Class Action Lawsuit: Ameriquest

Ameriquest

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 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 by Roland Arnall in 1979, in Orange County, California, as a savings and loan association, or thrift, called Long Beach Savings & Loan. 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 Arnall. (In 1999, Washington Mutual purchased Long Beach Mortgage.)

Ameriquest Mortgage was a private company held by ACC Capital Holdings, also owned by Arnall. At the time the company stopped originating loans in September 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.