Nearly 14,000 New Yorkers are receiving payments totaling around $18 million in the settlement of a predatory lending case.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo say the money comes from a $325 million settlement reached with Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and its subsidiaries in January 2006.

New York was among the states that accused the nationwide lender of using illegal and predatory practices to encourage homeowners to refinance mortgages. Those practices included misrepresenting and failing to disclose loan terms and charging excessive loan origination fees.

Settlement checks were sent out to eligible New York consumers on Dec. 13 and 14.