ACC Capital Holdings (ACCCH) was a national mortgage lender based in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District ...

. The company is the largest privately held retail mortgage lender in the United States and the largest

subprime In finance, subprime lending (also referred to as near-prime, subpar, non-prime, and second-chance lending) is the provision of loans to people in the United States who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule. Historically, subpr ...

lender by volume. ACCCH was founded by

Roland Arnall Roland E. Arnall (March 29, 1939 – March 17, 2008) was an American businessman and diplomat. As the owner of ACC Capital Holdings, he became a billionaire with Ameriquest Mortgage. Additionally he funded, financed and was the visionary an ...

. As well as Ameriquest Mortgage, the company also owned Argent Mortgage which made wholesale loans through

mortgage brokers A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who brokers mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses. Traditionally, banks and other lending institutions have sold their own products. As markets for mortgages have become more competitive, ...

, and AMC Mortgage Services which carried out customer services activities for all ACCCH mortgages. Ameriquest closed in 2007, and the rest of the company was acquired by

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

Company reorganization

The risky nature of subprime loans, massive defaults of those loans, the softening of the real estate market, and ACC's own practices have led to a financial crisis: *In early 2006, Ameriquest Mortgage settled a

class action lawsuit A class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage R ...

for US$325 million with the attorneys general of 49 of the 50 states over allegations of

predatory lending Predatory lending refers to unethical practices conducted by lending organizations during a loan origination process that are unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent. While there are no internationally agreed legal definitions for predatory lending, a 20 ...

practices. Allegations included

usury Usury () is the practice of making loans that are seen as unfairly enriching the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is charged in e ...

and

bait-and-switch Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud used in retail sales but also employed in other contexts. First, the merchant "baits" the customer by advertising a product or service at a low price; then when the customer goes to purchase the item, they disco ...

tactics. *On May 2, 2006, ACC Capital Holdings announced the closure of all of its Ameriquest Mortgage branch offices as part of a plan to consolidate its retail mortgage lending operations into four regional call centers. Thousands of employees were fired via conference call. The employees were given five minutes to get their personal belongings and leave the office. Ameriquest would soon be joined by other American mortgage companies in announcing massive layoffs. On February 28, 2007 ACC Capital Holdings announced that

Citi Citigroup Inc. or Citi (stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, the bank holding company for Citibank, and ...

was providing

working capital Working capital (WC) is a financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business, organisation, or other entity, including governmental entities. Along with fixed assets such as plant and equipment, working capital is consi ...

and access to credit. Citi also gained the option to purchase Argent and AMC, but this option did not extend to Ameriquest. On September 9, 2007, Argent Mortgage was sold to Citi for an undisclosed amount. Argent was renamed Citi Residential Lending. Citi Residential Lending operated for several months before it was shut down. On September 10, 2007, Ameriquest stopped accepting loan applications. Former employees from

Ameriquest Ameriquest was one of the largest United States sub-prime mortgage lenders until its dissolution in September 2007. Among the first mortgage companies employing computers to solicit prospective borrowers and hasten the loan application process, ...

, which was United States's leading wholesale lender, described a system in which they were pushed to falsify documents on bad Ameriquest Mortgages and then sell them to Wall Street banks eager to make fast profits. Such mortgage fraud may have been the cause of the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

.
Road to Ruin: Mortgage Fraud Scandal Brewing
' May 13, 2009 by

American News Project Nick Penniman is an American nonprofit executive and journalist who serves as the co-founder and CEO of Issue One, a nonprofit organization that seeks to defend and strengthen American democracy. Career Previously, Penniman was executive directo ...

hosted by

The Real News The Real News Network (TRNN) is a news organization based in Baltimore, Maryland, that covers both national and international news. It includes both for-profit arm and non-profit organizations. History TRNN was founded by documentary producer ...

Sponsorships

*In 2006, Ameriquest sponsored the "Ameriquest Dream Team" in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

. Drivers

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford Motor Company, Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career. From 1989 to 2009, Martin wo ...

(#6),

Greg Biffle Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969), nicknamed "the Biff", is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-1990s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former race ...

(#16),

Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and the current competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he raced part-time in the Superstar Racing Exper ...

(#17), and

Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards Jr. (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and a current analyst for ''NASCAR on Prime Video''. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No ...

(#60) all drove Ameriquest racecars throughout the season. In 2007, Ameriquest transferred this sponsorship to

NEXTEL Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

, sponsoring Biffle in the #16 car for most of the schedule. However, due to the continuing problems with the subprime loan industry, Ameriquest has announced that it will not sponsor the #16 past the 2007 season, and, judging by the end of the naming rights deal for the baseball park (see below), this deal could be terminated earlie

*In 2004, Argent commenced a sponsorship deal with IndyCar Series, IndyCar driver

Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver and model. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win ...

, but it did not follow her when she switched to Andretti-Green Racing for the 2007 season. *From 2004 to 2007, Ameriquest owned the naming rights to the home stadium of the Texas Rangers baseball team. During this time the park was called Ameriquest Field. In March 2007, in an undisclosed agreement between the two entities, Ameriquest relinquished those rights, and the stadium was renamed

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington Choctaw Stadium, formerly Globe Life Park, is a multi-purpose stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. The venue opened in April 1994 as a baseball stadium with the name The Ballpark in Arlington, serving as the home for the Texas Rangers ...

, just one word off from the ballpark's original name.

Political donations

In 2005, Ameriquest Capital and three of its subsidiaries comprised four of the 53 entities that each contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. Writes USA Today, "Inaugural fundraisers Dawn and Roland Arnall found a creative way to pump more than the $250,000 limit into the event. Their mortgage firm, Ameriquest Capital, contributed the maximum, as did three subsidiaries, for a total of $1 million. The company declined to comment on its political giving." Arnall's contributions to Republican Bush were a change of heart, and the result of Arnall's support for Bush's middle east policies post 9/11. Previously, Arnall was a long-time Democratic Party supporter and fundraiser. His wedding to Dawn Arnall was officiated by Democratic California Governor Gray Davis. Arnall was also an ardent supporter and fundraiser for Los Angeles Mayor Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa.

References

External links

Weekly Ameriquest Watch by Inner City Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acc Capital Holdings Mortgage lenders of the United States Companies based in Orange, California

Company reorganization

Sponsorships

Political donations

See also

References

External links