posted on Jun, 28 2008 @ 08:36 PM
reply to post by LateApexer313
I know quite a bit about them because I have been following AMC and Arnall for several years now.
I was actually hired by Ameriquest in 2003, I went to corporate training down in Ft. Lauderdale for two weeks. That was the point in time when I first
realized what I had gotten myself into.
I worked there for a grand total of two months before quitting. The corporate environment and the level of competition was second to none. Managers
basically forced loan officers to max out fees and rates on home loans for people with bad credit. I remember the second day I was there, my manager
telling everyone to "Check your hearts at the door....we aren't saving the manatee here"...basically saying forget your sympathy for the
borrower...we are here to make money.
Around a month and a half after I started working there two things happened. I saw a young lady who was hired the same time I was get fired for asking
the area manager why we had to charge so much on each loan. She was toast a day later. The second thing that happened I will never forget, I went
downstairs in my office building to get a snack and I saw another LO standing there with a document up against the Coke machine, tracing borrowers
signatures. That was when I knew I needed to go.
I put in my notice the next day, and was gone to a different company within a week. I never told the management what happened or why I was leaving,
mostly because I knew that they were in on it. One of my good friends remained with the company and actually ended up being a whistle blower against
AMC, and his testimony along with other LO's was a big reason why they were shut down. Being that I knew how things at AMC operated and what a
crooked snake pit it was, I continued to follow them in the news and on the web because I knew sooner or later that house of cards would collapse.
Roland Arnall not only knew what was going on, but encouraged it. They used high pressure tactics and threats to convince employees to write bad
loans. They used bait and switch and a host of other tactics to strong arm borrowers into signing ARM's and other bad loans. I never regretted
leaving when I did and I never looked back. From there I went to work for a small broker and I learned how to do things the right way, and I was
thankful that I didn't stay at AMC. People made a LOT of money there. My former area manager was 25 years old and a complete imbecile and at one
point he was making between $200k-$300K a month.
Greed will make people do all sorts of bad things, and when you are young making that kind of money in a crazy, drug and party driven environment like
that you can easily lose perspective. I saw a lot of good people turn very ugly very quickly.
And yes...I believe Arnall is still alive. When you are one of the wealthiest men in America you can do just about anything, including fake your own
death.