Ambassador Nominee's Company Is Scrutinized

[Rose Siding]

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His fortune, an estimated $2 billion, was built refinancing homes for people unable to get traditional bank loans because of heavy debt, blemished credit or other issues. Ameriquest Mortgage Co., the company he founded more than 25 years ago, prides itself on helping these borrowers "achieve their homeownership dreams and meet their financial goals."

This same company, however, has been accused of a wide range of violations by federal and state authorities, community groups, angry customers and even former employees — including allegations that Ameriquest runs "boiler rooms" of loan agents who sock borrowers with hidden fees and higher-than-promised interest rates.
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Arnall, 66, declined repeated requests for interviews. Despite his prominence in the lending industry — not to mention in politics and philanthropy — he avoids the media and has rarely been interviewed. Even after his recent nomination for the ambassadorship, neither Ameriquest nor the White House would release a photograph of Arnall.
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"If you know him personally, you would never think the company would be engaged in the kind of practices is promoting," said Nativo Lopez, chairman of the Mexican American Political Assn., who has met with Arnall several times. "His companies have targeted poor people and minorities to fleece them, under the pretext that they are people with no credit, or poor credit, or bad credit."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fi-arnall7aug07,1,4224514.story?coll=la-headlines-nation