BOSTON—Monday, May 15, 2006—Deval
Patrick, saying “the company is on the right path now” to prevent future
lending missteps, today said he would leave the board of Ameriquest’s parent
company, ACC Capital Holdings, by July 1st.
Patrick said he was pleased with
the company’s progress in implementing new procedures necessary to prevent
future abuses. A special monitor, Michael Moore, the former
Attorney General of Mississippi, is now overseeing compliance with the
agreement reached among attorneys general and the company.
In addition, Patrick worked with
company officials over the past two weeks to bring a special pilot program to
Massachusetts that will help overextended borrowers avoid home foreclosures.
Mayor Thomas Menino last Tuesday announced the start of discussions concerning
that program in Boston.
“I said all along I would stay on
the board until I was satisfied that reforms to correct past practices and
prevent future missteps were in place and underway. That is now the
case. Ameriquest is on a path to be a better, more responsible company
now. If they keep at it, they will be a model for the industry,” Patrick
said. “I am proud of my role in helping to set a better course.”
“I understood from the outset that
my work with Ameriquest would make some people uncomfortable.
Progressives are sometimes uncomfortable in principle with people who work for
companies. Political rivals try to make it an issue. But I still
believe that lasting reform requires the effort of good people both outside and
inside. Whether at Texaco, Coca-Cola or Ameriquest, I have never left my
conscience at the door. “
“Unfortunately,
that spirit is largely missing from our current political culture. Many
of our political leaders prefer to concentrate on getting and keeping office
rather than performing the hard work of devising real solutions to our most
difficult challenges. That's why we need a change,” Patrick added.
Patrick personally worked with
Ameriquest to bring credit counseling and foreclosure avoidance programs to
Massachusetts that Ameriquest has used successfully elsewhere. He also
helped to arrange placement opportunities with a competing financial services
company for all Ameriquest employees who were recently laid off in
Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
“Leadership
is more than grand announcements. It's more than press conferences and
photo ops. Sometimes leadership is the slow, steady, unglamorous work of
making reform real,” Patrick said.