More than 11,500 Coloradans – a third of them in the Denver metropolitan area – who did business with national lender Ameriquest Mortgage Co. are eligible for $8.4 million in restitution the firm has agreed to pay in a national, year-old predatory-lending investigation, state Attorney General John Suthers said Thursday.
Consumers claimed the company misrepresented the amount of interest they had to pay, inflated home appraisals that left borrowers with unaffordable loans and failed to clearly disclose fees and penalties associated with paying off loans early.
Thousands said in multiple lawsuits that they were financially ruined because they lost their homes, were forced into bankruptcy or had their credit destroyed.
Borrowers were customers of Ameriquest, Town and Country Credit Corp. and AMC Mortgage Services, known as Bedford Home Loans from 1999 through 2005.
Colorado joined 48 other states in divvying up $295 million among 481,000 consumers whom Ameriquest, the nation’s largest lender to people with bad credit, agreed to pay to settle the case. Virginia was the only state not participating, as Ameriquest did no business there.
More than 4,840 borrowers in the Denver metro area are eligible to divide $3.66 million, the highest average statewide. Restitution checks range from $123 to $3,462, Suthers said, but consumers must apply by Sept. 10.
The company denied any wrongdoing but agreed to a set of standards that states expect other lenders to follow, including clear disclosures about loan terms and accurate appraisals.
“The mortgage marketplace is a complicated and … confusing place,” Suthers said in a statement. “Many consumers have difficulty understanding the terms of a mortgage, and companies that purposefully obfuscate the process should be held accountable for their deception.”
The settlement was penned in January 2006, but the amount residents in each state would collect was just determined, Suthers said.
“Doing the right thing for the people we serve has always been one of our core values. We regret those occasions when our associates have not met this ideal to our customers’ expectations,” Aseem Mital, chief executive of ACC Capital Holdings Corp., parent of Ameriquest, said at the time of the settlement.
Staff writer David Migoya can be reached at 303-954-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com.
Where the money goes
Areas most affected by Ameriquest’s settlement of consumer complaints, with number of borrowers and the amount of restitution:
Area No. Amount
Denver 4,845 $3,660,992
Colorado Springs 944 $663,239
Pueblo 549 $353,449
Greeley 283 $201,193
Loveland 279 $212,599
Grand Junction 275 $156,255
Longmont 155 $120,044
Broomfield 133 $100,398
Cañon City 105 $68,841
Source: Colorado attorney general’s office
