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Ameriquest's Growth Intact, Market Forces Could Be Real Test
Orange-based Ameriquest Capital Corp. lets its money do the talking.
The holding company for a handful of subprime mortgage businesses has invested heavily in advertising, including two Super Bowl commercials.
It's a big sponsor of Major League Baseball, with its name on the stadium home of the Texas Rangers and its golden bell logo dotted throughout Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
The company, which makes home loans to those with imperfect credit and, lately, those with good credit, even has its own blimp.
But beyond marketing, privately held Ameriquest has opted to focus on growing the company instead of saying much publicly.
Adam Bass, senior executive vice president and a confidant of politically connected owner Roland Arnall, is the only one at the company who does interviews, and not many at that.
Now reporters are knocking on Ameriquest's door with some touchy questions.
It all started in February with a Los Angeles Times story. The paper quoted former workers who said Ameriquest runs "boiler room" offices where people stray from ethics in the quest for big salaries.
The story since has been echoed in other papers. Ameriquest has been hit with lawsuits on behalf of consumers and faces scrutiny from several state attorneys general.
In March, Ameriquest agreed to pay up to $50 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by borrowers in California and three other states.
Lawsuits and government probes aren't all that shocking in the politically sensitive subprime lending business. But all the attention is new for Ameriquest, which quietly has grown to be the nation's largest subprime lender.
The company's approach to the attention has been to respond selectively. It hasn't directly...