Eligible California customers who took out loans with Ameriquest Mortgage Co. from 1999 to 2005 will soon be receiving forms to claim a share of $51 million the company has agreed to pay to settle accusations of predatory lending practices, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The forms, which began being mailed Thursday by the state attorney general's office, will go to an estimated 78,000 households that had mortgages with Orange-based Ameriquest.

Customers eligible for restitution were identified by an administrator hired by the states involved in the national settlement. They were determined to be customers who were improperly charged the highest rates for their loans.

Neither Ameriquest nor the attorney general's office was able to say what percentage of Ameriquest customers during the six-year time frame was eligible to receive forms.

The settlement grows out of a 2006 suit in which Ameriquest agreed to pay $325 million to settle allegations by 49 states that from 1999 to 2005 it engaged in unlawful mortgage lending practices. These included misrepresented loan terms, hidden or excessive fees, inflated appraisals and fabricated borrower income statements.

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