various campaigns, including in Sacramento. The privately held company, which may be considering a public stock offering, committed $75 million to have the Texas Rangers ballpark dubbed Ameriquest Field. And on Sunday it should gain even more recognition when it sponsors the halftime extravaganza at Super Bowl XXXIX.
"At Ameriquest," the company likes to say, "we never forget that our customers deserve respect, fairness and honesty."
Yet a far different picture emerges from public records, interviews and dozens of consumer lawsuits:
• Ameriquest customers filed more complaints with the Federal Trade Commission from 2000 through 2004 than did those of two of its biggest competitors combined, the agency said — 466 compared with 101 for Full Spectrum Lending (Calabasas-based Countrywide Financial Corp.'s sub-prime unit) and 51 for Irvine-based New Century Financial Corp.
• From 2000 through 2004, 134 complaints (including allegations of fraud and unfair business practices) were registered against Ameriquest with the California Department of Corporations, compared with 39 for New Century and 21 for Full Spectrum.
• Recent lawsuits filed by consumers in California and at least 20 other states allege a pattern of fraud, falsification of documents, bait-and-switch sales tactics and other violations. Six of these suits seek class-action status to represent large groups of borrowers; such status has been granted for a 2001 suit filed in Redwood City, Calif. In a sworn declaration in that case, a former loan officer named Kenneth Kendall said Ameriquest managers encouraged employees to "promise certain interest rates and fees, only to change those rates at the time of the closing."
Ameriquest says it doesn't comment on pending litigation. But it notes that since 2003, it has had in place automated systems that allow loan officers to lower rates but not to raise them.
• In court documents and interviews, 32 former employees across the country say they witnessed or participated in improper practices, mostly in 2003 and 2004. This behavior was said to have included 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.
Five of these former employees made their claims as part of employment discrimination lawsuits that they filed against Ameriquest. Three other ex-employees gave sworn statements in connection with other lawsuits against the company. Among the other ex-employees, most were referred to the Los Angeles Times by people who had worked in the offices where alleged improprieties occurred. The newspaper sought them out so as not to rely solely on information provided by those in litigation with the company.
• Two ex-workers at an Ameriquest office in Sacramento that focuses on retaining existing customers said people often were solicited to refinance loans that they had for less than two years. In adopting a best-practices standard in 2000, Ameriquest pledged not to resolicit its customers for two years to discourage "flipping," or pushing new loans simply to generate fees and commissions.
Nearly one in nine mortgages made by Ameriquest last year was a refinance of an existing company loan less than 24 months old, according to an analysis of public records by DataQuick Information Systems done at the request of The Times. That was a higher rate than for any of six competitors included in the analysis.
Ameriquest says that it doesn't solicit refinancings from its customers within two years, but that many of its borrowers contact the company on their own seeking a new loan.
• On Jan. 10, the Connecticut Department of Banking said it would seek to bar Ameriquest from doing business in the state for allegedly charging excessive fees and repeatedly violating a state law aimed at preventing loan flipping. Ameriquest is challenging the action.
Consumer activists say the company, a big-time donor to both Democrats and Republicans and the No. 1 contributor to the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee, has also been lobbying against state legislation aimed at countering alleged abuses by sub-prime lenders.
"They try to paint themselves as the good guys — that they've adopted best practices and they're kind of the gold standard for the industry," said Norma Garcia, a California lobbyist for Consumers Union. "But really, when you look at what they're doing to try to fight predatory- lending legislation, it shows exactly where they're coming from."
For its part, Ameriquest has maintained that so-called anti-predatory lending laws hurt the poor by making it harder for them to get credit.
Courting Politicians
Ameriquest executives declined requests for interviews, asking instead for a written list of questions. The company answered some of those questions in writing and also offered a general statement about its practices.
"In its 25-year history, Ameriquest has helped hundreds of thousands of homeowners purchase or refinance their homes, making it possible for them to achieve their financial goals and enhance their quality of life," the statement said. "We are proud of our role in helping increase homeownership to historic levels. We are a nationwide lender and our goal is to be an industry leader.
"Ameriquest pioneered innovative best practices in the mortgage industry," the statement continued. "We have procedures and internal controls in place that are designed to ensure that underwriting standards, pricing policies and property valuations are fair and accurate. We act promptly to resolve any issues that arise."
The company is headed by Chairman Roland E. Arnall, a developer and financier who in 1977 helped found the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, and served for 16 years on the California State University board of trustees.
Arnall, 65, a media-shy billionaire, has made headlines in recent years by buying a 10-acre Los Angeles estate for $30 million from singer Engelbert Humperdinck and a ranch in Aspen, Colo., for $46 million from movie mogul Peter Guber. Attendees at Arnall's holiday party late last year included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, along with the couple they replaced in Sacramento, Gray and Sharon Davis. Also mingling at the soiree were other politicians from both sides of the aisle, including Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, a Democrat.
Ameriquest is among the largest political donors in California, spending $3.8 million in the 2003-04 election cycle on state candidates and ballot measures. Schwarzenegger was the largest benefactor, picking up $1.18 million of the company's money for his various campaign bank accounts, among them his reelection committee and one he uses to promote ballot measures.
(Continued)
THE NATION
Workers Say Lender Ran 'Boiler Rooms'
Critics say Ameriquest, touted as an industry model, fabricated data, forged documents and hid fees. The company denies wrongdoing.
l. to r.: Ms. Dawn Arnall, Sen. Joe "Torture is Progressive" Lieberman, and Ameriquest Mogul, Roland Arnall, the SOB.
By Mike Hudson and E. Scott Reckard
Special to The Times
February 4, 2005
Mark Bomchill says he'd like to forget the year he spent hustling mortgages for Ameriquest Capital Corp. in suburban Minneapolis.
Slugging down Red Bull caffeine drinks, sales agents would work the phones hour after hour, he said, trying to turn cold calls into lucrative "sub-prime" mortgages — high-cost loans made to people with spotty credit.
The demands were relentless: One manager prowled the aisles between desks like "a little Hitler," Bomchill said, hounding agents to make more calls and push more loans, bragging that he hired and fired people so fast that one worker would be cleaning out his desk as his replacement came through the door.
"It was like a boiler room," said Bomchill, 37. "You produce, you make a lot of money. Or you move on. There's no real compassion or understanding of the position they're putting their customers in."
Indeed, Bomchill — who said he left Ameriquest because he didn't like the way the company treated its employees and customers, and now works as a mortgage broker — contends that the drive to close deals and grab six-figure salaries led many Ameriquest employees astray: They forged documents, hyped customers' creditworthiness and "juiced" mortgages with hidden rates and fees.
Such claims are not unusual against sub-prime lenders, which are a frequent target of consumer groups.
Ameriquest, however, has been held up as an industry model since agreeing in 2000 to establish a fund for needy borrowers and to adhere to a list of "best practices." The company says it holds itself "to the highest standards" and does not tolerate unethical or improper behavior by its employees.
The nation's largest sub-prime mortgage lender, based in Orange, has sought to burnish its image as it moves into prime, or mainstream, mortgage lending. It has increased its political profile, donating heavily to various campaigns, including in Sacramento. The privately held company, which may be considering a public stock offering, committed $75 million to have the Texas Rangers ballpark dubbed Ameriquest Field. And on Sunday it should gain even more recognition when it sponsors the halftime extravaganza at Super Bowl XXXIX.
"At Ameriquest," the company likes to say, "we never forget that our customers deserve respect, fairness and honesty."
Yet a far different picture emerges from public records, interviews and dozens of consumer lawsuits:
• Ameriquest customers filed more complaints with the Federal Trade Commission from 2000 through 2004 than did those of two of its biggest competitors combined, the agency said — 466 compared with 101 for Full Spectrum Lending (Calabasas-based Countrywide Financial Corp.'s sub-prime unit) and 51 for Irvine-based New Century Financial Corp.
• From 2000 through 2004, 134 complaints (including allegations of fraud and unfair business practices) were registered against Ameriquest with the California Department of Corporations, compared with 39 for New Century and 21 for Full Spectrum.
• Recent lawsuits filed by consumers in California and at least 20 other states allege a pattern of fraud, falsification of documents, bait-and-switch sales tactics and other violations. Six of these suits seek class-action status to represent large groups of borrowers; such status has been granted for a 2001 suit filed in Redwood City, Calif. In a sworn declaration in that case, a former loan officer named Kenneth Kendall said Ameriquest managers encouraged employees to "promise certain interest rates and fees, only to change those rates at the time of the closing."
Ameriquest says it doesn't comment on pending litigation. But it notes that since 2003, it has had in place automated systems that allow loan officers to lower rates but not to raise them.
• In court documents and interviews, 32 former employees across the country say they witnessed or participated in improper practices, mostly in 2003 and 2004. This behavior was said to have included 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.
Five of these former employees made their claims as part of employment discrimination lawsuits that they filed against Ameriquest. Three other ex-employees gave sworn statements in connection with other lawsuits against the company. Among the other ex-employees, most were referred to the Los Angeles Times by people who had worked in the offices where alleged improprieties occurred. The newspaper sought them out so as not to rely solely on information provided by those in litigation with the company.
• Two ex-workers at an Ameriquest office in Sacramento that focuses on retaining existing customers said people often were solicited to refinance loans that they had for less than two years. In adopting a best-practices standard in 2000, Ameriquest pledged not to resolicit its customers for two years to discourage "flipping," or pushing new loans simply to generate fees and commissions.
Nearly one in nine mortgages made by Ameriquest last year was a refinance of an existing company loan less than 24 months old, according to an analysis of public records by DataQuick Information Systems done at the request of The Times. That was a higher rate than for any of six competitors included in the analysis.
Ameriquest says that it doesn't solicit refinancings from its customers within two years, but that many of its borrowers contact the company on their own seeking a new loan.
• On Jan. 10, the Connecticut Department of Banking said it would seek to bar Ameriquest from doing business in the state for allegedly charging excessive fees and repeatedly violating a state law aimed at preventing loan flipping. Ameriquest is challenging the action.
Consumer activists say the company, a big-time donor to both Democrats and Republicans and the No. 1 contributor to the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee, has also been lobbying against state legislation aimed at countering alleged abuses by sub-prime lenders.
"They try to paint themselves as the good guys — that they've adopted best practices and they're kind of the gold standard for the industry," said Norma Garcia, a California lobbyist for Consumers Union. "But really, when you look at what they're doing to try to fight predatory- lending legislation, it shows exactly where they're coming from."
For its part, Ameriquest has maintained that so-called anti-predatory lending laws hurt the poor by making it harder for them to get credit.
Courting Politicians
Ameriquest executives declined requests for interviews, asking instead for a written list of questions. The company answered some of those questions in writing and also offered a general statement about its practices.
"In its 25-year history, Ameriquest has helped hundreds of thousands of homeowners purchase or refinance their homes, making it possible for them to achieve their financial goals and enhance their quality of life," the statement said. "We are proud of our role in helping increase homeownership to historic levels. We are a nationwide lender and our goal is to be an industry leader.
"Ameriquest pioneered innovative best practices in the mortgage industry," the statement continued. "We have procedures and internal controls in place that are designed to ensure that underwriting standards, pricing policies and property valuations are fair and accurate. We act promptly to resolve any issues that arise."
The company is headed by Chairman Roland E. Arnall, a developer and financier who in 1977 helped found the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, and served for 16 years on the California State University board of trustees.
Arnall, 65, a media-shy billionaire, has made headlines in recent years by buying a 10-acre Los Angeles estate for $30 million from singer Engelbert Humperdinck and a ranch in Aspen, Colo., for $46 million from movie mogul Peter Guber. Attendees at Arnall's holiday party late last year included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, along with the couple they replaced in Sacramento, Gray and Sharon Davis. Also mingling at the soiree were other politicians from both sides of the aisle, including Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, a Democrat.
Ameriquest is among the largest political donors in California, spending $3.8 million in the 2003-04 election cycle on state candidates and ballot measures. Schwarzenegger was the largest benefactor, picking up $1.18 million of the company's money for his various campaign bank accounts, among them his reelection committee and one he uses to promote ballot measures.
(Continued)
