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Jose of Cross Lanes WV (04/22/08)
When I first decided to refinance with this company, I was put into contact with an agent named Jeff. In the later half of 2005, my decision based on trust and need was made. I verbally accepted the 7% fixed APR finance for approximately $138,000 with escrow. Jeff rushed into my office one stormy night he asked for me to sign in confidence. He assured me that if anything in my stiuation would change, or if at anytime I felt that I no longer wanted in on the contract, I would have fifteen days from signing to contact him (Jeff) to cancel. I was confident with what I was told concerning the loan. It was then, midstream in the grace period, that my wife had throughly reviewed the documentation that was signed and binding. The loan had stated that I had accepted a 7% Variable APR as opposed to a fixed rate. I had approximately a week to contact Jeff and clear this mishap. My wife and I both attempted to meet the grace period requirement with no luck. Jeff would not return our messages.
As a result, because we failed to change our contract, I was left with the choice of refinancing again when the APR would change. Two years following this situation, I was informed that AMC Mortgage, which had bought out AmeriQuest, had merged with Citi Residential Lending. I was also informed that my previous loan was not escrowed;therefore,owing $2,900.00 in past taxes. This was automatically deducted from my banking account. When I paid the $2,900.00 additionally due was the mortgage amount of $1,800.00 for a total of $4,700.00. I was left financially stranded. I had been recently separated when the merger occurred. I did not recieve the or any notification that the fees were due until the money was indeed withdrawn from my bank account.
This placed me in a financial hardship, because the military had cut new orders and relocated me to another state I had to pay and still am paying rent. I feel that because I signed the documentation, I am ultimately responsible for the outcome. However, at what degree is a citizen of the greatest nation allowed to be taken advantage of? I serve this country, and have for quite some time in the Armed Forces, United States Army. Now I must pay for a company's manipulative demeanor. I have attempted to forgetthis event by making adequate payments in a timely manner. Unfortunately, I cannot any longer. If you can assist me with returning my loan back to what I had originally agreed on, I would be able to set-up an allotment from my military paycheck.
Jose of Cross Lanes WV (04/22/08)
My story begins with the loan agency AmeriQuest. When I first decided to refinance with this company, I was put into contact with an agent named Jeff. In the later half of 2005, my decision based on trust and need was made. I verbally accepted the 7% fixed APR finance for approximately $138,000 with escrow. Jeff rushed into my office one stormy night he asked for me to sign in confidence. He assured me that if anything in my stiuation would change, or if at anytime I felt that I no longer wanted in on the contract, I would have fifteen days from signing to contact him (Jeff) to cancel. I was confident with what I was told concerning the loan. It was then, midstream in the grace period, that my wife had throughly reviewed the documentation that was signed and binding. The loan had stated that I had accepted a 7% Variable APR as opposed to a fixed rate. I had approximately a week to contact Jeff and clear this mishap. My wife and I both attempted to meet the grace period requirement with no luck. Jeff would not return our messages.
As a result, because we failed to change our contract, I was left with the choice of refinancing again when the APR would change. Two years following this situation, I was informed that AMC Mortgage, which had bought out AmeriQuest, had merged with Citi Residential Lending. I was also informed that my previous loan was not escrowed;therefore,owing $2,900.00 in past taxes. This was automatically deducted from my banking account. When I paid the $2,900.00 additionally due was the mortgage amount of $1,800.00 for a total of $4,700.00. I was left financially stranded. I had been recently separated when the merger occurred. I did not recieve the or any notification that the fees were due until the money was indeed withdrawn from my bank account. This placed me in a financial hardship, because the military had cut new orders and relocated me to another state I had to pay and still am paying rent.
I feel that because I signed the documentation, I am ultimately responsible for the outcome. However, at what degree is a citizen of the greatest nation allowed to be taken advantage of? I serve this country, and have for quite some time in the Armed Forces, United States Army. Now I must pay for a company's manipulative demeanor. I have attempted to forgetthis event by making adequate payments in a timely manner. Unfortunately, I cannot any longer. If you can assist me with returning my loan back to what I had originally agreed on, I would be able to set-up an allotment from my military paycheck.
Gregory of Kenosha WI (03/18/08)
I refinanced with Ameriquest in 2004 to get away from a lender I consider the seedling of the lending meltdown. I ran out of one fire and into another. The problem in my case is that Ameriquest was moving so fast in the refi process I literally had to drag my feet to slow them down in order to keep a handle on things. In the end I wasn't as on top of things as I thought I was.
After the signing I went over the paperwork again in more detail at home and it turns out American General Finance wouldn't release the payoff so Ameriquest paid them $5,000.00 MORE than necessary! When I called Jon at Ameriquest in Brookfield, WI concerning the money he told me to, "Just call them and they'll send you a check." So I called American General Finance in Waukegan, IL and was told that I couldn't have it back as it was for fees. Huh? So I called Jon back at Ameriquest and told him in no uncertain terms that HE was the one who gave my money away so HE is responsible for it. CLICK! He hung up on me.
I continued to call Jon and the 'gentleman' at American General Finance, and wouldn't you know, they were never available to take my calls. I filed complaints with Attorneys Generals offices in Wisconsin AND Illinois and got a form letter Thanking me for my concerns. To this day, I'm out $5000, have refinanced over to Countrywide who had their appraiser DE-value my home from the appraisal done the year before. That might be a saving grace for us given some of the stories I've read here. I think not just the lenders are guilty of predatory practices but the politicians who shield them should be held legally responsible for their collusive relationships.
Christine of Middletown DE (03/18/08)
I refinanced my home with Ameriquest, and I was never informed about interest only loans. After having the loan for two years, I just now found out. Is there anything I can do?
Tina of Gonzales LA (03/03/08)
I inquired about refinancing my home in Jan. 2005 to get cash back and remodel my home. No problem, they said! They took the info over the phone; then I drove to the office one evening to discuss the loan. It was explained that it would be a 3 year loan: 2 yrs FIXED and 1 year adjustable, based on the current rate. At the time I signed it was at 2.4, very low. He told me that after the 2 years, every 6 months the finance charge would change, depending on the libor rate. It may go up or down, but just a few dollars a month, no more than $100. Well, I was at 8.0-8.5% interest with a note of $826.01 including insurance. Now it sits with $1,188.00 a month. I was forced-placed with their insurance because I could not afford it. They are not compassionate people and should not be in business. They are not trustworthy and have bad business practices. I was not able to refinance until Feb. 2008, but with the house still not fixed and with 30 day late payments because of the high interest rates, I may not find a company that wants to refinance to a lower rate. I just feel that this is their way of repossessing properties. I was not told of a repayment penalty fee. They should be held responsible for this and compensate the penalty fee.
I endure stress, worry and facing foreclosure, and feeling taken advantage. I hope these people can live with themselves, because they have caused such a burden that I am so sick just thinking that I could lose this house that I have had since 1999. To make matters worse, I am still trying to fix my house since Hurricane Katrina hit and the loss that I incurred with my contractor's.
Sidney of Duvall WA (01/29/08)
We got a 20-year fixed mortgage at 6.5% interest for a home we owned in Wisconsin. We were told there was no penalty for prepayment, so we signed the docs, etc. One week later, someone called to say because of an error, we needed to resign. They asked for our original docs, and away they went. When we sold our house in July, we were assessed a $3500.00 prepayment penalty. We had nobody to complain to since Ameriquest had closed shop in Woodbury, MN--the office the mortgage lender worked from.
We are out $3500. We know we asked if there was a prepayment penalty. The first closer said no, as the did the loan officer. We got stiffed. We want our money.
Jeffrey of Los Osos CA (01/15/08)
Upon contacting Ameriquest's 3rd Party Administrator, I was advised to fax or mail our Ameriquest Settlement Form to them immediately, as they had extended the deadline and were still accepting settlement claims regarding our home loan with Ameriquest. I have emails from two separate and different representatives advising of this. We faxed them the completed claim form that same day, and followed with hard copies via USPS. They recently wrote to us advising that we were too late in providing them with the forms by mail on October 23, 2007... and refuse to pay us the agreed settlement.
We contacted the California Attorney General but have received no response. We want our settlement as promised to us by two different Ameriquest agents the same day: Oct. 10, 2007. Please help. Thank you.
We'd like to recover the loss of promised and expected Ameriquest Settlement at a cash value of minimally $430.00, plus reasonable interest and time invested in pursuing recovery.
Mildred of Honolulu HI (12/27/07)
I can't believe that Ameriquest/Argent are still able to have loans. I am currently in foreclosure, and all the while I thought my Ameriquest/Argent loan was sold to Countrywide Home Loans. I find out not. My loan is still with Argent/Ameriquest. I got a raw deal on a home loan and was told I would be able to refinance. It was not disclosed to me how the adjustable rate would calculate. I did not know that my rate was 6% plus calculations on the index. I am going through to my third adjustment, and Countrywide has been no help. Can't believe that they can still make money from me while hiding under Countrywide. Seems to me that I should have been part of the class action suit I heard about through Ameriquest/Argent; instead my loan was given to Countrywide so that they could collect the money for Argent/Ameriquest. They're the reason the economy is sinking. I hope the fat cats who own my loan at Argent/Ameriquest had a Merry Christmas.
I am having trouble sleeping which is causing me to have trouble working. I lost on a contract already. I must put the two foster children I have had into another home because mine is foreclosing. We have had to drive with no car insurance, no cable, disconnected utilities--you name it ,I have been though it.
Linda of Cape May, NJ (12/12/07)
I refinanced my mortgage. Prior to refinancing I was paying $1800. At closing I found my interest rate was 11% to increase to 19% at the end of one year. My closing costs were $19,000, with even a notary charge of $2000.
Now we have lost our house in foreclosure due to monthly payment going over $4,000 a month.
Stephanie of Van Nuys CA (11/27/07)
Ameriquest approached us to refinance. It was close to Christmas, and they said they could do it in 8 days, including weekends. We were told our rate would be lower and so would our payments. We were also told that as long as we refinanced with them again, there would be NO prepayment penalty. When we signed the papers they were not what we were told they would be. This was 3 weeks after we started the process. So much for being done in 8 days. The man I dealt with over the phone told me to write a stated income by hand in his words, that my income was in excess of $5000.00 per month as a financial adviser. We were told that this was for their records only and that it was the only way they could give us the loan. He even insisted that I get a couple friends to write letters saying that they used my services, without stating what they paid me. He even tried to get them to get the pages notarized. That was not going to happen.
In the end we got a loan with a large cashout payment that we did not want, an 8.7% interest rate, and when we tried to refi with them they said that they could only take off up to 25% of the prepayment penalty. That was not guaranteed. They had no idea who Paul/Saul, the agent, was and refused to put me through to any kind of supervisor--not even the supervisor's voicemail. Now 2 years later, the franchise tax board is coming after me for more than $7000.00 dollars in back taxes they say I owe for my financial services business, that I never had. We also received the papers to get the refund from Ameriquest we sent them in and were told in writing that the checks would be sent out sometime in the fall of 2007. I didn't get the check; I looked on site again today, and now it says we are not getting those checks until the end of December.
Because of these perpetrated fraudulent acts on the part of Ameriquest, we had to go elsewhere for refinancing, and our house is now in foreclosure or short-sale. Either way we lose our home. We have no money and nothing to show for what we have done. We can't even get a loan to do repairs on the house now, so that we could bring its value up a bit or at least where it should be.
Donna of Windham ME (11/27/07)
The Ameriquest predatory lending refunds had to be submitted by Sept. 10, 2007. They said we would receive refund in fall. A friend contacted them concerning the refunds and was told they would be sent out by mid-November. We have seen nothing at this point: Nov. 27, 2007.
I am facing foreclosure and have not had any income since September due to the fact I cannot rent my basement apartment because foreclosure is only a month away. I am mentally so stressed out; it has affected my health to the point of daily migraines and am living on absolutely nothing.
Heather of Mars PA (11/26/07)
I wanted to refinance my Ameriquest mortgage to a lower rate, pay my back taxes and escrow for future ones. The agent told me that would be no problem. He called me about a week later and told me to come in right now and sign the papers. When I did he handed me a stack of checks to pay things on my credit report that totaled around $10,000.00 that he put in the loan. Then he handed me a piece of paper and told me that the loan had to be in my name because my husband's credit was worse than mine, but I am a house wife; so he said to write that I owned a landscaping business and make $4700.00 a month. When I hesitated he said it was just a formality and no one would see this but him. He told me my home appraised at $185,000.00, but I never had a appraiser come in my house; she only left a message that she drove by. He told me that he could not escrow my taxes, but in 2 years he would refinance to pay those back taxes and then escrow at that time. He also said for me to get a lower rate I had to have an adjustable loan, but in two years he would fix that as well.
Ameriquest paid the back taxes which doubled the payment, and they would not accept partial; so now we have received foreclosure papers and are in the process of filing bankruptcy.
Susan of Bedford TX (11/15/07)
Ameriquest refinanced my home to lower my payments. This didn't happend but at the time I had 2 months grace which helped. Then approximately 2 years later my payments started to balloon. My payments went from around $900 to over $1800 When I called concerning this I was forwarded to voice mail where I left several messages with no return phone calls. I kept up with the payments till I could no longer make ends meet.
After a couple of months of this I came home to find a letter from a real estate person saying my house was being sold the next day. I had recieved no notification of this. I contacted Ameriquest and to my surprise I was able to talk with a person. They notified me that I needed to talk with a lawyer here in town. I immediately called him and asked for the amount to keep the home from selling and he told me I had to get that info from Ameriquest. Needless to say they both sent me back and forth neither one wanting to give me a dollar amount, boyth claiming I should get the amount from the other party, right up to the moment that it sold and was bought by Ameriquest.
I was immediately locked out of my house and it took me three weeks to get someone to agree to let me in to retrieve my personal belongings. I had lived in this house for 14 years and given only a few days to take what I could.
Dorothy of Tampa FL (11/14/07)
I started the process of trying to get my home refinanced at the end of September. AMC provided incorrect information to credit bureaus as far as my loan and my payments which I kept records. My loan was up to date until the 2 months I was trying to refinance this loan. One finance company became fed up and just refused the loan due to not being able to receive the payoff information. For 2 months I had been trying to get the payoff of my mortgage but kept getting the run around each time. Each time call this #, you have to call this # or I will take a message and get back with you.
Then one day I receive a letter from Citi Residental stating they have obtained AMC loans. I received this letter the end of October 07. Not one time when I was calling (AMC) did anyone say we don't have the loan anymore. When they contacted Citi Residential they gave her a lawyer in Clearwater Fl and stated house was in process of foreclosure. I have never received a letter to this effect from AMC, Ameriquest or Citi Residential or from this lawyer. Then this law firm gave myself and title company the run around for 1 wk and finally advise us of the payoff and when I finally came to sign papers at closing this law firm has charged $10,000 of lawyer fees. When I call the law firm to find what specific lawyer handled this no will say.
These additional fees increased my mortgage loan and the inaccurate information to credit bureau made my interest rate higher. I know there is some justice somewhere. I am 77 yrs of age and in my years I never thought this country would let businesses stoop to the level to destroy this economy. I know attorneys don't like to sue other attorneys but how can I be charged $10,000 extra for something I did not know was in effect. I want my $10,000 from this lawyer or Citi Residential.
Mary of Texarkana TX (11/13/07)
I was told by Ameriquest that my rates would be lower than my previous 6.5%, and we were told to settle on one date and then rescheduled. The day we went to the title company we had to wait a while, then we were rushed through signing and told our papers would be sent as soon as they had them ready. We were charged over $5,000.00 in closing costs, and we had a 9.8% rate . We were told that after a year we could get that lowered.
Later we were told that they couldn't lower the rate. We were lied to and given the run around . I quit making payments in March, 2007. Since that time we were told our mortgage was sold to another company; and now I'm told that was not true, and and they want to work out our problems. My husband and I are disabled, and this has caused us great distress--not to mention the hardships we have faced with Ameriquest and are still facing.
Robert of Carrollton GA (11/06/07)
I refinanced my home with Ameriquest, and it took months after the closing because Ameriquest kept providing the Title Company with the wrong documents. I was told by Ameriquest not to make my mortgage payment--that they already were in contact with Commercial Federal, and the title company would be sending the payoff soon. Well, when I pulled my credit report, all three stated that I was 90 days past due. This crushed my credit score. This was very unprofessional of Ameriquest. How do I get this fixed? Thank you.
William of Burlington NC (10/30/07)
Our house mortgage was valued at $100,000 by Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and refinanced for that amount in 03/22/2005. As of 2007, our home assessed value is only $73,769.
We are struggling to pay back mortgage which is at an adjustable rate and cannot refinance. We have almost been in foreclosure twice.
Renae of Muskegon MI (10/25/07)
When I first received my Ameriquest loan I was worried about the 3 year fixed and then going to adjustable rate(A.R.M.) I was assured that as long as my payments were on time and my credit stayed where it was or improved there would be NO PROBLEM in refinancing. The time came, and now I am struggling to keep my house. My rate has adjusted to 11.375% is due to adjust again in January '08. I have tried many times to contact this company with no luck.
My other bills have had to be paid, resulting in shut-off notices and damage to my credit. I have been suffering physically from the stress this has put on every aspect of my life.
Katrina of Farrell PA (10/16/07)
I refinanced my home through Ameriquest also known as AMC Mortgage Service, and their own appraisal of my home was $90,000 when it is only worth $35,500. Now I'm in foreclosure with no equity and no help. AMC refuses to refinance me into a fixed rate mortgage or give me any help. Once my house is sold my two children and I will have no place to live. I have tried everything to get help and can't, and I feel that they are getting away with preditor lending.
I have been stressed out and worried and have to explain to my children that by next month we will not have a home to go to.
Bo of Kingston Springs, TN (10/12/07)
Ameriquest refinanced my loan in 2005 with a promise to refinance again in two years as long as my credit score was good. My score has gone up over 130 points since that time.
I was told there would only be a prepayment penalty in the first two years.
I have now learned there is a three year prepayment term and the loan has been sold to Citi. I have requested a waiver but no one seems to know who to talk to.
Stephen of Sarasota FL (10/08/07)
When I returned home after a five day business trip, I discovered a busted pipe had caused severe water damage to my home which was financed by Ameriquest. I received a check from my insurance company to cover the damages, but the check was made payable to me AND Ameriquest. I signed the check and sent it to Ameriquest AND THEY KEPT IT! THEY DID NOT APPLY IT TO MY LOAN. No amount of phone calls or letters would get them to give back the money so I could make the repairs to my home.
Monita of Columbus, IN (10/03/07)
When I refinanced my home the broker promised that after 2 years of the fixed loan at 7.55%, Ameriquest would be more than happy to refinance it at a fixed rate so it would never be a variable loan. What I didn't know at that time was what predatory lending was. AMC appraised my home at $55,000 higher than it truly was, but I did not realize ANY of this until I called to refinance.
An AMC rep said that they did not loan on Mfg. homes. I said the broker said they would, without a problem. The rep stated, "THAT'S NOT IN WRITING".
Upon speaking to other lenders, I found out that I could never get a loan for that amount due to the appraisal being inflated. I cannot sell my house due to similar reasons. I'm in worse shape now than I was before Ameriquest came into my home and wanted to "help" me.
Leslie of Piedmont SD (09/27/07)
After going through a divorce i was forced to refinance my house. My credit was not good and i had difficulty finding a mortgage company that would finance me. Finally Ameriquest gave me a call and offered a fixed rate for 2 yrs and then a variable rate after that. They explained that when my credit was improved in a year i could refinance. Tried that, but of course they turned me down even though i had better credit and my payments with them had been perfect.
After 2 yrs my rate increased about .5 percent every 6 months though they explained to me when i got the loan it would not go up unless i had a poor payment history or the national rates went up which they didn't go up they went down. I finally sold the house and when i requested a payoff amount they said it would take some time and it was first come, first serve and that the amount of course would be more depending on how long it would take to get it to me. I had to move my closing date and was charged for interest for the days that it took to figure my payoff amount. The big surprise for me was when i was at the closing I became aware that I owed thousands in back taxes on my home.
Richard of Holyoke, MA (09/20/07)
Ameriquest told me I would have a 30-year fix with escrow for insurance and taxes. They showed me parts of the paper work that made me believe that it was what they said. My truth-in-lending said I have 359 payments at one amount and 1 to finish.
My mortgage went up after 2 years and can every six months.
Andrea of Wesley Chapel, FL (09/19/07)
Ameriquest Mortgage Corporation (aka AMC) refinanced our home several years ago. The terms we had agreed upon during our application process were drastically altered at the time of our loan closing. Additionally, AMC provided incorrect and misleading information about our interest rate and we ended up with an adjustable rate mortgage in spite of promises that our loan would be fixed rate.
When the construction industry floundered in Florida, my husband lost his job. We filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy in order to keep our home but AMC added fees totaling thousands of additional dollars. It was while we were in chapter 13 that our adjustable rate mortgage terms took effect and our interest rate skyrocketed every six months. Our mortgage payment increased by hundreds of dollars each month.
When we did finally receive the requested payoff amount, it included $22,000 in additional fees above our original loan amount. Needless to say that even with almost $20,000 in equity in our home, we could not prevent the auction sale.
Alicia of Little Elm, TX (09/18/07)
My husband and I decided to refinance our home loan in 2004. We asked for a fixed rate loan, but were told that an adjustable rate would be the best for us and we could refinance in one year.
When we tried to do that we were told that our home was over appraised by at least $40,000. As a result we weren't able to do anything with our home loan.
After I made a complaint with the Attorney General Office, I received paper work for a settlement with Ameriquest for $90,000 with a 30-year fixed rate at six percent. We filled out the form, along with many other documents, to rewrite the loan. When it came down to filling out the last papers for the closing, I never heard from them. They won't answer any calls, but instead they sold our loan to Citi Residential Lending at the higher payoff and interest rate.
Amy of Concord, CA (09/18/07)
The loan we received was at a rate of 10%. We were told we could refinance after 3 years, with no prepayment penalty. Before 3 years were up Wells Fargo took over as our mortgage lender, and were told that we had a loan that didn't qualify because we had one late payment in the past 12 months.
We also made settlement offers with creditors and are now getting notices that they were never paid and we owe the amount in full. Were went into foreclosure and had no choice, but to sell our house.
David of Naples, FL (09/15/07)
The interest rate was not what we expected on the day we closed. Last week, we refinanced our house with another lender, and were charged over $20,000 in prepayment penalties because we were 6 months away from three years. The man that worked up our loan explained that the first two years our loan was fixed, then it would go up. If we refinanced during that time, there was a soft pre-payment penalty since the three years were almost up. When we got to the table last week, we got hit with a hard six months of interest for this loan.
We paid $500 for the appraisal of our home and despite 5 requests, we have never gotten a copy of it.
Thompson of Frankton, IN (09/08/07)
Ameriquest inflated the appraisal on our home to almost double it's value. Needless to say, we cannot refinance or sell it now. They misrepresented interest rates, and fees. When the paperwork was presented to us for signature at closing, the terms were contrary to the terms promised. They promised us a fixed low rate, and came back with a higher variable rate higher.
They wouldn't communicate with us about refinancing. They told us to seek another lender if we needed to refinance so early.
Ameriquest tried to force us to pay them for flood insurance after having the loan for two years. They left it up to us to prove that they were wrong and we were NOT in a flood zone. It was going to cost us over $100 a month more.
Eric of Saint Michael, MN (09/07/07)
My house was severely over appraised, our income was inflated and our second mortgage, to ease the first, was a hoax. We are the victims of deception and untruths.
Kristen of Middleborough, MA (09/06/07)
In May of 2005 we decided to refinance w/Ameriquest. We came up with an amount that we felt we could afford on one income. The Ameriquest rep kept asking if we wanted more because our house appraisal was $125,000 more than what we wanted to borrow. We stuck to our guns and started the loan process on the figure we agreed on. We discussed 6.7% fixed. The loan was for 6.7% but at 2 years and then it was adjustable.
We also ended up paying over $10,000 in fees!!!
Jeani of Cameron Park CA (09/05/07)
During April 1997, my husband and I planned to refinance our mortgage because we were behind in property taxes. Mike put together several proposals and either faxed them or came by my husband's and my business in downtown Sacramento CA. Mike called pretty frequently wanting to know if his latest proposal would work for us. The last faxed proposal I have is dated April 16, 1997. My husband grew ill that day and asked me to come down to get him and drive him home. He died the next day.
Mike called the shop and then my home. When I finally spoke to him, I told him that my husband died. He told me that I could still refinance and would be happy to discuss it with me. This was the last thing on my mind as I was left with six children, a very busy automotive repair shop, and wondering about the life insurance policies. He pestered me and told me that my husband wanted me to refinance so I could have the new bathroom remodeling. He told that even though I was a widow, I could refinance.
Mike planted himself firmly in my life. He would help me change my income tax form so it would reflect a huge profit and then I could refinance. He told me I would loose the house if I didn't. Part of me knew I would not loose the house and part of me was scared by Mike. I thought he was looking out for me. I was alone and now a widow with children. I actually let this demon in my house and play with the TurboTax program that my husband used to do our taxes with the weekend before he died. Then, Mike scheduled me for an appointment to sign papers after everyone else in the big Ameriquest office had gone home for the night. In the end, listening to Mike lost me my house which I never needed to refinance at all. (Not to mention that after I signed the papers, he told me that there wasn't enough to do the bathroom with.)
Angela of Jackson MI (09/04/07)
My home was re-financed with Ameriquest in 2005. I got an ARM at an 8.75% interest rate. I have found out since then, that my home was over-appraised. It's over-valued at least $10,000 no one will re-finance me.
Nathaniel of Valencia CA (09/04/07)
Ameriquest Mortgage Company implemented a mortgage over charge for it's service and charged discount points and didn't disclose the variable mortgage that would go up after two years even though the prepayment penalty was in place for three years. This they never told us and didsclosed that the prepayment penalty would only be for two years. Now we have a mortgage that will double in less than two years. They also had our property appraised for more than the actual value so we would not be able to refinance with any lender before their variable kicks in three years later.
Diana of Saginaw, MI (07/14/07)
6/13/05 we refinanced our home with Ameriquest with the understanding it was a 30-year fixed at 6.5%. When the loan officer came to our home, he had paperwork for interest only for 4 yrs, the promise of being able to refi with them after that, but I told him it was the wrong loan. He suggested we sign papers, and change it in 3 days. After trying to contact Ameriquest the following day, no one could help me, and this continued every day for 2 weeks.
They over appraised our home, so when we tried to refi with our credit union, a year ago, we couldn't. We had consolidated some debts with the loan, at their insistance, and our home ended up being $10,000 more than what we bought it for, after consolidation, bank fees, etc. So much for $0 refi!!
Julie of Lewisville, TX (07/06/07)
We refinanced our home in 2004 with Ameriquest and were promised a 30-year fixed loan at 5.99%. At closing, documents included prepayment penalty and 2 year arm. We walked away. They came back to us with a signed letter stating we could refinance after 2 years if no late payments or changes to credit.
They sold the loan and the new holder would not honor the Ameriquest written commitment to refinance, so we had to go back to Ameriquest. We spent 9 months fighting with Ameriquest to honor their written agreement - all the while our mortgage increased more than $400/month while they stalled.
We recently were granted the refi, however during the refi process (three appraisals later) have learned that they used the same tactic of inflating our home value previously. They honored the refinance, but we were required to sign documents stating our home wasn't worth what we were borrowing.
We had 6 months of more than $400 additional mortgage fees = $2500 minimum. Plus, there's no way we can sell our home for what we owe now that they had to include fees in the new loan.
Cecelia of New Castle, IN (07/05/07)
I refinanced my home in hopes to get a fixed rate in two years. Now, they have raised my house payment from $300 to almost $700 a month.
I am on disability and feel that they took advantage of me. I am almost losing my home of 30 years.
Katherine of Marysville, WA (07/04/07)
In May 2006 my 78 year old mother was the victim of the predatory lending practices. After many, many luring phone calls she agreed to refinance her home of 52 years with Ameriquest. They set her up with a monthly payment she was unable to pay. They lied about her income on her loan. They forged her signature on a piece of paper that said she was applying for the refinance in order to take the vacation of a lifetime.
In January 2007, she had fallen so far behind on her monthly payments that Countrywide Mortgage Company (who ultimately ended up with the loan, after numerous middle-mortgage companies bought and sold it) were beginning foreclosure proceedings. The loan payments were so far behind we were unable to bring the balance up to date. In order to avoid complete loss of her house and home, we scrambled to list it and sell it before losing it to Countrywide.
The house sold in April 2007 for approximately $245,000 and my mother, after paying the mortgage, late fees, and penalties, ended up with approximately $5,000. She now lives in a senior apartment.
I believe Ameriquest sought her out and took advantage of a senior citizen with obvious diminished capacity, knowing that if the loan defaulted, they would have a house to claim.
Lorraine of New Orleans, LA (07/03/07)
I too had a loan with Ameriquest. They appraised my house for more than the value of the home, included prepayment penalties, inflated my income, promised one rate of interest and was given another.
The payment rose to more than I could afford and I had to declair bankruptcy to be able to sell the house.
Ray of Lilly PA (06/15/07)
Appraised the house at 136 thousand. Told me on an adjustable rate payments would go up an average of 20 dollars a month. Was unable to refinance in the 2 years as they promised. Payment went from 726.00 a month to 1377.00 a month and still rising. House only appraised at 106 thousand from a real appraiser. We are in danger of losing our house.
Elysia of Boothwyn, PA (06/13/07)
In 2003 we refinanced our home with Ameriquest .
We signed three different times because of errors. Each time the amount of money we were getting back was less, and the papers were incorrect.
The third time, while I was on a trip to CA, they sent a representative to have me sign the papers. In those papers, my husband and I were unaware of a three year pre-payment penality that was added to the loan.
Now in 2007, we have decided to sell our home. One week before settlement, I was advised about the 3 year pre-payment penality and told I need to bring 10K to settlement. I do not have the money for settlement, nor do I have the money to get into another home. I was told, "we are sorry, but this is not negotiable".
James of Oceanside CA (05/10/07)
When re-financing my home, I was promised a fixed interest rate for 30 years @ 6.4 %. When it came time to sign the final loan documents I was horrified to see that the interest rate was 6.4% fixed for 2 years only and then would adjust every 6 months! When I complained and cancelled the transaction I received a call from Mark at the Carlsbad office and promised me that they would re-finance me for FREE in a few months once my credit was better and not to worry about the ARM, because I would be into a fixed rate before the current one would ever adjust.
They never contacted me about re-financing. In fact I did hear back from them in a few months by mail, but only to tell me that my loan was being sold to its sister company AMC Mortgage. My interest rate is now at 8.4% and will continue to get higher until I sell it or go into foreclosure which is my only options as I cannot afford my mortgage payment.
I have to work 2 jobs, 7 days a week to keep up with my payments which are out of control. I am forced to go into foreclosure or sell it and have to move out of state.
Cecelia of Valley Cottage NY (04/25/07)
I was told at closing the loan would be fixed. On docs. it said (to this day)
Intial fixed, then adjustable rate.
Amounts at closing changed. The rate changes. Closing at home with friend as closing agent.Contacted after a year to change rate over the telephone.
Change brought to lenders agents' attention told it would be straighten out. Original loan increased by $200.00
Christina of Attleboro MA (04/11/07)
Like everyone else here refinanced with AMC told would get a 7% interest rate, at closing it was 10.9% but could refinsnce in 6 months. We did at 7.9% interest but on both we got wacked with over $8000 in closing cost.
The reason I am here is to as everyone who is waiting on the settlement from the Attorney General for all of us to go the same day to their office in your state.
The reason I say this is they are saying we will each get about $406.00 dollars each which means Ameriquest AKA AMC will have paid back 1% of the interest that they charges and get to keep all that they fraudulently charged us. That isnt even a slap on the hand, that is the government telling AMC ok we are going to talk about what you have done and as punishment you (AMC) pay the lunch tab.
Not good we all need to make a stand and say we want it ALL back with the interest IMMEDIATELY not when the Attorney General feels like working they have sat on this since January of 06 -- WHAT are we paying taxes for? The government is supposed to protect us -- not only didnt they BUT they made out on the deal and now also have the nerve to say we will be getting a tax form with the refund.
Heather of Noblesville IN (04/09/07)
We refinanced with Ameriquest in September of 2005 with an ARM. They stated our home was worth $203,000.00 and that we could pay off some of our bills by getting cash out. They also said that we could refinance in 2 years with them and get a fixed rate. NOT SO. I have tried to refinance with Ameriquest and they have stated my home is only worth $103,000.00. How does a home depriciate that much in value in 1 1/2 years. They said we would not have to pay an appraisel fee since they used a estimated value model but charged us $400.00. When I noticed the prepayment penalty, they claimed that would not be charged when I refinanced, only if I won the lottery and paid it in full. We cannot refinance our home with any other mortgage company. Our payment is due to go up in November 2007. We will no longer be able to afford our home because of what Ameriquest has done to my family. This was our first home we bought and they have caused us severe economic hardships that we will not recover from for a long time. I do not want to lose our home but a forclosure seems inevitable.
Eric & Virginia of Washougal WA (04/09/07)
Refinanced two homes in Feb, 2005. They promised lower monthly payments, overall, glorious results. We asked for insurance and taxes to be included in payment
Monthly payments higher than we could afford, and no insurance & taxes included. Paid $8,903 in settlement charges. Ended up with two-year arm and a 3-year pre-payment-penalty charge. We very quickly gave up the thought of affording two homes.
Went to Wells Fargo and started process. Ameriquest was notified by Wells Fargo, and we have documents to prove that a request for payoff information was faxed to Ameriquest on 3/26/07, and were sent repeatedly thru April 2. FAXES were confirmed, yet repeated calls to Ameriquest by Wells Fargo and by us, brought no results. We were told no fax came thru, or we handle them on a first-come-first serve basis. We were stalled, ignored and HUNG UP on until we finally got a pay-off amount. We were charged the new 9.9% interest on the pre-payment penalty as well as: a demand fee of 25.00 and an additional day of interest($46.20) beyond the day Wells Fargo wired the funds, and due to Ameriquest's stalling maneuvers.
David & Shelley of Indianapolis IN (03/30/07)
We refinanced with AMC in April of 2005. At that time we were told that our home appraised at $140K and that we would get an 8.5% fixed rate but that after two years it would go to an ARM. We received the letter from AMC earlier this month and they want to raise our rate to 10.5%! Plus our payment would increase by a little over $100.00 a month. We were also told that if we wanted to re-fi in two years we could, with NO PrePayment penalty. ALL LIES! Our home actually appraised then at $90K, we have been trying to re-fi with another company and we have been hit with a $2500.00 pre payment penalty!
The new appraisor said our home is now worth $105K. They also want us to pay our property taxes that aren't due until May and pay our home owners insurance for a full year at a cost of $1343.00 and it isn't due until June. We were scammed! We have now re-fied w/another company at 6.75% fixed but we had to pay all of the abover mentioned monies in order to do so.
Michael of Columbus IN (03/29/07)
Used Bait & switch to get me into a refinance loan. Told me closing costs would not be over 1300, when in fact after the closing I noticed they charged me over $6,700!! & locked me in to a prepay penalty for 3 years when they told me it would only be for 2 years. They totally mis-represented themselves throughout the time they were trying to get me to do the loan, then compounded the issue by hitting me with extreme closing costs.
I am out over $5,400 in closing costs alone. My payment has jumped dramatically causing us to struggle to get by each month. I cannot get out of the loan till July, at which time I will, if even now I try to get out they will charge me over $4,700 for a pre-payment penalty. When I called them last week to see if the penalty was reduced the closer I got to the 3 year anniversary (not 2 like I was told) I recieved an adament no! There are no reductions for being close to the date. There is much much more, I will never do business with them again & they have set my family back at least 2 years.
Linda of Viborg SD (03/29/07)
I refinanced my home with Ameriquest in March, 2005. Their appraisal of my home and property came in 25-thousand over the actual credible appraisals I had done a year later. They also stated I would have a fixed interest rate for 2 years then it would go down. They lied, my interest rate went up to a whopping 11.25% and they had the nerve to send me a letter stating that my collateral was NOT SUFFICIENT to refinance my house and property at a lower interest rate, even though it was 2 years prior.
Peggy of Vancouver WA (03/27/07)
My 2003 refinance loan with Ameriquest Mortgage Company was one of the loans that took place during the Attorney Generals' multi-state lawsuit which ultimately shut down AMC branches across the U.S. I should have received notification from Ameriquest through either Oregon or Washington State (Oregon loan on Washington property). I never received any notification or promise of restitution funds.
The attorney general offers no protection for the loans which made up the multi-state lawsuit. I have been in court since 2003 attempting to get anyone to listen and get me out of this illegal transaction. I was purchasing a 20-acre property in Washington through another lender. This probably triggered the promotional mailing piece received from AMC offering to refinance my residence. It seemed like a good idea to lower my interest rate on my residence due to the fact that I planned to keep the house and the 20-acre property.
The AMC sale associate withheld my loan documents which were later altered and my signature forged. The Deed of Trust was blank at signing and there was no attachment. Whoever altered the deed made a mistake by adding the wrong property description after the fact. All loan docs and transactions encumbered the wrong property and do to date.
I innocently believed that this was simply an error. I'm still in court...appealing in Federal Court of Oregon and appealing in the Supreme Court of Washington. Ameriquest Mortgage managed to convince a court judge that I was a tenant and he ruled to evict me and my disabled son from our home of 32-years in June of 2006.
We may have lost the home of 32-years which is the only home my son knows. He has lost his security and the neighborhood friends which helped to take care of him. His care dog is confused and not able protect him. I am a nervous wreck because I cannot leave either of them alone. I cannot work outside the home and effectively support this family. Ameriquest has the property and summary judgment damages against me for $93,000. We will not overcome the damage that Ameriquest Mortgage has inflicted upon us.
Clyde of Gardiner ME (03/25/07)
We refinanced with Ameriquest in Jan of 2006. They promised us a lower rate and interest only payment. We are low income, living paycheck to paycheck so we couldn't afford a higher rate or a high payment. Well needless to say when the payments started they were more then $300 more then the previous bank. The rate was more then 11% and needless to say it was full payment and not interest only. So we could not afford our payments. We tried calling them and they were down right mean to us.
We put our house on the market, it hasn't sold yet. We are in foreclosure, we don't have a date yet of when they plan on selling the house. We have tried to calling them several times and also tried calling their lawyer but have not heard back. We want to work with them from the sale of our house. We want to offer them a short payment. We wanted to get into forebearance payments but they wouldn't talk to us.
Robin of Elyria OH (03/24/07)
When interested in refinancing our home, we received a better interest rate from AMC. After SEVERAL conversations and reluctance on our part to do so, we were promised several benefits, financial security and an even easier future if we were to do so. It was explained in two years we would be refinanced and locked into a fixed interest rate. This never happened. We have tried several times to work with AMC to refinance to no avail. The interest rate they are quoting and cant even promise is more than prime. When we choose to lock into a fixed rate with AMC, we were told that it would cost $5600.00 to refinance for closing costs. When the salesman showed for us to sign the papers on the original loan, the interest rate quoted us was wrong. We refused to sign even though he stated that it was a typo error. He came back again the next Saturday for the signing.
Both of our credit scores have suffered because of our house payment is continually rising. We try and make sure the house payment is made so we have a place to live. With the amount of money that the house payment has risen has caused us to be late on other bills that we owe. It is very difficult to find a lender that will work with us due to this fact. We have not defaulted on financial obligations even though it may be slow pay. We choose not to file bankruptcy because we take full responsibility for our financial obligations, but do not feel that misrepresentation on the part of AMC shoud force us to lose our home.
Candace of Emmett ID (03/19/07)
I worked for this company. I was a processor. I know they did what ever they could to make a loan work. They had Stated Income loans that the actual income of the client was padded to make it work. The clients would sign without a notary present. They would leave the notary book with the AE so the clients could sign and have the notary stamp and fill things out later. They would hire young guys to be managers. No experience and they treated the employees terribly. The F word was very heavily used in the work environment. From what I saw I am not surprised at the letters on this site. This was a company that people came to as a last resort only to be mislead.
Glenda of Dearborn MI (03/19/07)
Because of a job lost (I found another job but at a lower salary) I needed to pay off some debt. I refinance my home which was built and purchased in 2001 through Ameriquest as an ARM due in August of 2007. Mr. McClough assured me I would be able to refinance before the ARM was due,with no pre-payment penalty and at lower or no closing costs if I did not have any late payments (which I have not had any late payments) However, when I attempted to contact Mr. MCCllough I found out the Dearborn office had been closed so I contacted the main office and applied to refinance on the above conditions.
About a week later I received a letter that they would not refiance on the conditions I requested. I called to inquire as to why I was denied and I was informed my home was only valued at 178,000. I informed the specialist that only a 1 1/2 ago Ameriquest appraised my home at 240,000 but they said the new appriaisal is 178,000 and they would not refinance and If I sought a mortgage elsewhere I would have to pay a pre-payment penalty of $1,600, but because Ameriquest over-appraised the property and I still owe 178,000 it looks like I won't be able to refinance with anyone. I have filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General (as well as Illinois and California because Ameriquest payments go to IL and headquarter is in CA) but so far nothing. I don't have the money to go to an attorney for help and I am not included in the class action lawsuit. Question: If they settled a lawsuit with Ameriquest for these same fradulent practices why are they still continuing to do business and still writing mortgages under fradulent conditions?
My mortgage is scheduled to increase (probably as much as $200) August 1. I don't know how long I will be able to pay that increased mortgage because If I pay the mortgage I will fall behind in other bills. If I am unable to refinance I will be forced to sell, if that's possible. Right now I don't know what I will be able to do.
Cassandra of Jennings MO (03/13/07)
I refinanced my home with AMC in 2005 and recieved cash out. I told the person how much money I made and how much I could afford but my payment was made twice the amount that I could afford. I went along with the plan because the loan provider told me that I could refinance in a year with a solid year of good payments. So I took the money that I received and put it into an account to pay the mortgage for the next year. When I tried to refinance for a lower payment they turned me down. I have went everywhere trying to refinance my mortgage but to no avail. My mortgage is due to go up in July because of the type of loan that I am in.
Charles of Winder GA (03/12/07)
We contacted Ameriquest Mortgage in October of 2004 about refinancing our house. They said they would refinance and loan us enough money to pay off our our debt in the process. It was not until closing that we found out that our truck note would not be paid off because we had to pay the 10,000 dollars in closing and attorney fees. Even though we did not receive enough to pay off our truck they reassured us that if we made all payments on time for 12 months that they would refinance again with a lower interest rate. After 12 months of all payments being made on time we contacted Ameriquest to refinance. We had the answer no in about 5 minutes. We were told that even though all our payments were made on time that our credit score had not changed so we would have to wait several more months and then try again.
In September of 2005, we received notice that our house note would become an adjustable rate for October. Our house note went from $1600 a month to $1900 a month. In October we recived another notice that it would be going up again to $2500. They did not seem to be bothered that there was no way we could afford this with children and the cost of living. We received Intent to Foreclose notice in February. We contacted them to try to resolve the foreclosure. They told us that we would have to come up with $16,000 before March 31st to stop the foreclosure. If we did this our new payment would be about $3300 a month. If we could not come up with the $16,000 in attorney fees and late payments by that date they would proceed with the foreclosure. At this point no one will refinance us at all due to the Intent to Foreclose on our property.
Due to the increase with our mortgage, we have had to sell our vehicle and other necessities. We have 6 children that we were supporting with no problem at all until these issues arose. We have litterely had to do without everything to just stay afloat. We contacted a Mitigation department in October of 2006 to help us out. We paid $1500 for there services and did not ever get a positive outcome.
Dorothy of Ocoee FL (03/01/07)
My husband and I refinanced or home mortgage on November 30,2005 with Ameriquest mortgage lenders and was told several times there would be no prepayment penalty, now we find out this statement is not true. We were also charged excessive fees of over $15,000 to refinance the loan which raised our monthly payment by hundreds of dollars. We were also told these fees were tax deductable, which we were informed by out tax preparer is not true.
No physical or economic damages occured but if emotional stress can be reported as damage, then we are damaged. It should be against the law to practice in such a manner.
Stanley of Navarre FL (02/08/07)
I received an advertising from Ameriquest stating that they could refinance my house get me a lower rate and pay off some of my bills. I plainly told them that I did not want a prepayment penalty. At closing there was a prepayment penalty even though they told me I would not have one. After all this they did not pay off my bills compltely but every check that I received from them was less than the balance owed. This left me in a situation where I had to come up with the remainder of each balance. They told me that it was not their responsibility to find out the balances but mine. I know that this is incorrect because I have refinanced before.
Finally the interest rate that they quoted me was different than what the final interest rate. I have been at a loss as to what to do because I had to come up with the money to pay off the remainder to each balance they were to pay off. This put me right back in debt. When I attempted to deal with them they gave me the run around but refused to aid me at all.
They were to pay off all of my credit cards but each balance was of sometimes by hundreds of dollars. I had to charge up a credit card just to correct their errors.
Mark of New Orleans LA (02/01/07)
The company closed all of its offices after Katrina and we never sent any monthly statements so we could not pay the mortgage payment. With absolutely no notice Ameriquest serve os with papers to forclose on the house.We were not given any opportunity to discuss anything. We only got to deal with their lawer who had no authority but to collect or go to Sheriff sale. They also charged my wife $12,000.00 in points to close the loan.She was completely taken advantage of. These people are very dangerous.
We are trying to put togther 300,000 in 15 days inorder not to lose the house.
Sharon of Ashley IL (01/25/07)
I was told the interest rate would be a lot lower. When the girl showed up at the house with the paperwork it was a lot higher, and explained that if I were to make bi-weekly payments it would be the equivalent to the lower rate, so we went along with it. I asked her if I paid weekly if it would even be lower and she assured me it would be. Well, I started sending in a weekly check.....a month later I get a statement from Ameriquest stating they had not received my payment yet. I called and told them I pay weekly and was told this was a problem. They do not accept weekly checks, and if you don't send the entire monthly payment these partial payments go into a suspense account at a 3rd party bank, and once the full amount is there it takes 10 days to post to your account.
I was SO upset...I had always made my house payments weekly. So they suggested signing up for the bi-weekly automatic bank draft payment, however, you had to have two months paid up front. This is difficult to come up with for us, so was never an option. In the meantime, our interest has risen every 6 months and we now pay nearly 11%. I think a class action lawsuit should be implemented against this company.
Srsd of AL (01/20/07)
We are in the same boat as everyone else. We do have a little different situation. We tried to sell out house to pay off the mortgage but when we went to sell, we found out my 14 year olds sons name was on the property and were unable to sell. Why didn`t Ameriquest find this? How could they make a loan with a minors name on the property?
George of Jeffersonville IN (12/01/06)
We refinanced our house with AMC in 2004 my husband and I are both on disability/fixed income. Our payment was higher than we expected it to be to begin with but we went along with them telling us it most likely will not go up anymore. One of their agents said he had been with them 10 years and had never seen the interest go up .....
Well guess what? it did go up and we have been informed it will again in 6 months ,our interest rate now is 9.9 My husband and I are so distressed over this it is affecting our health. We do not want to lose our home but with medical and prescption cost we may not be able to afford our payments
Tony of Stanwood WA (11/26/06)
1) Used bait and switch: told us we would receive 15k cashout (that I did not request) - we received $0
2) Told us we could refinance after 2 years with them with no prepay penalty - and with anyone else after 3 years or pay a 1% prepay penalty. WRONG - prepay is 3% +++ no matter who we refi with.
3) Said our adjustable would increase by 1% and it is now showing 2% for 6 months and more after that.
4) Had our start date wrong on their records - which threw us into foreclosure - They changed the date FINALLY after contacting the office of the president several times but would not reduce foreclosure fees because they had been paid they said. This equalled THOUSANDS of dollars extra we had to pay to save our home.
5) I have been lied to, screwed over, etc. like everyone else doing business with this company. I will refi no matter what the fees to get out from under them.
6) Kept holding payments to make them late - problem for them is I have return receipts from USPS showing the date it arrived.
7) Keep adding late fees when payments were on time.
8) Charged excessive fees we were not told about when they baited us.
9) The list goes on .... (to about #25)
John of Clinton PA (11/18/06)
There is another letter on this web site that is exactly what happened to us. (Terri of Winona Mn 11/09/06) Two years ago we signed a two year fixed one year adjustable loan. I was told that refinancing at the end of the two years would be the best thing to do. I was unaware that the prepayment penalty would still be in affect, I was told that even if the rates adjusted it would not be that much, now I find out it was pre-set at 2% and will jump again in 6 months totaling an increase of 600 dollars more a month.
We have tried to refinance but have been told that the value of the house 325,000 that ameriquest used is actually more around 250,000. We did not obtain the appraisal but in the loan agreement they do list the value of the home and since the loan was 301,000 and they only go up to 95% of home value it is obvious that they inflated the appraisal to get the loan. A Notary presented the loan to us also but the agent dutch assured me that we could refinance after 2 years and he would be glad to help. Now I was told that values are down and they only do 95% of the home so we wouldn't qualify.
Financially Ameriquest is destroying our family. We cannot afford that kind of increase, and because of it our debt to income ratio will be worse which will lower our credit rating causing even more financial problems. One of our children are in need of our help financially and we can't do what is needed because of the situation Ameriquest dupped us into.
Catherine of Walpole MA (11/14/06)
My husband had just suffered a major break down, and was on medication for depression and lost his job. This man called from Ameriquest and told him he could get him Christmas money and take away all his worries about paying bills and mortgage. He talked us into a loan that is double or previous loan.
We may possible lose our home. Our Mortgage is over 3000.00 per month which is more than I make in a month. We were scammed into doing this.
Raymond of Collegeville PA (11/13/06)
Refinanced my home in October, 2005. A rep from Ameriquest met with me and told me the best mortgage for my circumstance was an interest only loan. I told him I wasn't comfortable with that and he ,while making me feel like I was out of touch with the market, that I could switch over to a fixed mortgage at any time. He assured me of this many times. He said a packet would come in the mail and explain it all. It never did. I signed the papers and never received anything from Ameriquest. I called. They said there was a wrong address given. Although that was not true, I corrected the situation over the phone several times and was assured the correction was made. It wasn't. My agent refused to take my calls. When I called the service department the last time, I was told i would have to remortgage and pay a huge prepayment penalty.
Terri of Winona MN (11/09/06)
Two years ago we refinanced our home with Ameriquest. It was a 2year adjustable rate loan. It was a lower beginning rate than what our current mortgage was at the time. This past month was our two year anniversary and of course our interest rate jumped by 2 points and our monthly payment went up by quite a bit. Not only that we have come to find out that they misled us and that in the fine print of the loan the rate actually first adjusts and 2 years and then every 6 months thereafter. This was not disclosed at the time and a representative from Ameriquest was not here at the time of the signing of the documents only a hired notary. Yes....we should have read the documents better, but we were misled and this point was not mentioned once during our discussions.
We have since called Ameriquest about refinancing to a fixed rate and have been told that the value of our home has decreased by $20,000 over that last appraisal and this is not an option. I have never in my life heard of such a thing! They have said they would call in 6 months when the market improves, but guess what... no one has called or returns calls. Why refinance to a fixed rate when they are taking advantage of a skyrocketed rate? Did I mention that if we refinance with another company there is a huge prepayment penalty. They've got you coming and going....
We are a family of five with limited income. My children are on medical assistance throught the state. I hope we can afford to keep our home.
Adriana of Laredo TX (10/24/06)
Ameriquest representative promisedwe were getting a 30-year fixed rate loan but my payments have skyrocketed. We were told we could refinance after one year so our payments could go down, without having to pay closing costs. We did, and were charged $12,000 at closing time. They made us think we were getting a great deal and we were locking the rate.
Now, our payments are increasing to the tune of $450 at a time! We are struggling to pay month after month. The representatives promised to help us and now we are about to lose everything.
James of Goffstown, NH (10/18/06)
After my two year fixed rate ended and my adjustable rate kicked in I wanted to try to refinance my mortgage. In the meantime my mortgage rate went up but unknowingly to me Ameriquest took it upon themselves to pay my town taxes and add another $1,000 on top of my new payment, without letting me know.
When I did find a new finance company to replace Ameriquest I was then informed that my prepayment penalty was not the 2-year term of my fixed rate but 3-years, one year after my fixed rate ended. In essence: "after we raise your rates we won't let you refinance with anyone else anyway".
Nice business practice, wouldn't you say? Evidently NH was the only state not investigated concerning Ameriquest in your multi-state probe.
Joseph of Southfield MI (10/15/06)
I was misled about the cost of my mortgage , and also the prepayment penalties that I would experience upon refinancing. I was also misled about the escalation of my interest rate through out the course of the Loan.
Do to these Misreperesentations I lost thousands of dollars during the course of and elimination of this loan. Me and my Family,endured a great deal of Stress which cause all sorts of mental and physical problems within our home.
Rhonda of Trenton MI (10/10/06)
They returned our payments Sept. 2003, Oct.2003, and Nov. 2003 when I kept calling they insisted that there was a mistake and finally in November I demanded a reason for this. They asked if we made our property taxes in 2002. I stated no but was making them up this year and beginning of next. My husband became disabled in 2000 and I explained that we have kept up on our house payments. They forced us into forclosure because our property taxes were not paid for the prvious year. I really don't think you have enough space to write all they did to us. They will never answer our calls or questions. Never answer our calls at all. This is a sad company that they could treat hard working people like this and get away with this. We have talked with an attorney regarding the practices of Ameriquest.
This has been mentally draining for my husband you has had a stroke and brain tumor. He is on medication for all this stuff with Ameriquest. I am physically and mentally drained because I have worked 2 full time jobs for two years to try to resolve this. We get no answers from anyone in that company.
Evelyn of Pittsburgh PA (09/29/06)
They sold my mortgage to Wendover financial services and i did not know that it was an interest only mortgage. I just found it out.
I have been paying on a 28,000 dollar mortgage since 1918 and still owe 26,000 on it
Steven of Fort Worth TX (08/24/06)
We refinanced with Ameriquest in June of 2003. Starting on July 11, 2006, we began working with Highland Capital to refinance. Ameriquest then began delay tactics with Highland Capital (taking several days to return calls, declaring that we were 3 months behind on our payments even though we were not, requesting insignificant information, etc). On July 28, 2006 we finally got a payoff number from Ameriquest. On August 5, 2006 we signed all of the closing papers. The title company wired the payoff amount to Ameriquest on August 11, 2006. On August 17, 2006 Ameriquest refused to accept the payoff (no explanation was given).
Working with Highland Capital and the title company (leaving numerous phone calls that were never returned), it took us until August 23, 2006 to learn that they had begun foreclosure on our house. After a great deal of effort, they finally stated that that they would accept the original payoff amount plus an additional $2,402.92 to cover foreclosure expenses and accumulated interest. This amount was provided without any documentation whatsoever.
Our credit report has been negatively impacted as well as about $5,500 in bogus charges.
Dannette of Compton CA (08/18/06)
i got a loan and made my payment on time until i start getting letters stating i was late , when i ask the company to provide the evelope with the stamp date of when they receive the payment they said they could not i have try so hard to have them to remove the inaccurate information from my credit report but they refuse, since then i have refiance with a bad interest rate which i cannot afford.
Anita of Long Beach CA (08/02/06)
My Grandma has came to me for a loan that she is having such a hard time paying. After reviewing her loan documents from Ameriquest aka AMC Mtg Services, I was shocked because I am a Loan Advisor and I could not believe what they charged and what type of loan they gave her. She refinanced in July 2005. They charged her 4.625 points and also received commission but did not disclose how much. They also placed her in a 2 year adjustable loan with a 3 year prepay. She has to stay in this adjustable period for a year when she already is having a hard time paying because they didn't qualify her properly.
So now her payment has adjusted and she can't handle it so she is refinancing with me and we have wrote several letters pleading for them to have heart and waive her prepay of $7500. They have not contacted her at all but keep sending advertisements to refi with them because they know her best I don't know how the people at AMC sleep at night taking advantage of people.
If my grandma would have continued to stay in this adjustable period, she would lose her home because she has been behind in payments for the whole period of the loan.She had to work 2 jobs to make sure she can pay her mortgage including bills.
Teri of Portland, OR (07/08/06)
In December of 2005 after receiving several calls, emails and mail advertisements, my husband and I decided to call Ameriquest to see what they had to offer in refinancing our home. I reached Aaron who stated that he would be able to work with us and would be able to close in 7-10 days. I said it took almost 6 weeks to mortgage my home when I bought it, but he said since they were the lender so it didn't take as long.
Aaron was very excited to say I would save over $400 a month and my mortgage would be lower. My house payment was $1169.00 a month, with a 3-year fixed 5.75%. Everything was done over the phone and by fax. On closing day my husband (and please forgive my absolute stupidity I was just caught up in the moment) asked Aaron just exactly what the house payment would be and Aaron told my husband it would be $1250 which would include taxes and insurance. He said our interest rate would be fixed at 8%. Aaron told me that there was a little prepayment penalty, but they would waive it if we continued to do business with them.
I had no idea what Ameriquest had done to us. My loan with Countrywide was for $138,000, but Ameriquest financed a loan for $161,000, charged us $7500 in closing costs, we have a prepayment penality of $5500, an interest rate of 8.75% that will go up to 10.25% in two years and a house payment of $1450 a month!
Cecilia of Troy NY (06/18/06)
in June of 2005, I refinanced with Ameriquest, which is now called AMC Mortgage. When I was talking with them I was told that my loan rate would be 8.50%. When I went to close all of a sudden the loan documents stated the rate is 11%. My closing costs were also $3500 more than what I was told it would be. Of course I questioned all this and the superviser came into the room and convinced me that all the closing costs were mandated by NY state and that the interest rate was so high becasue of my credit. It was the ame credit they looked at when I was given a rate of 8.50%. Anyway, immediately after I signed the papers, I was a victim of identity theft and thousands of dollars was stolen from me.
This caused me to get behind in my mortgage payment very quickly. I explained this to the people at AMC. I even said I could send them a copy of the police report as proof of the crime. AMC did not give a damn. I was put into preforeclosure and the forebearance agreement that they set up for more was so very hard to pay but I paid every month, except for May when I was late. The forebearance agreement would have been paid up in June. I begged and was even in tears over the phone as I told the woman that I just can't lose my house. I said I was paying all these months to catch up. If I would be caught up this month, how can she treat me as if I hadn't been paying for months. I asked if I could get the agreement amended. She gave me hell over 3 days before she would amend it, and it is even much worse now than the first agreement was. She now has it set up so that I have to pay $595.00 OVER what my regular mortgage payment are, and this I would have to pay until October first before I would be caught up. How can that be when I only had one more month to catch up?
My payment for May would have gone to April and the month that I was in arrears. June's payment would have gone to May and the balance of my arrears, bringing me current. So how the heck is she now telling me I need to pay $595.00 above the regular mortgage payment until October to catch up? It is also very interesting that the Ameriquest mortgage office that I got my loan from was shut down in November 2005, and all their documents seized and Ameriquest charged with fraud.
I was doing a great job of repairing my credit when I got this loand from Ameriquest. Now my credit score is way down in the toilet. I cannot eeven refinance with another company to get from under AMC. Additionally, this horrible company has set me up for foreclosue because of their predatory practices. I don't know how anyone works for them and agrees to treat people this way. Someone has got to intervene on behalf of the thousand of homeowners who are being preyed upon by Ameriquest before we unfairly lose our homes.
Jill of Akron OH (06/15/06)
We refinanced with Amerquest in 2002, we received cash out for home improvements. Our house appraised for 109,000 before the work we had done. Ameriquest gave us a loan for 91,000 we soon began to have financial truble due to the fact that my husband was laid off from his job, when we contacted them to settle the late payment they informed us that he did not make enough money to settle the situation. How did we get the loan in the first place?
After bankruptcy and foreclosure the house is now up for Sheriff's sale with an appraised value of 81,000. We are now renting, bad credit, and the bankruptcy attorney asked how we had received a 91,000 loan on my husband's 28,000 a year? I would like to know the answer to that myself,
Brenda of Isanti MN (06/09/06)
We were refinanced by Amerquest about a year ago. We were told that the interest rate would be less then what we ended up with. We had ok to almost good credit before we went with them. After a few months our credit started hurting. They had our house payment higher then what it was supposed to be and to top it all off they did not pay the bills they were supposed to pay when we got our loan. We have lived here for 13 years and now we are in forclosure and next month they will be kicking us out of our home.
Mary of Cornelius OR (05/23/06)
My husband and I refinanced with Amerquest Morg. We made sure that our taxes were to be included in our payment. In Feruary, our taxes came due. I realized that the taxes were not included in our payments. I called Ameriquest to get all this resolved. I faxed all the info, to find out they have not received any info and my taxes have not been paid. Trying to contact them has been a taxing problem and very confusing to deal with. As a result, I am getting out of our morgage and it will cost us 3,000, but we have no other options.
We are in the process of refinancing our morgage and are having to pay thousands of dollars to get out of the loan and to pay the taxes that Ameriquest did not.
Susan of Douglasville GA (05/02/06)
We began the refinance process with Ameriquest, who hounded us with phone calls. We already had a pretty good deal with another reputable company, but decided to see what Ameriquest could do. (We never dreamed they would be so unscrupulous, as they are so well known!) We had seen this web site and the other complaints and they were doing alot of the same things to us. When we brought this to their attention, they had all the right answers to our concerns. When it came time to close, the closing attorney never even showed up, so they rescheduled for the next night.
When she finally showed up, 2 1/2 hours late, (at 10:00 at night) the only paperwork she had was a few meaningless papers, but she had NO CONTRACT WHATSOEVER. So we called off the closing, which did not set well with the Ameriquest guy the next day. After cussing out my husband, we told them we were not doing business with them any further and we went with the other company we already had. Well, this should have stopped there, but no... 3 1/2 months later Ameiquest is still putting inquiries on my credit which I now have to take the time to dispute. Also, these 35 inquiries have dropped my credit score 100 points! Of course there is no one at Ameriquest that will help, still waiting on a phone call back.
Marie of Hartwell, GA (04/12/06)
We thought if we could re-finance our home and pay off our bankruptcy (chapter 13 because my husband's business collapsed) we would be able to get our son started off to college. We contacted Ameriquest to see what they could do. They said they could fix us right up.
Ameriquest put the house in my name and they listed that I had a 401K (which I do not). They were supposed to call the bankrupcy court to get their approval on the loan (they did not). Their lawyer told us to contact the courts ourselves to ask for a reduction in payments to the courts but when my husband called the courts, they were furious that Ameriquest did this to us. Unfortunaltey, there was nothing they could do. The courts did not approve the reduction in payments, instead we ended up paying the courts and a new mortgage.
We now have a $1600 per month payment and together we bring home $1500 a month. We have tried to re-finance and put the late payments at the end of the loan, we can't do this they say because of the delinquincies. They tell us to borrow money to make a payment. I had great credit before I took a loan with this company, now it is ruined.
We had no idea what we were getting into.
Robert of Tacoma WA (04/03/06)
They said they could refinance us and give us enough money to pay our bills off. They sent their own appraiser, they came to our house for us to sign documents. We think they overstated our income for us to get the loan, and Robert had only been in his new job for 3 months. I was and still am unemployed. Our house payment was raised $300 dollars, which we felt we could handle with the bills being paid off but by the time we got the money to pay off the bills, what they gave us didnt cover what we owed.
They put us on an ARM, slowly raising our payment every 6 months. Because we were unable to completely pay off all our bills, they started to add up again and we started to become late occasioanally with our house payment. They would charge us outrageous late fees, and at one point when a checked was returned, they charged us $475 for an NSF fee.
In January of 2006 we filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy due to medical bills and the other ones that didn't get completely paid off, in order to save our house. Our house was not included in the bankruptcy, but our payment is being paid by the trustee. Now, knowing that we are in bankruptcy, they are raising our house payment from $1157 to $1337, we think as an attempt to force us to sell. We would like to get out of this mortgage with them as soon as we possibly can, without having to sell our house which we worked very hard for.
Douglas of Loveland OH (03/29/06)
I called Ameriquest to see if I could pay off my bills and get extra money for medical issues in the family. I was told I could pay off everything and borrow an extra $25,000. This was based on the information provided to Ameriquest as well as the value of the land based on property tax records and previous appraisal. For about 8 days they said no problem in fact we should be able to do this within 7-10 days. I was advised since they were going to pay off all bills not to pay unless overdue.
Well instead of the value according to tax and prior appraisals being $254,000 they could only come up with $115,000 value... two homes and 15 acres zoned residential. Not only did they assure me the loan was good it took two weeks to find out there appraisal was a joke. I will never recommend them to anyone for any reason, it was obvious they didn't want me to check anywhere else by 'promising' they could help me.
Joann of Warwick, RI (03/21/06)
We were contacted by Ameriquest and decided to see what they could do for us with a refinance loan. The first offer sounded okay but a few days later we were told that the percentage rate went up from 6.950% to 7.150%. Then we received a packet with forms to sign that were totally different from what we discussed. These forms have the loan at 10.154%.
I called Kevin regarding this and he tried to assure me that this packet is just a sample and would not be what we would sign at closing. At that point I had heard enough. A lot of the complaints I read online about this company were things that we started to happen to us.
Now that I have cancelled with them they won't stop calling me and the even went as far as calling my mortgage company and my homeowners insurance. Now mind you, we have never signed any papers for the loan or had a closing date. NOTHING. What gives them the right to do the things thet do and get away with it?
Melody of Parker PA (03/16/06)
They have upped our intrest 3 times within 4 months. We are now out of the position of having a huge prepay penalty & are able to refinance, but since we have had some late payments with them, (because of the increase in payments) we are having a hard time getting away from them. They have seriously put a financial strain on us & our credit!
Marie of Bronx NY (03/15/06)
Ameriquest had an appraiser inflate my property value in order to loan me more money which made my payment & rate higher. They appraised my home at $567,000.000 when in fact the comparable homes in my area where going for around $450,000 to $475,000.000 We ended up using most of the funds from the refi for home improvements, approximately spending $100,000, both inside & outside work was done.
We then fell on hard times financially and where unable to make our mortgage payments because of the high monthly amount due. We went into pre-foreclosure and decided to possibly put our home on the market, but we were told that our home was only valued at around $473,000 to $499,000 and that was after we put all that money into. As you can expect we were very discouraged and concerned as to how could this be. We were told by Ameriquest that our home was valued at $567,000 before our refi and then we put $100,000 into home improvements and then are told that our home is worth less than before the refi.
There is no doubt that they inflated our appraisal value at the time of the refi. They told us not to worry that they would take care of us and get us as much money as possible, yes while compromising our future & our home value.
We are now in foreclosure and are awaiting a sale date which will put us in the street after all the hard work and money we put into our home. As time went by we would talk to other people who made us aware that there were thousands of complaints against Ameriquest for these kinds of practices. They totally put us in the predicament that we are dealing with now. Losing our home will be devasting to us.
Michele of Big Bend, WI (03/14/06)
My husband and I refinanced with Ameriquest in January 2005. They told us the taxes would be included, but at closing they said they were not.
I had a work injury in October 2005, lost income and fell behind on mortgage payments. Ameriquest won't do anything to help and we are now in foreclosure. They wanted to do a forebarance and wanted $5200 and then they wanted $2799 for 6 months. My husband only makes $2200 a month.
Sharon of Laurel DE (03/08/06)
I called Ameriquest to stop my escrow account, and they said that they had a better deal for me,I was already at a fixed rate-been with them for about 4-5yrs. Tthey suggested to refiance my account, then told me that I didn't have to pay for the next two months, then screwed up my account by throwing me into a 2yr ARM.
Payments remained the same -- without the home owners insurance and property taxes included -- then reported my late payments in which I was never late on my account to credit bureau. They broke the law by having us sign the documents in my state right at my house. First we signed the documents at a Wendy's on the Maryland line, then they screwed up the paperwork and changed the amount that we were supposed to get cause they paid an old credit card off, so they sent a respresentative to our home in Delaware to sign the documents, which was illegal.
Tammi of Mastic, NY (03/08/06)
When my husband lost one month of work in July we called Ameriquest. We explained we would be late and that we wanted to make it up somehow. They wouldn't accept payments from that day on because they said they had to calculate the fees and would call us with a downpayment. They never called.
I called every day for months and finally found out they were going to set up a forebarance agreement now that we were late 3 months. They set one up for a $4500 down payment and $3200 a month for 9 months! We told them we couldn't afford that.
Supervisiors won't help or even return calls. It's not fair that we have to lose our home for missing one payment, when they never gave us any options to pay partial amounts. We were never late before the one late payment. My husband got a job right away and we were back on our feet.
Alicia of Douglassville PA (03/08/06)
We refinanced our house with Ameriquest in 2001 I believe. We refinanced on an ARM. Everything was fine until the fall of 2004. One day we received a letter in the mail from Ameriquest stating that we did not pay our school and property taxes for the year of 2003 and, since we did not pay the taxes they were forcing an escrow on our account. The forced escrow on our account was for the 2003 school and property taxes (which were paid) and they also included the 2004 taxes which were going to be paid in October, just a couple of weeks later. And also the taxes for 2005 which were not due at all.
We did not have our taxes escrowed through Ameriquest, we paid them on our own. Needless to say, the taxes were paid and had been paid for a while. Well, since they forced this 3 year escrow on us our payment went from 1003.00 a month to 2400.00 a month. Which we could not pay, my husband only brings home 2800.00 a month. I called them and tried to explain this to them. They did not care at all.
I had the court house send them proof that the 2003 taxes were paid, and they even received the check back that they sent, and they were still refusing to even remove the 2003 escrow. Finally I had forced them to remove the 2003 escrow but they would not remove the escrow account from my mortgage and my payments were still 2100.00 a month. Which, I could not pay. I told them that I was going to lose my house and they said, "We are very sorry to hear that Mrs. Taschner". This went on for 3 months until I finally threatened them with a law suit and had a friend call acting like a lawyer.
I would of contacted a lawyer but, obviously, all of my money was going to Ameriquest. They were a nightmare to deal with. Their escrow dept. is another company all together and they do not give one iota about you or anyone else. We are nothing but $$$$ to them. We escaped and now refinanced through a reputable company. Thank goodness!!!
Marcie of New Haven CT (03/07/06)
Refinanced with Ameriquest. Several items changed at last minute such as: 1. interest rate not as first stated. 2. didn't use husbands pay for lower rate. 3. was supposed to be fixed at "lower rate" within 1 year. 4. insurance not included (found out this year!) 5. taxes not included also. only found out when city of new haven sent tax bill in amount of approx. $1500.00 (only partial pymt.) 6. said pymts. would go down, did not they went up approx. $100.00 in first year of 2 year loan! also other things stated that i cannot remember at the present time.
Tara of Canaseraga NY (03/01/06)
We refinanced with AMC in Aug 2004. We were told that our payment would include all taxes. The payment was 1,600, which was for P&I and taxes. A Month after the papers were signed we made our first payment. The next month we were notified that our payments were going up 100.00 dollars because of an escrow shortage. Fine, we did that for another 8 months not knowing that in fact the shortage was forgetting to add our school taxes to the monthly payment.
We were notified again 8 months later that our payment was going up another 800.00. Because of this our payment was 2,404.00. They wouldnt take anything less than this. This is when we started becoming late on our payments.I tried paying just P&I, and they would not credit our account,they cashed the check but wouldnt apply it to the loan.After months of trying to find out what happend with escrow they can not still to this day tell us why.
AMC has not tried to help us in any way but a forbearance plan where we put 6,000. down and pay 3,535.15 a month for 8 months. This is a short account of the other mishaps with AMC. they told us to get rid of some of other payments which should help with them helping us. We got rid of a truck, car, tractor,just about everything so amc could tell us we never said this,so it never changed a thing to get rid of everything. the list goes on and on.
Jewell of Elcho WI (02/13/06)
We fell behind on our payments because of sickness.We called Ameriquest and tried to set up some sort of payment to catch up.We were told that they did not do that and we would have to pay three months at ane time.We could not afford to do this.So now they have us in foreclosure.Our only way to save our home is to file bankruptcy.
Mary of Omaha NE (02/12/06)
I refinanced my home in 2000 for $10,000, even though I did have more equity. I had financial difficulties, so I was forced to sell my house. When it was time to pay off my loan, they had charged me over $3,000, for a prepayment penalty. I know now, that that was not discussed before. Also, I know there were other fees and extras that were not legit.
Andrew of Nashville TN (02/11/06)
Refinance issues: We agreed to a loan at an 8% and a payoff of a truck loan and a few credit cards. At the time Our mortgage would have only gone up by about 175.00 and was goint to save us over 400.00 a month in other bills. Sounded good until the notary showed up wi a 14.5% interest rate and a payment of almost doubled what our original payment was. So before signing anything I called Harry and he told me to just sign them so he would have my signature and could take of it when he got the paperss back to him. A
lso at first we were promised a first payment due date of Febuary 1st. The phone began to ring Januaury 1st demanding a payment. I filed a complaint and was contacted by the office of the "president" and they said nothing could be done because WE BENEFITTED from our loan. I have since contacted law firms to see if I qualify for a part of the calss action suit or not but in the mean time have taken action to refinance with another company to get as far away as possible. Hope everyone will do the same. And please do your homework and never trust a loan officer until the deal is what you want and the papers are signed the way you want theam
Nancy P of Oakley MI (02/09/06)
I wanted to refinance to help payoff credit card debt. I had an appointment for an appraisal and decided to cancel it. I then received a phone call from the broker who was furious with me. With his raised voice, he told me that I needed to call the appraiser back and reschedule. He said he would take care of it. Because of all my worries and stress, I was vulnerable and he knew it! Well, the appraiser came, the loan papers mailed to me and I decided not to proceed. I have not signed anything yet. Well, now I am continuing to recieve phone calls, up to 6 per day, from the Ameriquest broker, and e-mail messages that I need to settle with him on the appraisal. I did not know that I was obligated to any of this. Now I am worried that he is going to harass me and call me at work, which I have already asked him not to. I don't need anymore worry, so I hope he will leave me alone.
Wanieta of North Canton OH (02/09/06)
When I refinaced my home with Ameriquest Mortgage in 2003 I was paying a set price with my insurance included. They have come back several times and increased my mortgage and now I have to pay the insurance separately plus I had to pay a fee for them to refinance my home and a penalty if I try to refinance from them less than three years. I just seen news channel 5 speaking on preditory lenders and I think I've been victimized by Ameriquest Mortgage.
Melonie of Longview TX (02/08/06)
WE have been fighting eviction by Ameriquest for the last 5 months, We filed bankruptcy in Jan of 2005 trying to save our house. I grew up here and dont want to lose my house. We are now on an appeal from the original eviction and we have no legal representation. Our original refinance papers were filed in Collin County as we had to meet the Ameriquest agent there to get our money. Dallas is 150 miles from our house and in Gregg county. We didnt get our check because we had to re-sign our papers in Gregg County where our house is.
Then We were told that we had a fixed mortgage and when we signed the papers it was an ajustable rate mortgage but the agent said dont worry about it they would fix it. The list goes on and on with this mortgage company. We refianance in 2000 and 2002.
Sandra of Kansas City MO (02/07/06)
A few years ago I was in a bind to pay off personal bills and had Ameriquest do my mortage so I could use my equity and get some cash out. However, I explicityly stated "several" times that I did NOT want to do anything if there was a PRE-PAYMENT Penalty of ANY KIND. They "very young" salesman from a call center out of California made sure to reassure me that there would be no such thing.
However, when it came time to close locally with another office that did not represent Ameriquest, I signed the paperwork not knowing that there was a prepayment penalty included. So, sure enough a few years later when I refinance my home I was hit with aprox. $5,000! They said it was my fault that I signed the paperwork and they were not at fault. There was nothing I could do when I talked to several people at the company. They all said the same thing. I had the young man's name at the time as well. However, he was not to be found.
Marie of Gorham NH (02/03/06)
This company deceived me when I refinanced my mortgage. They exaggerated the price of my house. I now have to pay over $1700.00. I am a disabled veteran and I'm on a fixed budget. I am having big problems paying this loan!! I don't know what to do. I've been trying to get a VA loan but everyone I apply to won't touch my request, because of the contract I signed.
Donna of Long Beach CA (02/02/06)
We refinanced with Ameriquest last year. We told Mr. Silva that we did not want to pay closing costs. He agreed but buried $21, 000 in closing costs in our loan. It was never disclosed-we never received a good faith estimate and an appraisal was never done. It appears that the Long Beach office no longer exists.
David of Kirkland WA (01/31/06)
We refied with Argent Mortgage but they sold us to Ameriquest the next day. I had heard about Ameriquest but I had no choice. Right from the start they would hound us if we were even a few days late and charge us 200% late fee. After going over the accounting I find they charged 11G for their fees alone. We were told we would get a 30 yr fixed and ended up at signing with an ARM with an automatically increase in rates after 5 yrs even though it was tied to the T bill rate. We contacted them after they ahd called so many times to refi with them and was told no problem they could do it without an appraisal as we so fine a customer. I was told a 30 yr fixed over the phone with a lower rate.
When the papers came, it was another ARM with a much higher rate and higher fees. I was told this is just the computer spitting it out an not to worry. I asked them, "do I have stupid all over my face or just in places"? I immediately started looking for another lender and found one that did as he promised and a much lower rate than this Bottom feeding Subprime lender.
The salesman asked me to continue with Ameriquest so he could close and get the money. I said no and stop bothering me. He said "I don't get paid unless you close with us, I have many hours invested in this and I want to make my commisssion." The new lender had trouble getting a payoff amount that made any sense. They still have funds they have collected that covered the taxes and so forth and have yet to refund that us. After they got the payoff they still tried to get us to pay a late fee for that month. Congress should do something about this kind of practices. If I did that sort of thing in my company, I would be out of business in a month.
John M of Lynn MA (01/28/06)
Refinanced, now much more than I can afford.-- property appraisal was high. Soon to go into foreclosure. Can't keep up payments. Credit is ruined
Allison of Holtsville NY (01/27/06)
My husband and I refinced with ameriquest mortage on February 1, 2005. They had told us that our interest rate would be between 8and 9% however when we got to the closing we were at 12%. They took 11,176.46 in closing costs. My taxes and insurance was suppose to be included and when we got to the closing they mentioned that they weren't going to be. My hasband and I refinced for our business. We only refinced $50,000.00. My original mortgage was $3,200 a month. We are not paying $6,200 a month. I know that we were taken to the back and now we can not keep paying this mortage. I need to see if we are able to sue ameriquest for inccurate information.
Marie of Philadelphia PA (01/25/06)
Per the complaints filed against Ameriquest, I need to join the list. I paid over $7000 to refinance my home which were $6000 in points only which actually did not give me any benenfit due to the short term of the arm loan. It was only a 3 year arm and it would have been more bennefiucial for me to do a fixed rate. Why did I have to buy down a rate only for it to be raised again. Due to this I was not able to pay off all of my debt consolidation.
Naomi of Florissant MO (01/25/06)
I refinanced my home after the death of my husband in 2002 with Ameriquest Mortgage Company. This company promised a fixed rate of interest by then changed it, without my knowing, to an adjustable rate. My payments became so high that I had to file a Chapter 13 to save my home. Last year, Ameriquest Mortgage changed my account and gave it to AMC Mortgage, then increased my payments and interest rate. I fell behind once more and had to agree to pay a contingency rate of one and one-half payments per month ( my payments were $1321 plus one half of that per month). I could not afford to pay very much else with these high payments, therefore my payments got behind but Mr. Mike Reese was working with me because he knew I paid my mortgage each month.
Mr. Reese allowed me to make partial payments each month until I caught up with the payments. The company changed Mr. Reese from my account and did not notify me of the change. I was never told the person's name handling the account and when I tried to call for verification, I always reached a recording. I left messages after messages but to no avail. No one ever called me from AMC.
I received a letter from this company last month that informed me about an intent to foreclose on my property. I was given until the 14th of February to send AMC $13,000 plus or else lose my property. I am so upset and angry about the fraudulant practices used by Ameriquest Mortgage Company to deceive people who have financial problems. This company takes advantage of people who cannot afford traditional loans for home ownership. I feel that I have been ripped off and take advantage of.
Edward of Omaha NE (01/24/06)
I was convinced to refin. with this company in 2004 and was promised monthly payment of $520.00 a month instead I was paying $598.00 a monthly which is nowhere near $520.00 a month and $25.00 late charges when you have automatic withdrawth from your checking account and they withdrawn it until after the 16th of the month then it's concidered late. I don't think that was right I called and talk to them and told them I not going to pay late fees when that were suppose to have withdrawed it on the 1th of the month. Now I can not sale my house before 3 years because of prepaid pentality which I think it wrong for them to do that. I have went as far as to try to find another finanical company refin. with but success.
Stacy of Birmingham AL (01/24/06)
i was charged well over $20,000 in closing cost from a mortgage i had with ameriquest who would not work with me, never two months behind and forced me into filing chapter 13. Contacted them and they said it was my problem, i want to know who i may contact because i was abused by ameriquest both verbally and finacially
Edna of Safford AZ (01/22/06)
I was contacted and talked into a refinance at a lower rate to save money and was told I could get a rate of 4 or 5% I was happy because I am on SSD for mental disorders and my credit is not so great and have been wihtout so much for so long I let them talk me into it. They charged me over $7,000. to refinance, my interest rate turned out to be 9.8%, the value of my home at assessment was inflated and I was shocked that it appraised at 107 thousand dollars. I was so happy that it was worth so much, and found that not true with another appraisal, trying to undo the damage with another company.
I was told that i could just say what my income was and didn't need proof and was told aproximately how much that would have to be. I was told my insurance and taxes would be paid and that was not true, I ended up paying them seperately and again into their escrow fund payable when I paid enough into it. I was devistated and when I complained I got such jibberish that I wasn't able to know anything for sure, it was one excuse after the other with them. I was told my payments would be lower, they were $406 then and now they are almost $900 and going up because I didn't understand what variable mortgage was for sure. I sure do now unfortunalely. They lied to me and talked in circles when things I was told did not happen like they said.
Carol of East Northport NY (01/12/06)
Jon contacted me about refinancing our current mortgage. I explained that my husband was involved in a construction accident and was left permanently partially disabled and was unemployed due to his injuries. We needed help very badly and he took advantage of our situation. He seemed so nice and really seemed like he wanted to help us. He took down our information and called me back a little while later. He said he could lower our payments or keep them the same and get us some money which we desperately needed. I told him that our credit reports were not accurate and they did not reflect the items that were paid off.
I gave him all the documents I had proving the items on the report were actually paid off. He said no problem, trust me and we proceeded to closing. They wanted to come to our house to do the closing. There was Jon, Brian Montross, also from Ameriquest, and the attorney who showed up late. We signed off on everything and he gave me a packet for my own records. I didn't even go through them until the next day because the closing was at night. I looked and saw that our payment was several hundred dollars higher than it was.
By the way, I made it clear that the payment had to include taxes and insurance as it has always been. He understood that. Also, I believe that we were charged too much for closing fees and I would like that looked into.
Craig of Rochdale MA (01/10/06)
My wife and I had remortgaged back in Feb. 2002, and every year they tell us we have to remortgage again because our rates we go up dramatically.Unfortunatly we did ,three times and found out later that the mortgage was a subrime loan which means that you are locked in with them for how ever long.Currently our rate is so high 10.5%, that we can no longer pay this mounthly amount $2600.00 plus taxes and ins., it used to be $1029.00 for everything before we remortgaged with ameriquest.
Cindy of Cullman AL (01/06/06)
I had a mortgage with Ameriquest Mortgage Company which was stated to me as a 2 year fixed mortgage. The issue with this is that the 2 year fixed was set to end on July 1 2006 but in order to refinance before the interest rate raised (per employee statement) - I was to be charged with a prepayment penalty. The prepayment penalty was in place until May 13th 2007. The payment was due on the first of each month. So in essence, the penalty was in place either way... either I accepted the 8% + interest rate increase or pay the 2500.00 + prepayment penalty. All of these issues are well documented with paperwork I have from Ameriquest and payoff records from the new mortgage company.
Denise of Rochdale MA (12/30/05)
In a nutshell, when we refinanced with Ameriquest we were charged a much higher fee than was quoted. I'm talking $7,000-$8,000 supposedly for refinancing sooner than 2 years.This meant that the monies we were expecting back were considerably less. Also, we were charged a much higher rate than expected. We were late on some payments and were charged a phenominal amount in fees, some sort of penalty fees and now our mortgage is 3X what it originally was.
Tomas of Miami FL (12/30/05)
In the last two years I have refinanced my home mortgage with Ameriquest, the first time in January of 2004 I felt I was charge an excessive amount for closing on the loan. The second time was on July 2005, not only was I charged once again excessivily for closing costs, butwhat I was quoted and first received as my monthely payment for P&I was later changed within sixty days to an amount I had previously said to the mortgage consulatant that I was not confortably paying/ By then it was too late. I understand there is current litigation with AMC for questionable business' practices.
Metroregina of Detroit MI (12/16/05)
I had taken out a loan with Ameriquest a year ago. At the time of closing they gave me one amount that my payment will be and then they have been going up every since. There excuse is that my hazard insurance is causing for the amount that I have to pay. In February of 2006, I will not be able to make my mortgage payment. It has gone up 3 times since the re-fi.
David And Susan of Bradenton FL (12/14/05)
We refinanced our house with Ameriquest in 2004. First they sent a notary that knew nothing of the actual loan documents to our house for closing. Then they never disclosed to us anything about an early payoff penalty. We are in the middle of trying to build a new home and refinanced our house to withdraw the equity to use as a down payment. Ameriquest charged us $6800 to pay off our mortgage that we were not expecting. Ameriquest never discussed this prepayment penalty in any of the original discussions in soliciting our mortgage.
We contacted them regarding this and even told them that we would contact the Better Business Bureau, we were literally told that they did not care and that they deal with the Better Business Bureau all the time. This was from the office of the President. Some customer service.
Steve of Atascadero CA (12/13/05)
They ruined my life. Day of signing everything changed from fixed to adjustable, taxes and insurance were supposed on monthly - it was not. Payment went up 1600+ with only 50 dollars to principal.They knew I was refi due to an injury and needed to lower payment,still they went on with no concern for nothing the desire to ream me.Always in foreclosure status. When i called they said just make the payments. And I was stupid for getting myself into this. I sold the house to avoid foreclosure. It cost me my marriage,and my ability to buy a home again.
After 124k in house payments I am now a renter.Sold the house for 215k now worth700k. The last 6 years have been miserable and I am sick to my stomach for it .Also had to pay prepayoff penalty, though there was not supposed to be one.
Michael of Lafayette KY (09/21/05)
This summer I decided to refinance my $300,000 home. Ameriquests Richard Roe was handling our refinance. He required many things of us prior to closing. First, he required us to have a survey done that seperated our home and four acres with the remainder of our property. He assured us that our loan was approved and that we would be closing within weeks, I have all this on taped voice mail. He (Richard Roe, at Ameriquest) called himself and set up this survey. When the survey was completed he told us to rush to pick up and rush to the City Planning Commission and then have recored at the court house.
When we picked up this survey it was $625.00 which we paid for out of our pocket. I called Mr. Roe before picking up while out in the parking lot and told him I'm not paying for the Survey if he is not absolutely certain that this loan will close. He assured us closing would be within a week. We paid for the survey, took all the copies where needed. Mr. Roe faxed copies to the appraiser. Bottom line, the loan did not close because of an Appraisal Upload Malfunction Whatever that means.
I requested from Mr. Roe that we mail us a check for the survey, which means absolutely nothing to us now, and he called and left a message on my voice that says, he did receive the OK from the Superviser Rose to issue us a check for the survey, and that we should receive in a week. All this is on tape. We still have not received a check nor any contact with Ameriquest.
Telli of Ocala FL (02/10/05)
Ameriquest refinanced my home in Nov.2003 at higher than normal interest rate of 8.5% and in order to facilitate the loan, their appraiser over valued my home by $20,000 there-by creating a bogus appraisal.The amount they created the loan for was 92,000 based on an appraised value of $102,000.There is no comparable property in my development worth that amount.I am now stuck with a loan from Ameriquest because the bogus appraisal, and cannot get refinanced with them or anyone else.
I found out about the bogus appraisal when I attempted to refinance with State Farm to come from under the high interest rate held with Ameriquest. State Farm said my house only appraised at a value of $82,000 and the loan balnce on the house is $92,000 and they would not be able refinance my house because of the loan to value.When I found out this information, I called Ameriquest to find out about the bogus appraisal and they said they didn't have a record of the appraisal anymore. I eventually got a copy from their headquarters and saw that they indeed had appraised my 82,000 dollar house for 102,000 dollars.
I asked them to adjust my interest rate to a lower fixed without incurring fees because I cannot refinance with anyone else due to their actions. They said they could not help me either because of the loan to value situation thet they created. I have found out that what they did is illegal according to the Board of Real Estate Appraisers.
Antoinette of Chicago, IL (8/31/05):
When I refinanced last year, I was charged much more for the closing than what I had been told. Also my disbursement and paperwork had been changed without my notification or my signature!
Ameriquest's explanation had to do with failure to include taxes that should have been paid up front. I was faxed a copy of the changed settlement only after I called them about the disbursement amount. The person I spoke to in the president's office said, "unfortunately there is nothing we could do but apologize about the error and the amount of the disbursement".
Damage: I paid $7,359.39 to refinance my house. My disbursement was supposed to be $5000, but only turned out to be $3,800.
Juan of Los Angeles (8/4/05):
In June 20 | 
