Http://www.sptimes.com/08/11/Business/Dispute_of_loan_paper. Shtml
Dispute of loan papers expands
The man accusing Ameriquest Mortgage of fraud is trying to get evidence back from his Clearwater lawyer.
By HELEN HUNTLEY, Times Personal Finance Editor
Published August 11
Ameriquest Mortgage Co.'s Tampa office regularly forged signatures and defrauded customers, says George Soroka, who sued the giant lender and collected a pile of documents to support his case.
When he handed the evidence to his Clearwater lawyer, Nickolas Ekonomides, a muddled legal situation turned murkier.
Now Soroka and Ameriquest are demanding the paperwork, which includes original documents from the files of about 130 Ameriquest customers. Ekonomides is asking a Tampa judge to decide who should get custody of the papers.
The tussle over loan documents is the latest development in the long-running battle between the nation's largest lender to homeowners with bad credit and its increasingly vocal critics. Last month Ameriquest's parent company, Ameriquest Capital Corp., said it had set aside $325-million toward settlements with 30 states investigating lending practices.
Borrowers and former employees have accused the company of overcharging customers, misrepresenting loan terms and inflating appraisals and borrowers' incomes so homeowners could take out bigger loans. Ameriquest has claimed the company was a victim of unscrupulous employees. The practices would pump up income for employees and the company, but would be likely to increase default rates.
While state regulators are going after Ameriquest on a broader scale, many borrowers are waging their own battles against the company. Ekonomides has represented about 45 of them, none more vocal than Soroka, who says Ameriquest took advantage of him when he took out mortgages on two Largo properties.
"They told me one interest rate and gave me another, " he said. Soroka said the $300 in closing costs he was told to expect turned out to be $14,400. His suit against the company is pending in Hillsborough Circuit Court.
"The documents prove the allegations I am making that Ameriquest committed criminal activities, " he said. Soroka said they show borrowers were charged for insurance policies they didn't get, were instructed to lie about their incomes and had their signatures forged.
Soroka, who owns a limousine company, says he got the pile of documents from a former Ameriquest employee who claimed he was told to take them out of the office and dispose of them. A few of the documents have been posted on a mortgage fraud site on the Internet (www.msfraud.org) although Soroka said private information such as Social Security numbers has not been disclosed.
Ameriquest calls the documents stolen property and has demanded their return, according to Ekonomides.
An Ameriquest spokesman would not comment on pending litigation, but said the company takes the privacy of its customers seriously. Discussions between Ameriquest's lawyers and Ekonomides led to settlements for about a dozen of Ekonomides' clients. But Soroka and his lawyer disagreed over how his case should be pursued. Soroka asked for the loan documents to be returned to him and Ekonomides refused.
That made Soroka so upset he called the Clearwater police last week to report the papers stolen. The police responded to his call but declared the dispute a civil matter. Ekonomides followed up with a request for an order from Hillsborough Circuit Court to determine the disposition of the files. He's also asking the court for permission to withdraw as Soroka's lawyer.
"This isn't a case between George and me because I don't want the documents, " Ekonomides said. "There's a legitimate issue as to who owns the files."
He said he asked the Florida Bar for advice on what to do and got a recommendation to take the matter to court.
In the meantime, Soroka and several other unhappy Ameriquest borrowers, shared their stories with state investigators this week.
Helen Huntley can be reached at [email protected] or 727 893-8230.
[Last modified August 11, 00:42: 17]
Bob
clearwater, Florida
U.S.A.
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