Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today that his office has joined 49 other states in concluding a consumer protection investigation against Ameriquest Mortgage Company.
In reaching a settlement with Colorado and the other states, Ameriquest, the nation’s largest sub prime lender, has agreed to pay $295 million in restitution to consumers and to make sweeping reforms to its lending practices.
“The investigation revealed that Ameriquest employees deceived consumers to sell mortgage refinances,” Suthers said.
“Their deceptive, high pressure sales tactics, which were used to meet sales quotas, were induced by a hefty commission structure. Our settlement should correct these practices and entitle over 12,500 Colorado consumers to restitution payments,” he said.
In the settlement, Ameriquest denies the states’ allegations of predatory lending, but agreed to pay the $295 million to implement a battery of new standards to prevent a recurrence of the problems found by the states.
