This shit is why people eventually end up hanging from lamp posts.
Posted on 06/14/2008 4:23:41 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad said Saturday he is donating $10,500 to charity and refinancing his loan on an apartment building after reviewing documents showing he received special treatment from Countrywide Financial Corp.
Conrad said it appears that Countrywide waived 1 point on his mortgage for a Bethany Beach, Del., vacation home. He said he would donate the equivalent amount of money to Habitat for Humanity.
"Although I did not ask for or know that I was receiving a discount, and even though I was offered a competitive loan from another lender, I do not want to have received preferential treatment," the North Dakota Democrat said in a statement.
Conrad said it also appears he was given special treatment on a mortgage when he was financing the purchase of a Bismarck, N.D., apartment building from his brothers. He said he would refinance that loan with another lender.
Conrad, who is also a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said he reviewed Countrywide e-mails described to him by the media after it was reported that he and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, got preferential treatment on their mortgages.
Their involvement in a special program that awarded discounts and waived fees for "friends" of Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo was first reported by Conde Nast Portfolio magazine's Web site.
Conrad said Friday that he had placed a personal call to Mozilo in 2002 seeking a mortgage for the Delaware home. But he said Countrywide's rates were competitive with another offer he received.
"I called (Mozilo). I said, 'I'm buying this property. Would you be interested in the mortgage?' And he said, 'Yeah. Call these people and we'll take a look,'" Conrad said.
"I did not think for one moment — and no one ever suggested to me — that I was getting preferential treatment," Conrad said.
Dodd, one of four Senate Democrats who pursued his party's 2008 presidential nomination, has been a a leader of Congress' efforts to help homeowners caught in the subprime mortgage meltdown and once called Countrywide's practices "abusive." Dodd also says he wasn't aware he was getting a special deal.
The disclosures come just days after similar revelations about former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson prompted Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, to ax Johnson from his vice presidential vetting team.
Conrad said it was his friend Johnson who referred him to Mozilo, who reportedly instructed an employee to give Conrad a discount on his interest rate on a $1.07 million loan when he was refinancing the Delaware vacation home in 2004.
Countrywide also made an exception in lending Conrad $96,000 in 2004 to buy an eight-unit apartment building in Bismarck from his brothers. The company had a policy of only providing loans for buildings of four units or fewer.
"They said they frequently made exceptions, especially for good customers," Conrad said.
An internal e-mail from Mozilo, however, said the exception was "due to the fact that the borrower is a senator," according to the Portfolio report.
The magazine said other participants in the company's VIP program included former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and former U.N. ambassador and assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke.
In a statement Friday, Countrywide did not address questions about the VIP program, citing customer privacy.
Mozilo received compensation worth more than $22.1 million and cashed $121.5 million in stock options in 2007, while Countrywide posted a loss of over $700 million and saw its stock plummet 80 percent. The company agreed in January to be acquired by Bank of America Corp. for $4.1 billion in stock.
Countrywide has come under fire for its lending practices, including providing mortgages with low initial "teaser" rates that balloon higher than borrowers can afford.
In a statement Friday, Countrywide did not address questions about the VIP program, citing customer privacy.
absolves all sins!
Bull-freakin'-S@*t
“I didn’t know the gun was loaded, the sun was in my eyes, my tux was in the cleaners”.
Yeah that’s nice, but if you’re really serious, Kent, you won’t take the charitable deduction for it.
And this is how they suck you in and bind you....
Countrywide is another arm of the octopus known as Soros International, and one of the ways in which the shell corporations created by Soros shifts its funds around, much like Enron was doing it a few years ago. Only, Soros is better funded, and has a much more sinister agenda - they are the driving force behind much of the speculation in oil prices, which are driving up, in part, the cost of crude petroleum, and the international pressure on the dollar.
But even George Soros cannot continue to bleed indefinitely. So these little cracks in the facade are beginning to open up, and the wholly owned subsidiary of Soros International, the Democrat National Committee, had better be making good on this election, before everything goes bust.
And the dog ate my homework...
Democrats are really good at excuses.
It is like the shoplifter offering to pay for the merchandise.
This shit is why people eventually end up hanging from lamp posts.
“This Countrywide is not the Countrywide I used to know.” There, problem solved.
"Even though there's no controlling legal authority, I'm repaying all the money because there really should be a law about this kind of thing to prevent the innocent from being entrapped"
Got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but no punishment.
Monday, I’m calling my Senator (Dianne Feinstein) and asking if she can use her office to get me the “Senator Prerogative” rate on a new mortgage.
Do any of these sleazy Democrats have to prove that they actually have given any of their ill-gotten bribes to charity?
The Clintons said they did this several times, but to whom do they have to turn over the payments? Inquiring minds want to know.
And even if they do cough it up, that should not absolve them from charges.
ttt
I am waiting for Dodd to bring Angelo into a Banking Committee hearing and get him under oath.
I am a broker of over 30 years and taught RE law, finance, and econ at the college level. To make an fair conclusion, I’d have to see all the email communications. They certainly did not put PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT on a loan application or loan docs. It is possible that Conrad did not ask for any favors but was given a favor because of VIP status. Whatever Dodd says, however, I don’t believe for a minute.
And to think these clowns advertise themselves as the best and brightest.
Me thinks they would have a tough time finding their ass with both hands tied behind them.
Two very important points about this story:
1) The fact that Conrad is a Dem is buried. If he had been an R it would have been in the lead.
2) The story was broken by Conde Naste?! Says a lot about how intrepid the Big Media are in investigating Dems!
-Wm Tate,
http://www.atimeslikethis.us/
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