Ameriquest STAY AWAY they will suck you dry and then some East Lansing Michigan

dear pete:

where do u go from a completely misguided 'loan officer' quoting this poor lady a 90% ficticious ltv cap -to another universe with some guy or whoever having a 90 day late somewhere?

must have missed that one.

As a state licenced mortgage professional -its isnt up to ME to snub my nose at anyone. Its the BANK who accepts or denies terms. My job is to find a bank WILLING to not snub this 'proverbial nose' and get the consumer the best terms.

Mortgage brokers dont set terms nor to they deny or approve.

So pete - can you do us all a favor and try to contain yourself a little bit? grow up .

to the editors of ripoff report :

is there no way to curb abusive people on this site? if we can clamp down on lunatics - we wouldnt have to deal with people like pete.

Pete,

I'm sorry, but often those to whom you glowingly refer (people like Todd) don't represent or understand what the consumer really needs...the ability to truly overcome a demoralizing and overwhelming financial situation. Often consumers are in dire financial need for whatever reason...lost job, unexpected medical bills, overwhelming and unplanned household expenses, sometimes just plain old bad credit planning. Once the hole is dug, it is hard to see the light of day. Ameriquest knows this and preys on that situation.

Consumers to whom you refer (late payments, lost jobs, stated versus verifiable income) need more than just a quick fix with a first or second mortgage with high interest rates and huge prepayment penalties. They need help in organizing and negotiating payment schedules for their already accumulated committments. They may need help to devlop a sound monthly budget and/or assistance in doing same.

I speak from experience...fortunately past experience. We bypassed the Ameriquest quick fix and are better for it in the long run.

P.S. Please tell Vito to stop mailing offers to our family. We neither need or desire them cluttering our mailbox.

Pete, it isn't about "snubbing our noses" at someone that has has some bumps on their credit. I close 9-12 solid loans every month. Of those 2-3 are what would be classified "sub-prime" by the mortgage industry. These loan scenarios have problems of various kinds.

You mentioned someone with a 90 day late. If they have not received a "Notice of Default" and they are willing to hustle and get me the paperwork I need fast before the N.O.D. arrives, I can close that loan. Providing of course there is enough equity in the property. You see, by going 90 days late and not addressing the problem earlier, the homeowner has dropped the potential access to the equity from 100% down to 70%. Sometimes just that is enough to "kill" the loan, or at best now we are talking about a 11% interest rate.

The self employed guy with hard to prove income? If the guy has scores of 680, and is not trying to suck out all his equity with a high LTV, I can do the loan with barely any income verification! If scores are lower and the income hits a bank account on a regular basis and he can prove it with bank statements for a year, I can do that loan too. If there is accountability with the income, there are also rewards.

Remember I see your credit reports when you apply for a loan. I see the history over the years. It is very easy to see if someone has had a recent problem or a pattern of problems dating back many years. You can not fool me or the banks. The "proof is in the pudding", so to speak.

Pete, I do not scoff at those less fortunate. People have problems. However, BY FAR, mostly what I see with sub-prime borrowers over the last 4-5 years anyway, is homeowners living WAY ABOVE their incomes, carrying too much consumer debt, not having any emergency funds, and refinancing over and over again, living off the equity in their homes.

Your knowledge of the mortgage industry is very impressive.

The terms and rates you quote are all for people with 640 scores on up?

The next time you snub your nose at a guy with a 90 day late because his wife was sick, someone who owns there own business with hard to prove income, a single mom hoping to help her daughter go to college but has a little bit higher debt load and isn't quite "conforming" or a variety of situations where its just easier to tell someone they don't qualify I hope you think of inexperienced Todd and thank him for helping these very people

Hi there gang:

My name is Tom and i am a state licenced mortgage broker. I hope i can shed some light on the balony i am reading.

First off : To Todd who works for Ameriquest. you work for a lender and are not licenced by your state. u simply are a 'loan officer' working for a lender. You are programmed to tell the poor consumer whatever ameriquest tells you to tell them. You have not a clue what is going on -cause u are not licenced by the state. So u never studied all the laws.

Second: Ameriquest has quite the reputation for being sub prime. They also pump millions into advertising so that people think they hear the name so it must be good. Where does all this advertising dollars come from ? Giving people fair deals? NOT.

Thirdly, your 'sales pitch' has too many flaws in it. Outright lies in fact. You speak for the industry -thus every lender - as a whole when u work for one company using their guidelines.

To the original author looking for a loan:

From what u tell us here - i can get u a conforming prime loan at 5.25 -at par -no yield spread for myself. If ur loan to value is below 80% . Closing would be roughly 2000 plus however much your title insurance is.

If your credit score is 700 -then i can instead get you a first lein position home equity loan for little closing -drive by appraisal and limited title - at 5.875 % with a lock down option to a fixed rate at 6.84 whenever u wish.

As far as the bs goes for the 'max ltv' balony i can tell u this. ANYONE DOWN TO 580 credit score can get 100% of their property worth -if they are willing to get a higher rate.

ANYONE with a 640 credit score can get a 125% loan to value -thus 25% extra than its worth -this time for a MUCH higher rate.

The best deal is the 2 i just sold a week ago.

ANYONE with a 680 credit score can get a $30,000 loan against their property WITHOUT SAYING HOW MUCH ITS WORTH. thats right -no appraisal -no 'ltv'

moreover, ANYONE with a 680 credit score can get a loan up to 80% ltv WITHOUT PROVING INCOME . thats right. no paystubs or w2s.

the first is called 'stated value'
second is called 'stated income'

NOW OF COURSE AMERI- RIPOFF WONT GIVE U THAT AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO CONVINCE YOU THEIR BULLSHIT IS THE BEST YOU CAN GET.

this is the differce between going to a direct lender vs a broker. a lender will try to do anything within their power to convince you their program is the best deal u can get. A broker shops 100s of lenders for you to ACTUALLY GET THE BEST DEAL U CAN GET.

STAY AWAY FROM AMERIQUEST. -they will burn you badly.

Todd, you ahve no idea what you are talking about.

Firstly, you say that even with perfect credit a homeowner can only mortgage 90% of the home. You are wrong. There are several ways to structure mortgages to access 100% of the home's value. A single mortgage, piggyback a HELOC, 103% loans, on and on. One does not even need perfect credit! I can do a 100% loan for someone with a 660 FICO, 5/1 ARM, Interest only if they want it and the interest rate would be about 7%. 6.5% if they wanted to pay 1 point.

Regarding appraisals being an educated guess: A "real" appraisal FNMA 1004 or 2055 is done by a state licensed appraiser. That appraisal meets the guidelines of the banking and mortgage industry for residential properties. There is quite a bit of research that is included in the report that supports the appraisers opinion of the value of the property. Have you even seen one of these? Not that mickey mouse AVM that you AMC refi monkeys use.

Ameriquest hires "loan officers" (and I use that term laughing") who have no industry experience because they want you to believe there is only one way to do things. They want you to think that prepayment penalties, 4 point loans, and the band-aid 2/28 is the only thing out there.

If you are any good at selling and you like this industry, they do yourself a favor and get your real estate license so you can work for a real mortgage broker in your area.

I promise you will be SHOCKED about how the real mortgage loan biz works, and you will probably make more money.

Todd,

Why do people despise Ameriquest? Just Noogle (News-Google) the phrase Ameriquest to read all about their tentative $325 million settlement with 30 states over allegations of deceptives sales practices.

The AP, Boston Globe, CBS News, et. al. all have their own stories on the issues.

Other suits are pending.

This is not old news being rehashed, either. Datelines are July 29, 2005, and on.

I am a mortgage associate at the East Lansing Branch. I left my job in Washington, DC and moved to MI to work for this company. Why? They refinanced my home in MD, the experience was excellent. My appraisal was probably a little high, but I wanted the cash to improve my home - my credit wasn't the greatest and in one week my home was refied and I had 12g's to fix up my home. Great company I thought - they helped me improve my credit and my property, in record time! Thank you AMERIQUEST!!!

Working for this company gives me the chance to help others accomplish their goals too!

Remember an appraisal is only someone's opinion which is backed up by comparable properties in the area. It is not an exact science - and no one is forcing anyone to take a loan. If you don't want the loan you don't pay for the appraisal. You may want to check out other companies, many require you to pay for the appraisal up-front out of your pocket.

There is also nothing wrong with asking how much your home appraises for before you sign the papers. Not only that, you should understand that the max a person can get on the value of a property is 90% - in other words if your home appraises at 100k you can only get a loan for 90k and that is only if you have the best credit - some people (with bankrupts or 60 & 90 day lates) can only get a loan for 60% of the value - on a 100k home that would be 60k -

SO, the question is not how much was your appraisal, but how much was your loan? If you loan amount is higher than market value, you might be in a tough situation - but the bottom line is, when you signed for the loan it worked for you - what changed?

With all due respect, the idea behind paying off your bills is not so you can go out and run them up all over again.

One other thing to think about is the economy in Southern MI now, compared to 2 years ago - back then your home appraised for a certain value, honestly, do you think property values have increased, stayed the same or decreased since your last refi? My experience shows that many people's properties have actually sold for less over the last couple years - Can you say "Eaton Corp"? "State Farm"? "UPJOHN"? and what was that business furniture company that shut down?

People are clammering to sell homes and will take almost anything for them - I am in the process of buying a home here that's been on the market for 1 year - it has been dropped in price over $25k by the seller! (ONE YEAR)! This house probably would have appraised for 40k more than it does today 2 years ago -

I don't mean to sound callous, and I understand that things happen to people - I've endured my share - but bashing my company because they were able to help you out when you wanted it, and now some things have changed - is that fair?

Respectfully,

Gabby:

As an ex employee of AMC, I can tell you that they got your information from the other lenders you were shopping. Other lenders "w***e" out their info to Ameriquest for a fee that Ameriquest is more than happy to pay.

Run Away!!

Former

We have recently started looking into financing for an addition. I contacted citi-bank on line through a form. I have had 8 different people call me in the last week from AMERIQUEST to ask for info over the phone to refinance with them. I DID NOT call Ameriquest, I DID NOT e-mail Ameriquest.... I had not even heard of Ameriquest before last week. Somehow "they" got my home phone AND cell phone number. I do not know how they got my numbers. (anyone know how? Please enlighten) They all say "We see you are looking to refinance your home."

Anyway, after all the calls, I decided to do research. I had considered using them because they did say they could match anyone's rate. I did not know they were subprime lenders. I have a credit score of over 700. I do not have any late payments. I have substantial equity in my home, AND, I am not illiterate as previous posters have suggested of Ameriquests clientelle. Thanks for enlightening me. I would never have known. I will not finance through them.

I did ask "Duke" in New Brighton what the current rate was. He said it depends on your situation. I told him my situation and he said he could not give me a rate until we met in person.

I asked if their rate was tied to the prime and what their index was. He referred me to the Ameriquest sight to look at info there.
I asked if their loans had a prepayment penalty. He said we could modify our loan so it didn't.
I asked about escrows, he said they did not usually set up escrow accounts.
I asked about fees. He said he could not estimate until after a credit check and meeting in person.

I also told him we have a fixed first mortgage at 4.1% for 15 years and didn't want to touch it.

He told me that a 15 year at 4% could end up costing me more than just refinancing it into a new mortgage at a rate slightly higher. That line made me question Ameriquest.

I want to say thanks again. Asking more questions on the phone is what gave me an inkling to do more research. And, having 8 different people from the same company call you is a definite tip off. I would have never found this site and known otherwise.

We have recently started looking into financing for an addition. I contacted citi-bank on line through a form. I have had 8 different people call me in the last week from AMERIQUEST to ask for info over the phone to refinance with them. I DID NOT call Ameriquest, I DID NOT e-mail Ameriquest.... I had not even heard of Ameriquest before last week. Somehow "they" got my home phone AND cell phone number. I do not know how they got my numbers. (anyone know how? Please enlighten) They all say "We see you are looking to refinance your home."

Anyway, after all the calls, I decided to do research. I had considered using them because they did say they could match anyone's rate. I did not know they were subprime lenders. I have a credit score of over 700. I do not have any late payments. I have substantial equity in my home, AND, I am not illiterate as previous posters have suggested of Ameriquests clientelle. Thanks for enlightening me. I would never have known. I will not finance through them.

I did ask "Duke" in New Brighton what the current rate was. He said it depends on your situation. I told him my situation and he said he could not give me a rate until we met in person.

I asked if their rate was tied to the prime and what their index was. He referred me to the Ameriquest sight to look at info there.
I asked if their loans had a prepayment penalty. He said we could modify our loan so it didn't.
I asked about escrows, he said they did not usually set up escrow accounts.
I asked about fees. He said he could not estimate until after a credit check and meeting in person.

I also told him we have a fixed first mortgage at 4.1% for 15 years and didn't want to touch it.

He told me that a 15 year at 4% could end up costing me more than just refinancing it into a new mortgage at a rate slightly higher. That line made me question Ameriquest.

I want to say thanks again. Asking more questions on the phone is what gave me an inkling to do more research. And, having 8 different people from the same company call you is a definite tip off. I would have never found this site and known otherwise.

We have recently started looking into financing for an addition. I contacted citi-bank on line through a form. I have had 8 different people call me in the last week from AMERIQUEST to ask for info over the phone to refinance with them. I DID NOT call Ameriquest, I DID NOT e-mail Ameriquest.... I had not even heard of Ameriquest before last week. Somehow "they" got my home phone AND cell phone number. I do not know how they got my numbers. (anyone know how? Please enlighten) They all say "We see you are looking to refinance your home."

Anyway, after all the calls, I decided to do research. I had considered using them because they did say they could match anyone's rate. I did not know they were subprime lenders. I have a credit score of over 700. I do not have any late payments. I have substantial equity in my home, AND, I am not illiterate as previous posters have suggested of Ameriquests clientelle. Thanks for enlightening me. I would never have known. I will not finance through them.

I did ask "Duke" in New Brighton what the current rate was. He said it depends on your situation. I told him my situation and he said he could not give me a rate until we met in person.

I asked if their rate was tied to the prime and what their index was. He referred me to the Ameriquest sight to look at info there.
I asked if their loans had a prepayment penalty. He said we could modify our loan so it didn't.
I asked about escrows, he said they did not usually set up escrow accounts.
I asked about fees. He said he could not estimate until after a credit check and meeting in person.

I also told him we have a fixed first mortgage at 4.1% for 15 years and didn't want to touch it.

He told me that a 15 year at 4% could end up costing me more than just refinancing it into a new mortgage at a rate slightly higher. That line made me question Ameriquest.

I want to say thanks again. Asking more questions on the phone is what gave me an inkling to do more research. And, having 8 different people from the same company call you is a definite tip off. I would have never found this site and known otherwise.

We have recently started looking into financing for an addition. I contacted citi-bank on line through a form. I have had 8 different people call me in the last week from AMERIQUEST to ask for info over the phone to refinance with them. I DID NOT call Ameriquest, I DID NOT e-mail Ameriquest.... I had not even heard of Ameriquest before last week. Somehow "they" got my home phone AND cell phone number. I do not know how they got my numbers. (anyone know how? Please enlighten) They all say "We see you are looking to refinance your home."

Anyway, after all the calls, I decided to do research. I had considered using them because they did say they could match anyone's rate. I did not know they were subprime lenders. I have a credit score of over 700. I do not have any late payments. I have substantial equity in my home, AND, I am not illiterate as previous posters have suggested of Ameriquests clientelle. Thanks for enlightening me. I would never have known. I will not finance through them.

I did ask "Duke" in New Brighton what the current rate was. He said it depends on your situation. I told him my situation and he said he could not give me a rate until we met in person.

I asked if their rate was tied to the prime and what their index was. He referred me to the Ameriquest sight to look at info there.
I asked if their loans had a prepayment penalty. He said we could modify our loan so it didn't.
I asked about escrows, he said they did not usually set up escrow accounts.
I asked about fees. He said he could not estimate until after a credit check and meeting in person.

I also told him we have a fixed first mortgage at 4.1% for 15 years and didn't want to touch it.

He told me that a 15 year at 4% could end up costing me more than just refinancing it into a new mortgage at a rate slightly higher. That line made me question Ameriquest.

I want to say thanks again. Asking more questions on the phone is what gave me an inkling to do more research. And, having 8 different people from the same company call you is a definite tip off. I would have never found this site and known otherwise.