Ameriquest Mortgage Refinancing With Ameriquest Was The Biggest Mistake Of My Life Ripoff Orange California

My husband and I refinanced with Ameriquest in 2002. Our townhouse was appraised for $138,500 at the time, which we would come to find out later was an inflated appraisal. Our interest rate was over 11% and our payments were almost $1800 a month. We made our payments on time every month but we couldn't afford to keep making these payments, so we tried to refinance a couple of years later to lower our payments.

We were shocked to find out that our house was appraised for $86,000...and that was with upgrades we made to the home. Of course the refinance didn't go through and we were stuck with a payment we couldn't afford. I made a call to the corporate office, spoke with someone and explained what happened.

She informed me that she would be conducting an investigation and she would also modify the mortgage for the true value of the home. After I didn't hear from this woman for awhile, I started calling everyday. Meanwhile, I was unable to make payments because of the ongoing investigation, and I was only allowed to speak with this woman about anything concerning my loan.

I left this woman messages everyday, but of course she didn't return my calls. So four months later, she called to simply say she couldn't help us because the appraisal wasn't inflated. We also had to come up with the money we owed, plus late fees. Now we're stuck in a house with no equity, and we can't even sell the house because we'd still end up owing Ameriquest money.

Now Ameriquest is showing up on our credit as a foreclosure. We are still in the house and Ameriquest calls us all the time asking us what we're going to do with the property. We have money saved up but refuse to pay this company that has ripped us off for years. We have filed so many complaints against Ameriquest, but we haven't recieved any help so far.

Our credit is permanently damaged, we can't get another house, and we are stressed out. I can't even begin to explain what we've gone through with this company. We are waiting to hear what's going on with the settlement, but I know it won't be enough money to compensate us for all of the hardship we've gone through. I contacted lawyers in my area but they have been no help. They say there's no guarantee that we will win, and we would still have to pay the lawyer fees upfront, which of course we don't have.

I don't know what to do or where to turn, so I'm hoping someone can give me some advice...please.

R. Bailey
Poconos, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.