Former Subprime Leader Ameriquest Closes Amid Sale of Parent to Citigroup

Source: Associated Press

AP
Former Subprime Leader Ameriquest Closes
Saturday September 1, 12:25 am ET
By Gary Gentile, AP Business Writer
Former Subprime Leader Ameriquest Closes Amid Sale of Parent to Citigroup

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Ameriquest Mortgage Co., once the nation's largest subprime lender, will close with barely a whimper, after the other assets of its parent company were sold Friday to Citigroup Inc.

Ameriquest, which saw its fortunes soar during the housing boom by lending to people with less than stellar credit, is the latest victim of a mortgage crisis that has left bankrupt companies and cash-strapped borrowers in its wake.

Along with shuttering Ameriquest, Orange-based ACC Capital Holdings also said it was selling its wholesale mortgage origination operation and a mortgage servicing business to Citigroup for an undisclosed sum.

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Ameriquest was once so successful it paid millions of dollars to tack its name onto the Texas Rangers' baseball park.


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Read more: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070901/citigroup_acc_capital.html?.v=2

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and another one bites the dust

www.ml-implode.com

I worked for their wholesale sister-company Argent Mortgage f//k/a AMC Wholesale until I was laid-off 3/07.
Ameriquest was on the carpet for some questionable practices, but Argent was/is a gem of a company.
We had some forward-thinking policies that should be considered a model for the industry.
Advanced fraud detection, early payment default algorithm, strong best-practices, anti-predatory lending, etc.
Hey, I could be bitter since I was laid-off, but they had sound business practices and did right by the customer, yet fell victim of the liquidy crisis and the irrational pullback in the CDO market.
Footnote- Urtel and Christian were great to work for.
Those at the top in the OC corporate office as well as those in the Rolling Meadows, IL production center did a wonderful job of balancing corporate and consumer interests.
No regrets...