Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Lender Lobbying Blitz Abetted Mortgage Mess
Wall Street Journal ^ | 31 Dec 2007 | GLENN R. SIMPSON

Posted on 12/30/2007 9:45:31 PM PST by VxH

During the housing boom, the subprime industry succeeded at more than just writing mortgages. It also shot down efforts by some states to curtail risky lending to borrowers with spotty credit.

Ameriquest Mortgage Co., until recently one of the nation's largest subprime lenders, was at the center of those battles. Working with a husband-and-wife team of Washington lobbyists, it handed out more than $20 million in political donations and played a big role in persuading legislators in New Jersey and Georgia to relax tough new laws. Those victories, in turn, helped blunt efforts by other states to crack down on reckless lending, critics of the industry contend.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: ameriquest; fraud; mortgage; rolandarnall; subprime
 
 
Resignation?
 
 

1 posted on 12/30/2007 9:45:33 PM PST by VxH
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: VxH

>>it handed out more than $20 million in political donations and played a big role in persuading legislators in New Jersey and Georgia to relax tough new laws.<<

Politicians for Sale


2 posted on 12/30/2007 10:02:26 PM PST by B4Ranch (( "Freedom is not free, but don't worry the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share." ))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: VxH

They dug their own graves then.


3 posted on 12/30/2007 10:07:28 PM PST by Vince Ferrer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: VxH

who is he? am I supposed to know? I haven’t seen his picture in the Mortgage Bankers Daily Newsletter.


4 posted on 12/30/2007 11:06:31 PM PST by japaneseghost (()
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: japaneseghost
[who is he? am I supposed to know? I haven’t seen his picture in the Mortgage Bankers Daily Newsletter.]
 
He is The Godfather of Subprime - Roland Arnall

5 posted on 12/31/2007 7:51:17 AM PST by VxH (One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and Three if by Wire Transfer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: japaneseghost
[Working with a husband-and-wife team of Washington lobbyists,]
 
 
"Godfather" Roland and Dawn Arnall

6 posted on 12/31/2007 8:46:07 AM PST by VxH (One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and Three if by Wire Transfer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Vince Ferrer
[They dug their own graves then.]
 
Problem is they turned the world's economic infrastructure into stone in doing so.
 
The liquidity crisis is a crisis of confidence.   Institutions currently won't lend to each other because of the crisis of TRUST created by the activities of Arnall and his imitators.   
 
The only way to restore confidence is to use existing fraud and racketeering laws to purge the system of those who have proven they can not be trusted.   Get the wolves out of the barnyard.
 
 
 
 

7 posted on 12/31/2007 8:55:35 AM PST by VxH (One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and Three if by Wire Transfer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: B4Ranch

[>>it handed out more than $20 million in political donations and played a big role in persuading legislators in New Jersey and Georgia to relax tough new laws.<<

Politicians for Sale]

Bribery.   You gotta wonder how much more was passed under the table... to regulators, LEOs, others...

Arnall certainly has a Midas touch; except everything he's touched has turned to worthless fool's gold.  GW should hang a big lump of it around the Arnall's neck and make them swim back from the Netherlands.


8 posted on 12/31/2007 9:09:46 AM PST by VxH (One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and Three if by Wire Transfer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: japaneseghost

[I haven’t seen his picture in the Mortgage Bankers Daily Newsletter]


9 posted on 12/31/2007 9:35:24 AM PST by VxH (One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and Three if by Wire Transfer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: ex-Texan; Coleus; LonePalm; frithguild; Cagey; pandoraou812; Tired of Taxes

>>>Working with a husband-and-wife team of Washington lobbyists, it handed out more than $20 million in political donations and played a big role in persuading legislators in New Jersey and Georgia to relax tough new laws. Those victories, in turn, helped blunt efforts by other states to crack down on reckless lending, critics of the industry contend.<<<<

>>>>In June 2004, New Jersey’s Assembly and Senate unanimously passed bills that rolled back parts of the earlier law, including the tangible-net-benefit rule. Mr. Bass, the Ameriquest lawyer, announced that the company would “be offering a full range of loans in New Jersey.” Thousands of New Jersey homeowners subsequently refinanced existing mortgages or took out new loans with Ameriquest before the subprime market tanked. Many of those loans are now in foreclosure.<<<<

Much more at link:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119906606162358773-dS0qdqo9bQaGuByo9gfRP5DAkz8_20081230.html?mod=rss_free


10 posted on 01/02/2008 6:21:04 AM PST by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: VxH

I and probably most people received mailings advertizing sub-prime loans, and you could tell they were a sham right away; the super-low rate was only for a brief period of time, and then would go way up. Also, the Truth In Lending Act would require lenders to spell out the risks involved. I’m surprised, then, that so many people took on these crazy loans.


11 posted on 02/21/2008 12:53:54 PM PST by Steve_Seattle ("Above all, shake your bum at Burton.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: VxH

I don’t understand the greed of these people. They’ve got 20 million bucks to hand out? I’d retire with 20 million or much less.

It reminds me of the S&L crisis. One of the owners in Dallas said, “Whoever has the most toys, wins.”


12 posted on 09/26/2008 4:07:32 PM PDT by Terry Mross
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Steve_Seattle

They were told they could refinance after a year. And there were told the value on the home would go up enough in appraised value that it could be refinanced and they could include the closing costs. And a lot of people did just that. A lot of people refinanced and took the equity in cash. Eventually when it came time to refinance the value wasn’t there.

But,they weren’t told not to go buy a boat that would screw up their ratios!


13 posted on 09/26/2008 4:13:39 PM PDT by Terry Mross
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Terry Mross

>>It reminds me of the S&L crisis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz1b__MdtHY


14 posted on 05/23/2009 10:58:26 AM PDT by LomanBill (Animals! The DemocRats blew up the windmill with an Acorn!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson