Complaint Review: Ameriquest Mortgage Company - Orange California

Hey Captain, how about some further clarification here. I have provided some very basic industry information to counter your claims. For the non-industry reader, the concept of "revenue" is important to have a basic understanding of. When a mortgage loan is created "Revenue" (gross profit) can be created through 3-4 channels. 1.Origination charge 2."Points", 3."Yield Spread", 4.Prepayment Penalty. The "loan officer, loan originator, mortgage loan specialist, account executive" whatever they call themselves are paid by how much "revenue" they create. You state: "FACT: It is absolutely Ameriquest policy that all Ameriquest-owned internal refinances MUST have the pre-payment penalties waived. This includes loans that are serviced by AMC servicing." Portfolio retention people are basically loan originators trying to keep the loan servicing and ownership from being refinanced away from Ameriquest. THEIR INCOMES ARE DEPENDENT on creating as much revenue as possible... they are commissioned sales reps just like the person who sold the loan in the beginning. As you stated "Now, as we all know, there are some crooks who work for Ameriquest. Portfolio Retention people do not want to waive the pre-payment penalties because it hits their revenue." Why should we believe that they will work within "policy" when their incomes are directly affected (reduced) by doing exactly that" I love this one, you state: "FACT: A pre-payment penalty can also be waived if the loan has been sold to an investor. This can be done through a Level 4 approval" You are obviously new to the mortgage world. Once a loan has been shipped to the secondary market Ameriquest has absolutely no control over anything to do with that loan. A prepayment penalty is basically a guaranteed return to the investor which owns that note. There is no friggin way that Ameriquest is going to require the secondary investor to give up the PPP. If an excaption is made by the secondary investor, most likely Ameriquest will have to reimburse the PPP or the yield spread premium to said investor. That ain't happenin' Pal. Here is another good one: You state "Special Note: If an Ameriquest Mortgage Specialist puts you into a 2/28 credit repair loan, you have every right to opt out of the pre-payment penalty. It will increase the interest rate by about .625%." The problem here is that it is very unlikely that the AMC "loan specialist" will give that option to the borrower because it directly affects the revenue on the loan. The loan specialist is then compensated directly by how much revenue is created by this loan. You have previously stated "Now, as we all know, there are some crooks who work for Ameriquest." So I would find it highly unlikely that the loan specialist would volunteer this option to the borrower. So, Captain, exactly why would you want to work for a company that employs "horrible employees" and "crooks"? Maybe it is that old expression "Birds of a feather...tend to flock together"

Since Ameriquest mainly hires people who are brand new to the industry, it would be virtually impossible for Ameriquest employees to think up the same type of fraud on their own. It is obviously TAUGHT BY UPPER MANAGEMENT AT AMERIQUEST! Let's look at some excerpts from other Ameriquest employees who have shared their thoughts with us. ------------------------------------- Quinton Greenbelt, Maryland: I worked for Lloyd Grant, the "golden boy" of the Maryland area. This guy was promoted to run a branch after being with the company for less than 6 months. Do you want to know why, because he closed 36 loans in one month, that's right, 36!!! He always brags in our office how he closed those loans, through his "girls" that he has in other company's feeding him leads illegally!!! That's just the tip of the iceberg, as soon as this guy walked into the office with his "ghetto" attitude, it's been nothing but fraud ever since. I've witnessed him on the phone with our title company begging them to remove liens from title just so we can close a loan. Or to put someone else on the title that didn't belong there in the first placed, just so we could do the loan as a refi instead of a purchase, this guy is crooked! And this goes all the way to the top, the area manager, Cory Lenard, knows that all this goes on but just turns a blind eye. He never even comes into our office, and when he does, him and Lloyd just joke about all the money they are making and the girls that they hooked up with during the weekend. The area manager frequently goes out with the salespeople, but only a few certain salespeople, his "crew". ------------------------------- COREY SCANDIN'S AREA 49 PA/NJ/DE: This is exactly how the new office in Berwyn was run from what I have heard. The manager, who was also a 7-month rookie, carried himself the same way and engaged in the exact type of fraudulent activity that took place in Maryland. That particular manager was fired. Ameriquest conducted their own internal audit and pinned everything on him. They also had to hire a security guard because he threatened to kill Scandin. This was mainly due to the fact that Scandin befriended him outside of the office - Scandin does this with all of his flunky managers and potential flunky managers. ----------------------------- Mariano Mirimar, Florida: AE's are forced to work 70 hr weeks and are threatened to be fired on an almost daily basis. Fraud is rampant and I have not only seen this first hand (fake signatures, cut and paste of almost every type of doc from W2's to insurance) but from speaking to other AEs in different areas, the stories are almost identical. The branches that are doing over 12 million in rev a month are ALL dirty. It is impossible for an AE trying to do things honestly to compete with dirt bags who lie, cheat and steal their way to Hawaii trips & $200,000 plus salaries. All one has to do to see this first hand is go into a branch, you will find an unqualified manager barking at a group of even less qualified account execs about why there isn't more gain on the board. You will see a group of 10-15 males all under 30 years old, throwing soccer balls around like monkeys and bragging out loud about the "last poor dumb b*****d that I bent over". All of these posts on this site are true. THE APPRAISERS ARE ALL ON THE PAYROLL.The closing agents are taught to use the HUD arm, an old trick where the schedule of disbursements is covered by the notaries arm during signing so that the customer doesn't see the sick enormous fees and the pre-pay that are being charged to them. I myself have done countless loans where there was very little or no benefit to the customer...but they were done anyway because it meant $$ for the manager and the processors, and they threaten your job and pressure the AE's into signing them. I have also signed countless deals where I checked the final numbers after signing, only to find that the rate and the fees had been dramatically changed. This company is SO greedy that it not only screws the customer, but after the loan signs, the corporate offices give seven days for the loan to fund, or else you as an AE get half of the revenue that was rightfully yours. They wait until the fourth day in and then sock you with a list of stips to collect that are so long that they KNOW you will never clear them in time. Hence, they take half of your money. Where does that money go? Who knows. Bottom line is, this company is about one thing, and that is the bottom line. Greed, Greed, Greed. I feel like I lost a piece of my soul working there, and I regret all of the bad loans that I have done. ------------------------------------- LAUNCHPAD TRAINING: The training program at Ameriquest teaches next to nothing about traditional mortgages. The only thing taught is the unique underwriting guidelines that enable the AE's to rush customers to the closing table. A proper refinance loan takes at least 3 weeks to originate process and underwrite for closing. As for the Secondary Market, 25% of Ameriquest's loans are sold to investors. It is obvious that Ameriquest allows fraud to take place at most of their branches, then they pin all of the fraud on the Branch Manager or Account Executive and then go on to conduct their own internal audit. At that point, Ameriquest keeps the fraudulent loans for their own portfolio. The more legitimate loans are sold to investors. You do not have to be Sherlock Holmes or Perry Mason to deduce that there is an obvious pattern at Ameriquest branches throughout the country.