Ameriquest a brown sugar daddy?

In hindsight, maybe it was only rock 'n' roll after all.

In November of 2005, more than a dozen state lawmakers had a gas at the Rolling Stones concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Tickets went to a handful of moderate Republicans, but the vast majority were doled out to Democrats, many of them in leadership.

The freebies caused a stir when they were disclosed (by most lawmakers) two months later, not just because so few Las Vegans had the satisfaction of being able to afford seeing Mick and Co., but because the lawmakers were there on the dime of Ameriquest, a mortgage broker.

It didn't help matters that the public disclosure of the gift came as Ameriquest agreed to pay $325 million to settle a dispute.

Seems Ameriquest wasn't getting any sympathy from state attorneys general for charging excessive interest rates to low-income homebuyers. In Nevada, authorities said they believed the company would have to pay $1.7 million to settle local cases.

Tickets for the concert ran between $150 and $468 and many state legislators reported the two-ducat comp as worth anywhere from $500 to 800.

Still, the perception was that Ameriquest wouldn't be gathering any moss as it rolled ahead in the lucrative subprime mortgage business.

After all, the state's former attorney general, Frankie Sue Del Papa, had worked with Ameriquest and was responsible for doling out the tickets.

Jumpin' Jack Flash forward to today and Ameriquest is facing a potential class-action suit from borrowers nationwide who believe they got a raw deal from one of the nation's top lenders. Company chairman Roland Arnall gave millions to President Bush over the years and was rewarded with an ambassadorship to the Netherlands.

But the local politicians who had become temporary poster children for ethics reform actually worked against Ameriquest this past legislative session.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, was a prime sponsor of a bill requiring the Commission of Financial Institutions, in concert with the Commission on Mortgage Lending, to craft new regulations dealing with subprime mortgage lenders.

Parks hadn't been one of those rocking out in 2005. One of the other four prime sponsors, however, had.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley put her name on two major pieces of legislation this year trying to rein in what she considers mortgage fraud.

The Las Vegas Democrat was the rare lawmaker who actually wrote a check to cover $676 worth of Stones tickets shortly before she disclosed receiving the gift.

"At the time people took those tickets, we had no idea they were from Ameriquest," Buckley said. "Frankie Sue Del Papa called up and said, 'Hey, do you want to go see the Rolling Stones?' "

Buckley also was a prime sponsor of Assembly Bill 440, which makes more sweeping changes to mortgage lending in Nevada.

Joining her as chief sponsors were Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, who did go to the Stones show, and Democrat Marcus Conklin, who didn't.

"As we begin to get a better picture of what's going on here in the housing market, these are really important reforms," Buckley said.

Nevada leads the nation in the number of home foreclosures and cottage industries have sprung up to prey on those trying to keep their homes.

"The amount of fraud we've seen is unbelievable," she added.

The bill, which passed unanimously and has been signed by the governor, creates a crime of mortgage fraud and tightens the description of what constitutes such a crime. It's a felony, by the way.

The new law also creates descriptions for what a foreclosure consultant or foreclosure buyer can legally do.

The only person who didn't vote on this measure in the Assembly was Morse Arberry Jr., chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. But the Las Vegas Democrat didn't have an ethical epiphany about the $800 worth of Stones tickets he took a few years back.

He abstained because he's in the mortgage business and the measure will impact his company.

Since subprime mortgages are estimated to make up one-fifth of the total of all mortgages issued in 2006, it's likely Arberry has employed some creative financing for his clients, too.

Nowadays more than two-thirds of all mortgages are handled through mortgage brokers, some of whom make their living by steering clients to higher interest rates.

Moving forward AB440 will be a good measure to protect those who've suffered foreclosure from the double indignity of fraud while trying to get their house back. It also should limit the creativity of lenders and prevent another housing market bust.

But like many things the Legislature does, AB440 is reactionary. We didn't get to be No. 1 in foreclosures thanks to a strict regulatory environment here. We didn't get there because of legislative oversight.

Now that we are here, though, politicians have worked to make sure it doesn't get any worse. At the end of the day, the law is more an emotional rescue than any physical assistance to those who've lost their homes.

All the dreams they held so close, seemed to all go up in smoke. And just like Jagger pines to Angie, the Legislature seems to be telling us: "Hey, they can't say we never tried."

Erin Neff's column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.