Ameriquest’s Parent Firm Plans Layoffs

The corporate parent of Orange-based Ameriquest Mortgage Co. said Thursday that it would lay off 10% of its nationwide workforce -- about 1,500 employees -- as the long-running housing boom and demand for home loans cooled off.

“The mortgage industry is entering a more challenging phase of rising interest rates,” ACC Capital Holdings Corp. said in a statement. “In cyclical industries such as mortgage lending, periodic workforce reductions are not uncommon.”

The company said it would provide transition pay and benefits to laid-off workers.

After benefiting for years from a booming housing market, mortgage lenders face an industrywide slowdown as a rise in interest rates has damped demand for refinancings and new loans.

The Mortgage Bankers Assn. on Wednesday said its market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, slipped last week to 657.6. It is down 13.7% from a year ago.

ACC said its subsidiaries employed about 15,000 workers nationwide. The announced job cuts will not affect its Argent Mortgage and Long Beach Acceptance Corp. units.

-- Jesus Sanchez