Thursday, June 9, 2005

Ameriquest Mortgage says CEO is leaving
'Subprime' lender, based in Orange, is focus of criticism over sales tactics.

By ANDREW GALVIN
The Orange County Register


Ameriquest Mortgage Co., one of the nation's biggest lenders to people with impaired credit histories or other difficulties getting credit, said its chief executive, Wayne Lee, is leaving to pursue unspecified opportunities.

Lee had served as CEO of Orange-based Ameriquest and president of its Irvine- based sister company, wholesale lender Argent Mortgage, for about a year. He had been with Ameriquest for 15 years. Lee's boss, Aseem Mital, who is president of parent firm Ameriquest Capital Corp., is replacing him.

Nobody at Ameriquest was available for interviews Wednesday, a company spokesman said.

During the year that Lee served as CEO, Ameriquest's sales tactics were sharply questioned.

In March, Ameriquest, agreed to pay as much as $60 million to settle a California class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of borrowers who said their loan terms differed from those initially promised.

Ameriquest disclosed this year that regulators in 25 states have expressed concerns about its practices.

The Greenlining Institute, a Berkeley-based group that works to improve the quality of life for low-income neighborhoods, recently returned a $100,000 donation from Ameriquest. Bob Gnaizda, Greenlining's policy director, said the money was returned because Ameriquest refused to submit to an independent audit of its sales practices.

Ameriquest and its affiliates have 280 branch offices across the U.S. In 2003, it was the third-largest 'subprime' lender with nearly $19 billion in loans, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.


The colonel
Memphis, Tennessee
U.S.A.

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