Arizona Attorney General Joins National Task Force Investigating Subprime Lending

Chrissie Cole

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Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General, has joined forces with a group of other state prosecutors to form a national task force to investigate subprime-lending practices.

Goddard compared the newly created task force to the one started a few years ago by state attorneys general that investigated predatory lending. That effort led to a $325 million settlement with subprime lender Ameriquest.

At the end of September, over a dozen state attorney generals will be meeting in Chicago with top subprime lenders and servicers to discuss loan fallouts.

A slowdown in the mortgage market was caused by defaults on risky subprime loans, according to analysts. Homeowners are unable to keep up with rising payments which have resulted in foreclosures nationally. Arizona is second to Nevada for the number of homeowners with subprime loans.

More than 14,000 Arizonans who refinanced their mortgages with Ameriquest were eligible for a share in more than $5 million set aside for the state as part of the settlement.

For more information, please visit our section on Ameriquest Mortgage Co..