The story
Founded by Roland Arnall in 1979.1
Ameriquest was founded in 1979 by Roland Arnall, in Orange County, California, as a savings and loan association, or thrift, called Long Beach Savings & Loan. After moving to Long Beach, California and being converted to a pure mortgage lender in 1994, the company was renamed Long Beach Mortgage Co. In 1997, the department that funded loans made by independent brokers was spun off into a publicly traded company that was ultimately purchased by Washington Mutual in 1999.
Long Beach Savings & Loan was subsequently reorganized into three divisions under the auspices of ACC Capital Holdings, a private conglomerate owned entirely by Arnall: Ameriquest Mortgage Company (retail banking), Argent Mortgage (wholesale banking), and AMC Mortgage Services (loan servicing).
In 2004 alone, Ameriquest was estimated to have originated over $50 billion in new subprime mortgages.
On September 1, 2007, Citigroup completed its acquisition of Argent Mortgage and AMC Mortgage Services, shutting down Ameriquest Mortgage.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ameriquest Mortgage, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4