Ameriquest was one of the United States' largest sub-primemortgage lender until it was shut down in September 2007. Its loan origination practices were at the heart of the Financial crisis of 2007–2010. Ameriquest promoted the stated income loan, which allowed potential borrowers to state their income without any process of verification. Many of these stated income loans were the catalyst to the ultimate failure of Ameriquest itself, and a key factor in the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.