I never knew what I was getting myself into.
Folks, this company is the WORST thing that has ever hit home loans. I worked in the St Petersburg office under Ryan Huckstep, aka the "golden boy" of Ameriquest Mortgage.
How much money a year does Ameriquest pay it's employees?
$200,000 for account executives
$700,000 Branch Managers
$1,300, 000 Area Managers (like Adam Rothman)
$2,000, 000 Regional Managers (Mariano based in Miramar FL)
How can they afford to pay them so much? Because Ameriquest screws over every single borrower they can.
For instance, people with poor credit who need help. Ameriquest puts these people into a 2 year fixed / 28 year adjustable mortgage. The loan has a 3 year prepay penalty, and on the 3rd year, your rate will JUMP 3 points! Meaning if you close the loan at a 8%, in 24 months you will jump your rate to 11%!!! And you have to pay that for an entire year until your prepay goes away!
Do you know that Ameriquest only uses appraisers who are on their "preferred list"? Meaning they will ONLY use appraisers who will exagerate your home's value by tens of thousands of dollars, to ensure that you are STUCK in your home, and you CANNOT refinance with another company! Either you pay the super high interest rate, or you give them your HOUSE!!! They put people upside down in their homes every single day!
Did you know that Ameriquest forces people to use their OWN title companies? Did you know that these title companies will shortcut recording mortgages to pocket the extra money? Meaning, if your mortgage was $200,000, they record it at $60,000 in the courthouse, so you pay the tax on the $200,000, but they keep the difference, this can be an extra $1,000 a loan int he title companies pocket!!!
Ameriquest does not let you use your own title company!!! You must use theirs!!!
Did you know that Ameriquest Mortgage closes loans WITHOUT an appraisal? Thats why they have a 7 day recission period, it's because they have signed your loan without anything in it!
Did you know that many borrowers are NOT told that their previous mortgage had a prepay on it? Most loan officers are taught to trick the borrowers into thinking they are getting a "refund check" from their old mortgage company from the overpay, which of course never comes. If they list on your HUD that you are paying $130,000 to your old mortgage company, but you think you only owe them $125,000, they know you actually owe 129,000. Not only are you paying their horrible fees, but the prepay on your old mortgage as well!
I've seen the Adam Rothman, the area manager laugh at borrowers behind their backs because they just paid over $16,000 in closing costs on a $100,000 loan! $6,000 prepayment penalty from their old mortgage, plus $10,000 in ameriquest fees!!! $16,000 in equity GONE!
Do you know that Ameriquest Mortgage REFUSES to send someone a Good Faith Estimate of closing costs and rate when they ask? This is a company policy!
Did you know that Ameriquest designed a way to dodge the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA) by closing loans BEFORE the proper disclosures are mailed out. Basically, Ameriquest has found a way to trick the RESPA law. They slam the loan so fast that the borrower never recieves the proper warning in the mail via a Good Faith Estimate, and Truth in Lending!
Did you know that Ameriquest also refuses to give people copies of their appraisal, because of fear of lawsuits? They will HIDE the appraisal and many times delete and shred it so the borrower doesnt see it.
Did you know that the Branch Managers and Area Managers get kickbacks for double charging appraisals? They force borrowers to pay the appraisal at the door, then they CHARGE them again in the closing costs for the same appraisal. Everytime they do that, the branch managers and area managers get a kickback from the appraisal company, or sometimes get a title company issued check! Appraisals can cost over $350! The borrower gets charges $700, and the branch manager (like Ryan Greene in Tampa) gets the $350 in his pocket!
Did you know that 90% of borrowers do NOT know there is a prepayment penalty on the loan Ameriquest gives them until they come in to close? Do you know that Ameriquest charges someone 6 times the mortgage payment as a penalty if they pay it off within 3 years?
Did you know that Ameriquest has a internal division called Portfolio Retention, who's job is to sucker punch the same borrowers again? After a minimum of 4 months, Portfolio Retention will refinance the same borrower, with usually MUCH higher closing costs than the first transaction, plus charge them the prepayment penalty!!!
Did you know that Ameriquest was tricking their investors by making purchases look like refinances? They were cheating the state out of tax money, and they were typing up their own titles, calling Equifax Mortgage Services and Chase Credit Research and putting FAKE mortgages on people's credit reports?
Did you know that Ameriquest does whats called an "AVM", which is a guessed property value on your home when you call in. If it comes in at $40,000 higher than what your home is actually worth, they wont do a real appraisal, they'll close it based on the guessed amount, putting you upside down in your home.
Did you know that Ameriquest commonly refers to African Americans, and minorities as "SCUM!" and "DIRTBAGS!"? Anytime someone of a different ethnicity other than white calls in and asks for a loan, you will hear the AE yell out "SCUMBAG!" or "DIRTBAGS!" after they hang up the phone!
Did you know that Ameriquest preyed on the elderly? Did you know that they would put elderly into loans much higher than they could afford? Into Adjustable rate mortgage that will sky rocket so they can take the house? Did you know that Ameriquest also puts them into a prepayment penalty so they cant sell it?
Did you know that AE's would LIE about borrower's ages and make them younger on the application to sock them with the highest rate and closing costs possible to make the most money? Did you know that the TOP AE in Ft Myers (Jason Rios) was SUED and FIRED not more than 2 months ago for lying about age on applications and preying on elderly people?
Did you know that because of Jason Rios getting fired, Ameriquest now practices AGE DISCRIMINATION to elderly people, basically they wont talk to elderly people because they cant sock them with super high rates, adjustable rate mortgages and prepayment penalties or they lose their job. So instead of giving them a good program, they wont even talk to them.
Did you know that Ameriquest holds HUGE contests for employees where they give away hundreds of thousands of dollars in exotic cars, vacations to Maui and Las Vegas, as a reward for screwing borrowers over? At the latest "Big Spin", which is where Ameriquest takes the top 400 employees for bingefest in las vegas, they gave away 10 automobiles and THOUSANDS of dollars in prizes, all from the poor homeowners who trusted them! A Crysler Crossfire, Volkswagon Beetle, Hummer, Mercedes, Porsche, A new harley DAvidson, all for screwing borrowers over
Did you know that in Florida, that many of the TOP MANAGERS in the company have recently been fired for fraud and lawsuits! Orlando, Maitland, St Petersburg, Tampa, Miramar, have all had not only the managers fired, but many of the employees as well!
Welcome to Ameriquest, the biggest fraudulent company that has ever walked the face of the earth. Watch the movie BOILER ROOM, that's this company
Rg
MaryJoShelton
Tampa, Florida
U.S.A.
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