Complaint Review: Ameriquest Mortgage Company - Portland Oregon

After reading many of the views of ex-employees, customers, etc. there are obviously a wide variety of opinions regarding AMC. The facts are these: *i do my best to help customers in the best way i can so as to truly benefit them *we do not force customers to sign documents *we help a great many customers in extremely difficut situations that THEY PUT THEMSELVES INTO *we are not a non-profit organization *we are not abused or mistreated as employees *we are a sales organization with intentions of being profitable for the company and its employees *the "dirty" branches with outrageous appraisals and forged documents are closed when the company becomes aware of these issues *there are bad apples in the bunch of every organization or business in this country But there are negatives: *high turnover creates mistake-prone new employees *company training is poor *we are pushed harder than a typical employee *we do loans that at times raise interest rates (but provide needed cash and or reduce higher interest loans) *our fees are generally high *customers can always get better rates with good credit and proper income documentation On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being high, I would give AMC an 8 considering all possible factors.

Hello! Well, as a former employee of Ameriquest Mortgage Company, I would like to weigh in on my time spent there and the company practices that eventually prompted me to leave my position. I began working there with no experience in the mortgage industry and was given little to no training in the industry. With the incredibly long hours, I hit my goals my first month and every month thereafter. It would be dishonest to say that I was not greatly financially rewarded for doing so either. After a few months, I began to really learn some about the industry. From that point on, it wasn't "white lies" or "fancy language" to bring it down to the borrower's level (as my manager said); but it was more fraud, deception, and so on. DTI (Debt- to- income ratio) was constantly forged, including but not limited to doing a check exchange. (That is where the title company will make out the check to the borrower rather than pay off debts listed on the HUD. This is very illegal, but some title companies who are used by Ameriquest excusivley will do this.) Appraisals were pushed beyond any reasonable limit. (Most mortgage companies will try to push the appraiser for value: but if it is not there it is not there! Ameriquest would consistently get an additional 10k+ per appraisal... which makes the borrower upside down in their home!) As for the famous "7 day recision period": this is done because the loan has not been approved to fund when you sign, and there is a great possibility that it will not be. Before the closing, the processor will enter the information on the intranet [Empower], get a canned approval (which we all knew how to get), and print the documents. Then, your Loan Officer has 7+ days to get the paperwork to Home Office for it to really be approved. Now, I will not say that everyone had a bad experience. Last I heard, three of the people I worked with at Ameriquest are still with the company and have been promoted. I am still in the mortgage industry and will often come across other former employees with different managers that will tell of "clean" dealings with the company. I will not be so bold as to say that all of Ameriquest is corrupt, but the company is structured so that corruption (while I do not believe is encouraged) is often turned a blind eye to. I would recommend to ANY prospective borrower to choose your OWN title company. This is actually, despite what your loan officer may say, your right! Do not allow any debts from the credit report to be paid off on paper but not in reality! Furthermore, do not accept a "stated" income loan from them unless you truly own your own business. The company will have you sign a letter, which is notarized, that says that you own "XYZ Consulting Co." and have you make far more money than you do. What is wrong with this? If you ever do defalt, you could be in legal trouble for lying and Ameriquest could sue you! Shop around folks! Mortgage Brokers can generally offer you a better deal, and so can other direct lenders if you choose. Thank you for your time. I have tried to be civil, I request for responders to this post to do the same.

Lou - Thank you! Thank you for being so honest about Ameriquest. It is helpful to know that someone out there understands what some of Ameriquest's consumers are going through. It has not been a good phase of our life. I would like more specific information from you if possible... Please post more info if ou have it, so we can all know...

I was almost sucked in by ameriquests lies, thank God I shopped around, First they told my credit was alot worse than it actually was, telling me that I would never be able to beat their HUGE interest rate and enormous fees, with my Poor credit rating, I'd better sign on RIGHT NOW! Then the newly hired AE made so many F-ups that my 3-day waiting period before closing became 2 weeks making it difficult to find anyone else, then when closing day finally came I took a day off work to sign the paperwork. When we were in the closing office they tried to make me sign all the paperwork as fast as possible so I couldn't read them they said we had already gone over everything so I just needed to sign them and move on. It was then that I noticed the legnth of my loan was extended 10 yrs and the interest raised 2 percentage points. They claim it was a paperwork error that could be changed later, and still tried to get me to sign. I refused walked, no, ran away and never looked back, I found a better loan with no closing costs, and my GOOD credit rating I qualified for a fantastic rate! STAY AWAY FROM AMERIQUEST MORTGAGE

LMAO! This "D" from "Birmingham" is rather obviously NOT an EX-employee of Ameriquest, but a CURRENT one. Who else would defend these scumbags so vociferously? I thank you, "D", for helping me to make my point about what LIARS you Ameriquest defenders are. And thanks for supporting my posts with your own anecdotes of crooked managers you worked for. That kind of criminal behavior is a result of PRESSURE which comes FROM THE TOP DOWN. (Rotten from the top down, remember?) Your "emotional based" (god I love that phrase, it sounds so retarded) posts have done more to alert the world of Ameriquest's lying, criminal ways than I could have dreamed of doing on my own. By the way, I have not done a single signing for these criminals since I found out exactly what they were up to, nor will I. Like most of the AEs, it took me about two months to figure out I was working for a scumbag outfit. I guess that, yet again, you have jumped to another ridiculous conclusion. Unlike YOU, "D", I left with my karma still intact. Let's take on "D's" numbered list of LIES one at a time... 1. By "leading" you mean they make a lot of money. Yeah, that makes it all OK, no matter how they go about getting it. 2. Nope, everything I described was witnessed AFTER they canned the manager. Looks like you jumped to yet another "emotional based" conclusion. 3. No, but take a look at the other Ameriquest postings around this website, and even this thread. Smell any trends? No? Then you need to pull your fingers out of your nose and put them back in your ears so you can do another 5 years with Ameriquest. 4 & 5. By whom? Ameriquest? Always cite your sources, or it comes off like a LIE. #5 is particularly funny-smelling, given the high turnover even YOU admit to, especially if this "rating" was based on a poll of employees. Sounds like Bill O'Reilly saying he won a Peabody award. 6. So did John Gotti, Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler. 7. Wrong again, like I pointed out earlier. YOU hang it up, and go put your 60-70 weekly hours in slaving for a scumbag company. Face it, you were BORN to work for Ameriquest, and live in Alabama. UPDATE: Another current Ameriquest employee tells me that Ameriquest currently has 1500 lawsuits pending against it (This probably puts them among the "Top 100", indeed!) and is barred from doing business in New Jersey, New Mexico, and part of Texas. Don't know how much of that is really true, but geez... TAKE D's ADVICE, PEOPLE... WHEN AMERIQUEST CALLS, HANG IT UP! Okay, kids, now that "D" has his credibility in the shop for repairs, I'll be signing off of this thread. But I'll be back in a month or so with some funny and rather disgusting INTERNAL E-MAILS from AMERIQUEST MANAGERS! I promise it will be a hoot! I LOVE this website!

Beth, lets step back and look at the grand scheme of things, shall we? I do not know you or your situation, but assuming what you have said is true, that you are a victim of fraud, then your claim is against the particular employees that have committed such crimes, which were employees of Ameriquest. So see it is the people that are guilty, not the company, that is guilty. You may sue Ameriquest, then they will sue the employee. So do not think that the company condones this behavior. Furthermore, how long did it take you to realize you were a victim? I happened to know the Area/district Manager over the New England area and he and his employees were upstanding christian folk, and were very family oriented. It does not seem likely that any of his employees would do such a thing, however it is possible, just not likely. Lastly, so you say you are out to burn Ameriquest, huh? Let me remind you of a man who walked the earth 2000+ years ago that was rejected by man, spit on, and killed so that us unworthy bunch of sinners could live, even though we were the ones that cast judgement the lead to his death. Go figure? So you may have a case, but to make a blanket statement against a company as a whole and defame them and their "official practices" is not right. Why didnt you rescind on your loan within the 7 day rescission period? Was is because you were too excited about the fact that someone could actually loan you money based on your poor credit? Because you got all that cash out, and now its spent and now you feel remorse? In the loan package you signed, you signed the residential loan application, and by signing that you agreed that ALL information provided on the application was true and correct, and you certify that this is true and "can/will result in Civil liabilities and/or criminal penalties..." So why didnt you review ALL your documents and cancel your loan, free of charge? Go spend your time on something that will make a difference, like improving your credit.

Lou is correct. Ameriquest commits fraud, forgery and many other illegal actions all over the country. From Maine to New Jersey, from Pennsylvania to Michigan. I am a victim and I know many more. Here's my list: Forging HUD-1's to show credit card debt being paid off, no notary or title company at closing, fabricated and inflated income, placed in a program we knew nothing about - trust me the list goes on. I will not back down to these vultures and have contacted the FBI, Acorn and have retained an attorney. They will pay and I will help anyone else I find combat them. These are lives they are dealing with here, not to be confused with a mere $2,000 bonus, trip to Vegas or an overpriced pretentious vehicle. Let me know what you think.

You made your point, now listen to mine... Lou, I am not denying any "specific" wrong doings on behalf of the Portland Office, but I am simply denying that Ameriquest Mortgage is a bad company. You are so small minded to think that a few amateur AE's and a bent Manager are what makes up this colossal company that closes and funds more than $2 BILLION a month??? Do you honestly think that this company is closing $24 Billion a year on lies and dissatisfaction? I think not. But what is true is that there is always a marginal % of dissatisfied, fraudulent, or otherwise unhappy loans. This is the cost of business. You cannot please everyone all the time. The problem is not the Company, but the people who feel the need to lie, cheat, and steal to do business. The company was one the best companys to ever work for, bar none. It is a sales driven company, but never, and i do mean NEVER asked any of my managers or salespeople to ever operate in a "grey" area. Thru the 5 years in sales and management I was exposed to a lot. And one thing remained the same, my integrity. I also had gotten to know some managers, who I (at the time) looked up to because their #'s were awesome, but I came to find out that a couple of them had gotten greedy and decided to start "doctoring" appraisals and income documentation, and were busted. When I say busted, they were nailed. From the manager to the processors, the office was cleaned out by the FBI. Thats right...corporate caught on and gave the info to the Feds. Ameriquest has a ZERO tolerance on fraud, theft, deceit, and knowingly withholding information on their loans. They have to be. So, you made your point that the Portland office had "issues", so now hear mine: 1.) Ameriquest as a whole is one of the Nation's leading mortgage orginators. 2.) The Portland office may have had issues, but was cleaned out by "proper" management and a new manager was appointed. 3.) A few bad apples in the bunch, does not ruin the Tree 4.) Ameriquest has received the highest honor, as well as Countrywide, for their servicing of loans. 5.) Ameriquest was also rated among the top 100 companys to work for in the US, 3 years in a row. 6.) Ameriquest rewards excellence, and prosecutes fraud. 7.) You are a closed minded individual that is defaming a company based on a few individuals that went bad, and yet you were still willing to sign their loans, knowing that they had "issues". The shame goes on you LOU for continuing to witness their loans if you knew something was not right. To be a notary, you swear an oath and claim to be an upright, moral and ethical person. Apparently, you are no better than the AE's who asked you to sign their loans. Hang it up Lou, end of story...

How did I get the "grand idea" that people were being ripped off? I provided Notary services to Ameriquest without making a blindfold and earplugs part of my attire. I spent many dull, boring hours at the office waiting for paperwork to be generated, since the "newer" AEs (that would be over 90% of them) rarely had the paperwork ready on time. I got to know many of the AEs during this downtime, and that's where I got my "grand ideas" of people being ripped off. Or are you saying all the AEs are liars? As far as getting paid goes, the Manager and Regional Manager signed off on every invoice I sent. At one point I was told that things were slow in Accounts Payable because of -- surprise, surprise! -- "high turnover." Rotten from the top down! Make all the lame excuses for high turnover you want, there's nothing more frustrating for a borrower than discovering he's signed something that contradicted what he was told by his AE, only to discover upon calling that his AE is long gone. He can then talk to the manager, but odds are the manager is new, and not the same one who oversaw the AE. Does customer service get any worse than that? I think not. The high turnover, the inexperienced AEs, the doctored loans, the customers getting ripped off or, at best, completely frustrated... these are FACTS, and just because you're in denial about these FACTS, doesn't make them "emotional based" (poor grammar notwithstanding). Knowing what I now know, I wouldn't refinance with Ameriquest if I had to drive 1000 miles to go to the competition. AVOID AMERIQUEST AT ALL COSTS.

How did I get the "grand idea" that people were being ripped off? I provided Notary services to Ameriquest without making a blindfold and earplugs part of my attire. I spent many dull, boring hours at the office waiting for paperwork to be generated, since the "newer" AEs (that would be over 90% of them) rarely had the paperwork ready on time. I got to know many of the AEs during this downtime, and that's where I got my "grand ideas" of people being ripped off. Or are you saying all the AEs are liars? As far as getting paid goes, the Manager and Regional Manager signed off on every invoice I sent. At one point I was told that things were slow in Accounts Payable because of -- surprise, surprise! -- "high turnover." Rotten from the top down! Make all the lame excuses for high turnover you want, there's nothing more frustrating for a borrower than discovering he's signed something that contradicted what he was told by his AE, only to discover upon calling that his AE is long gone. He can then talk to the manager, but odds are the manager is new, and not the same one who oversaw the AE. Does customer service get any worse than that? I think not. The high turnover, the inexperienced AEs, the doctored loans, the customers getting ripped off or, at best, completely frustrated... these are FACTS, and just because you're in denial about these FACTS, doesn't make them "emotional based" (poor grammar notwithstanding). Knowing what I now know, I wouldn't refinance with Ameriquest if I had to drive 1000 miles to go to the competition. AVOID AMERIQUEST AT ALL COSTS.

How did I get the "grand idea" that people were being ripped off? I provided Notary services to Ameriquest without making a blindfold and earplugs part of my attire. I spent many dull, boring hours at the office waiting for paperwork to be generated, since the "newer" AEs (that would be over 90% of them) rarely had the paperwork ready on time. I got to know many of the AEs during this downtime, and that's where I got my "grand ideas" of people being ripped off. Or are you saying all the AEs are liars? As far as getting paid goes, the Manager and Regional Manager signed off on every invoice I sent. At one point I was told that things were slow in Accounts Payable because of -- surprise, surprise! -- "high turnover." Rotten from the top down! Make all the lame excuses for high turnover you want, there's nothing more frustrating for a borrower than discovering he's signed something that contradicted what he was told by his AE, only to discover upon calling that his AE is long gone. He can then talk to the manager, but odds are the manager is new, and not the same one who oversaw the AE. Does customer service get any worse than that? I think not. The high turnover, the inexperienced AEs, the doctored loans, the customers getting ripped off or, at best, completely frustrated... these are FACTS, and just because you're in denial about these FACTS, doesn't make them "emotional based" (poor grammar notwithstanding). Knowing what I now know, I wouldn't refinance with Ameriquest if I had to drive 1000 miles to go to the competition. AVOID AMERIQUEST AT ALL COSTS.

How did I get the "grand idea" that people were being ripped off? I provided Notary services to Ameriquest without making a blindfold and earplugs part of my attire. I spent many dull, boring hours at the office waiting for paperwork to be generated, since the "newer" AEs (that would be over 90% of them) rarely had the paperwork ready on time. I got to know many of the AEs during this downtime, and that's where I got my "grand ideas" of people being ripped off. Or are you saying all the AEs are liars? As far as getting paid goes, the Manager and Regional Manager signed off on every invoice I sent. At one point I was told that things were slow in Accounts Payable because of -- surprise, surprise! -- "high turnover." Rotten from the top down! Make all the lame excuses for high turnover you want, there's nothing more frustrating for a borrower than discovering he's signed something that contradicted what he was told by his AE, only to discover upon calling that his AE is long gone. He can then talk to the manager, but odds are the manager is new, and not the same one who oversaw the AE. Does customer service get any worse than that? I think not. The high turnover, the inexperienced AEs, the doctored loans, the customers getting ripped off or, at best, completely frustrated... these are FACTS, and just because you're in denial about these FACTS, doesn't make them "emotional based" (poor grammar notwithstanding). Knowing what I now know, I wouldn't refinance with Ameriquest if I had to drive 1000 miles to go to the competition. AVOID AMERIQUEST AT ALL COSTS.

D- In response to your comments made to Lou, I must defend him. I worked in the Portland, Oregon office for 2 years and everything he is expressing is true, although he did not work there during the same time frame as I. My question is, did he just provide the notary service or did he actually sign the loans? If he only provided the notary service, then it was not his responsibiltiy to disclose any terms of the loan, since he is not the "professional". I served time at Ameriquest as both a processor and an AE and was finally fed up with both the lending practices and the treatment of employees from management. Yes, sales is an extremely difficult position if you don't have the talent to sway your customers into believing anything. Two years was enough time to witness just about everything under the moon. During my 1st 2 weeks with Ameriquest I witnessed the branch manager cut and paste credit reports with absolute perfection so the branch would make the goals for the month, just so everyone would get the $2000 bonus at stake. Or how about the AE's who would sell anything, to anybody, just so they could make it to the Las Vegas trip every year where they give away Porshe Boxers, Lincoln Navigators, leave money under your pillow, etc?? I could ramble on about every dirty detail, but Ameriquest has taken enough of my time....speaking of time, that's why many of the "ex-AE's" are being paid next month from a lawsuit for working those 60-70 hours a week that Lou was describing. Obviously you were left out of that D??? But you would know if you worked as hard as the rest of us did!!

Notarizing Documents For those who sign or who have signed papers with Ameriquest should know that a notary must be present. 99% of the time the un-educated AE signs the loan with the borrower and has another AE or Loan Processor notarize it after the fact, which is against the law. The notary has to verify in a journal of each transaction that is notarized and has to have the signature of the borrower in their journal. Many times AE's (who are not notaries) travel to the borrower, which in some instances could be 2-3 hours away. Borrowers sign their documents and are told that they will be notarized when returned to the office. This can be used as a loophole in your loan!! Also, if you are signing an Ameriquest loan, I would request that you sign with an escrow officer at the corresponding title company. The title company must disclose everything in your documents, including fees, interest rate, type of loan and whether or not their is a prepayment penalty. Words of advise........ Take advantage of the 7 day recission period!!! If the title company did not sign your loan, make an appt. with the title company during your 7 day recission period and have them explain any questions that you may have. If your bills are being consolidated, send in the statements to the title company so that they have the correct mailing address. Have the title company pay the bills and not Ameriquest. After your loan is funded you have a one month grace period before your 1st payment is due; take the time to call loan servicing to make sure that your taxes and insurance are included in your payment BEFORE it's too late. Just a few tips from an Ex AE who is completely embarrassed that I was ever associated with the company.

The facts appear to be that you acted as a signing agent for an Oregon office for a total of 2 whole months...during which time you acted as a legal representative and covered ALL legal aspects of the loan, including rate, term, payment, pre-payment penalty (or lack of), APR, and various legal items in the mortgage/deed of trust, note, and also the rescission papers. Your only duty was to have the customer sign and date the papers, as well as answer any questions pertaining the papers they were signing. So how is it that now you have this grand idea of how these customers were getting "ripped off"? You do not know for a fact as to how their credit looked, how their mortgage history looked, if there were any collections, judgements, bankruptcies or back taxes owed...! the fact is you do not know. I get so sick and tired of people assuming things that they have NO knowledge of. Granted there are occasions where novice and new sales people do not "clear the air" before the actually loan closing, in other words that they do not go over the facts such as as rate, term, payment, if there will be a pre-pay, closing costs, who all will be paid off (if bill consol) etc...In otherwords, there should be no surprises to the client at closing, but the newer salespeople may not have learned this yet, thus the loan does not close. But it is not your place to make such emotional based comments about the ages of sales people, how many people have resigned or were fired, about how the clients are getting "ripped off", when you do not know the whole story. Based on what I've read, you are upset because you provided services for which you have not been paid for...end of story... You will need to go thru the new manager first, or the Area manager, they will have to "sign off" of the invoice request to be sent to Accts Payable. If nothing gets done within 7-10 days, take it to the Regional Manager. This is the highest level of management in the field. Most likely it will be taken care of by this point, but if not, call Corporate in Orange, CA, and speak with a Manager in Accounts Payable. It will not do you any good to call accounts payable before the invoices are signed off by the Area or regional Manager. Turnover is characteristic of sales-based business. Lower turnover is found when you have an office with a good chemistry and work ethic. However, if you do not sell, you do not stay for long. fact of life. Just like you, if you do not sign loans, or do it properly, chances are you wont be there long either. No matter if its selling cars, office equipment, furniture, or mortgages...sales is sales. Focus only on what you can do to make a difference, not on what others do.