Report | Countrywide won influence with discounts
WASHINGTON (AP) — The former Countrywide Financial Corp., whose subprime loans helped start the nation’s foreclosure crisis, made hundreds of discount loans to buy influence with members of Congress, congressional staff, top government officials and executives of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, according to a House report.
The report, obtained by The Associated Press, said the discounts – from January 1996 to June 2008 – were not only aimed at gaining influence for the company but to help Fannie Mae. Countrywide’s business depended largely on Fannie, which at the time was trying to fend off more government regulation but eventually had to come under government control.
Fannie Mae was responsible for purchasing a large volume of Countrywide’s subprime mortgages. Countrywide was taken over by Bank of America in January 2008, relieving the financial services industry and regulators from the messy task of cleaning up the bankruptcy of a company that was servicing 9 million U.S. home loans worth $1.5 trillion at a time when the nation faced a widening credit crisis, massive foreclosures and an economic downturn.
Among those who received loan discounts from Countrywide, the report said, were:
-Former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
-Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D.
-Mary Jane Collipriest, who was communications director for former Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, then a member of the Banking Committee. The report said Dodd referred Collipriest to Countrywide’s VIP unit. Dodd, when commenting on his own loans, has said he was unaware of the discount program.
-Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
-Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., former chairman of the Oversight Committee. Towns issued the first subpoena to Bank of America for Countrywide documents, and current Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., subpoenaed more documents. The committee said that in responding to the Towns subpoena, Bank of America left out documents related to Towns’ loan.
-Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif.
-Top staff members of the House Financial Services Committee.
-A staff member of Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, a member of the Financial Services Committee.
-Former Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif.
-Former Housing and Urban Development Secretaries Alphonso Jackson and Henry Cisneros; and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. The VIP unit processed Cisneros’ loan after he joined Fannie’s board of directors.
Full article here…
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Why is it no one remembers Senator Diane Feinstein took $25 billion of the TARP money to give her husband to buy up the foreclosures, that these Congress and Senate members all knew was happening.
Just for the record Angelo and his old mafia employees are operating Countrywide with a new store front know as “Penny Mac”. Also you will find them listed with “Keep Your Home California” as one of the lenders. I ask myself which Wolf is guarding the hen house? The government or the state agencies? So we should soon be hearing that Bank America will be dumping their bad loans with Penny Mac/Countrywide to clear their books.
I work very closely with an x-Banker who worked for CountryWide. His insider story about CountryWide is beyond belief. When he quit the Banking profession after 9 years working as a Loan Officer over seeing 26 states, underwriting and almost 2 years in the Loss Mitigation/Foreclosure Department he took that insider information and has been successfully helping struggling homeowners for over 14 years. He has the BBB A+ rating and many client testimonials to back up his success.
I personally talked with several of his clients and I did a due-dillegence on this man and he is who he says he is and has done what he said he’s done.
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David Robert
…and all this will have absolutely no consequences!