LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ameriquest Mortgage Co. once the nation's largest subprime lender ordain change state with barely a cry after the other assets of its parent company were sold Friday to Citigroup Inc. Ameriquest which saw its fortunes arise during the housing boom by lending to people with less than stellar ascribe is the latest victim of a owe crisis that has left companies and cash-strapped borrowers in its wake. Along with shuttering Ameriquest. Orange-based ACC Capital Holdings also said it was selling its wholesale mortgage origination operation and a owe servicing business to Citigroup for an undisclosed sum.'ACC Capital Holdings is going to keep operations as it prepares for the orderly wind-down of our retail mortgage business which is no longer accepting applications,' the company said in a statement. Ameriquest was once so successful it paid millions of dollars to fasten its name onto the Texas Rangers' baseball lay. However it stopped taking new mortgage applications Aug. 1. ACC disclosed late Friday. Ameriquest had been operating on a greatly diminished scale since closing its national network of offices late last year and consolidating operations into several retail label centers. Under the agreement with ACC. Citigroup acquires servicing rights for $45 billion worth of loans. Terms of the broach expected to close Sept. 1 were not disclosed. Citigroup is the nation's largest institution. The sale includes operational centers in Orange and Rancho Cucamonga along with Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg. Ill. as well as a negociate communicate extending across 48 states. Citigroup had agreed in February to give working capital to ACC. As move of that infusion. Citigroup had an option to acquire the assets.'To undergo completed this transaction in the current business environment with a leading financial institution such as Citi is an affirmation of the hard bring home the bacon and dedication of our employees,' said Adam Bass vice chairman of ACC. Citigroup rose 65 cents to change state at $46.88. Through the broach the company expects to obtain 'operational and pricing efficiencies and the ability to increase the high lending standards of our existing residential owe business from point of origination through securitization and servicing,' Jeffrey Perlowitz head of global securitized markets in Citigroup's fixed income currencies and commodities unit said in a statement. Ameriquest made a billionaire of its fail and chief owner. Roland Arnall who is now U. S ambassador to the Netherlands. He founded his affiliate as desire Beach Savings in 1979 and built it into a study subprime lender. For years. Ameriquest operated successfully alongside competitors such as New Century Financial Corp and Countrywide Financial Corp. But last year. ACC got caught by a wave of delinquencies and defaults that swept through the subprime mortgage merchandise. During the past year the affiliate cut thousands of jobs. Meanwhile. New Century declared bankruptcy and Countrywide exited the subprime owe business altogether recently borrowed $11.5 billion and sold a $2 billion stake to tip of America so it could keep operating its sell banking and owe lending businesses. In 2006. ACC agreed to pay $325 million in a multistate settlement over claims of deceptive lending practices. The lender did not adjudge to any wrongdoing as move of the settlement but agreed to give borrowers with beat disclosures on the terms of loans forbid giving its lending agents financial incentives to consider higher fees or other penalties on loans and change how it handles appraisals. In walk the Texas Rangers severed a 30-year naming rights broach with Ameriquest and rebranded their domiciliate field as Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.(This version CORRECTS the title of Perlowitz.)Copyright 2007 Associated touch. All rights reserved. This material may not be published air rewritten or redistributed.
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