Ameriquest Settlement What's Next

	Information on Receiving Restitution
	Listen to Chuck Cross, Director of Consumer Services at DFI, talk about receiving restitution.

The Ameriquest complaint and consent judgment was officially filed in the Superior Court of Washington on March 21, 2006. Restitution to consumers will be determined by DFI and the Attorney General based upon calculations of loan data reflecting how much a consumer may have been harmed in comparison to other consumers at both the national and state level. In general, the data to be reviewed will reflect how much a borrower paid for their loan in relation to other borrowers, and we may consider other factors yet to be determined.

There is nothing for you to do at this time. DFI is already in possession of the information related to your loan. One of the first phases of this settlement will be the selection of an Administrator to handle the distribution of restitution to all consumers nationwide. This process is expected to take up to 90 days. Once the Administrator has been selected, qualified borrowers will be notified of the claims process.

Restitution funds will be delivered to the Administrator in 90 day installments over the next year. Disbursement of restitution cannot begin until all funds have been received. Whether incremental payouts to certain borrower classes will begin prior to receipt of all funds by the Administrator has yet to be determined by the settling states.

Qualified borrowers need to have only taken out a loan between 1999 and 2005 to be considered in this settlement. Please note that there are as many as 725,000 borrowers nationwide and 13,500 borrowers statewide. Not every borrower will be considered to have been harmed. So that we may allocate the most benefit to those actually harmed, those borrowers whose loan costs do not reflect "harm" in our determination will not receive restitution.

Additional Information about the Ameriquest Settlement

1. There will be $6 to $8 million available to Washington consumers. For details, see the complaint and consent judgment filed March 21, 2006.
   
   
2. The settlement covers Ameriquest Mortgage Company, Town & Country Credit Corporation, and AMC Mortgage Services, Inc. (formerly known as Bedford Home Loans). You should check your note and deed of trust to determine if your loan was made by one of these companies.
   
   
3. The only information we need from you is contact information that may have changed since the date of the loan. To update your information please call us at 360-902-8703 or email us at dcs@dfi.wa.gov.
   
   
4. We will not be able to conduct an individual review of your paperwork. Our review will be performed on electronic loan information provided to us by Ameriquest. Unless specifically requested, do not send any information to DFI.
   
   
5. For specific information on prepayment penalties, you should refer to that section of the Injunctive Relief in the Final Settlement Agreement (PDF) (page 12, letter "e") available on our website.
   
   
6. You do not have to currently have a loan with Ameriquest in order to benefit from the settlement. The requirement is that you took out a loan with Ameriquest in the years 1999 through 2005. Even if you have gone through foreclosure and lost your home, you are still eligible for restitution.
   
   
7. If you are currently facing foreclosure, you should check with an attorney for your specific rights.
   
   
8. You will not be required to participate in the settlement. However, you cannot pursue a separate remedy and participate in this settlement too.

[Top]