Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad, 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 were part of Countrywide Financial's "V.I.P." program in 2003 and 2004, which waived points, lender fees and company borrowing rules. "Friends of Angelo," as they were called internally, were given more desirable deals than those available to non-influential borrowers.
According to Portfolio Countrywide would waive at least half a point and eliminate fees amounting to hundreds of dollars for underwriting, processing and document preparation. In the event that interest rates fell while a Friend of Angelo's loan was pending, the mortgage lender provided a "float down" the lower rate, on the house, without the usual half point charge. Additionally, some FOA's buying or refinancing investment properties were given a lower interest rate assigned to primary residences. Dodd received two loans in 2003 through the special needs program, borrowing $506,000 and $275,042 to refinance homes in Washington and East Haddam, Connecticut. $2,000 and $700 were waived on the loans, respectively. Conrad received a $10,7000 discount on a $1.07 million loan used to refinance his vacation home in Delaware. Regarding the refinancing of an 8-unit apartment building in Bismarck, North Dakota, which violated Countrywide's policy of not giving loans for larger buildings, Mozilo apparently told a staffer to "make an exception due to the fact that the borrower is a senator."
Clearly, this is an outrage. An outrage that Ed McMahon, who's probably going to be homeless after those snakes at Countrywide filed a default notice on his ass for falling a mere $600,000 behind on his $4.8 million mortgage, was not included in this elite group of people. Who, if not Ed McMahon, can truly be considered a Friend o' Orange? Does Moz have every episode of Dodd's seminal television show on VHS? No. Has Moz watched three episodes of Dodd's said television show each weeknight from 8-11, since it went off the air? No. Did Moz go carnival-freak crazy on his housekeeper's ass, after she accidentally placed tapes of said episodes of Dodd's show too close to the window on a sunny day, threatening their integrity? No. Is Moz's ringtone a recording of Conrad going "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!"? No. Did Moz wait in his living room each and every Sunday, without fail, between the year's of '93 and '98, in the hopes that Shalala would show up bearing a gigantic check for $10,000? NO!!! (And yes.)
Countrywide's Many 'Friends' [Portfolio]
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 2:30PM
Homerun -- and on a Friday afternoon.
You're the best, Bess!
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 2:39PM
Kozlowski's in the can (Tyco) and there is room for Mozilo. Think of the lives he has ruined.
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 2:41PM
Don't bring North Dakota into this mess. I'm telling you. Don't do it. North Dakota is the last refuge of honesty in the USA. Albeit most of it's frozen during a good part of the year.
~Luld Vensterforgnervauld
North Dakota Dept. of Honesty
Bismarck, ND
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 2:43PM
All Democrat VIP's. Where's obama's name? Rev Wright too. What about that $1.2m pad fo' da rev?
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 2:45PM
Pretty amazing.
I liked the lawyer's comment: It's “common knowledge” that individuals of high income and high net worth receive lower rates than other borrowers. “We don’t see anything out of the ordinary here.”
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 2:47PM
@2:43....Because he's holding off on the Repube's actions with the Moz. Give it a bit.
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 2:52PM
How did Morrissey become involved in all this?
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 2:57PM
WTF is Conrad doing in Delaware? Nobody goes there. Hey TGFD, WTF?
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 2:58PM
Al Jackson's a Republican, 2:43
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 3:06PM
@2:57
Think beaches, dude. Lots of expensive real estate in Sussex County. Lots of DC types all summer long.
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 3:15PM
What is there to be upset about? If you have connections, you get the deals. It happens everywhere in the world.
Posted by Anal_yst , Jun 13, 2008 3:21PM
Oooooo rehobethhh beachhhh faaaabbbbuuuuloussss
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 4:29PM
@3:21 Yeah,yeah....Now I see why you have the "handle", (Did he say "handle"), that you have......
Posted by Anal_yst , Jun 13, 2008 5:14PM
@ 4:29
Was dragged there on the way back from Outer banks when I was like 11 with the 'rents. Even then it was quite clear that there was something funny going on there, I just didn't quite understand what at the time...
(not that there's anything wrong with it, I mean)
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 5:55PM
Angelo, George Hamilton called... he wants his tan back.
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 6:32PM
I worked at Countrywide for almost a decade. During that time I heard the term "friend of Angelo" repeatedly...he had many friends when times were good! I remember in particular there was a Realtor that was the only person in the San Fernando Valley (a large suburban area of Los Angeles)who could receive foreclosure listings. I believe she was somehow related to Angelo. So, although it's a publicly held company, Angelo still treated it as his own private domain whenever he could. Assisting friends and family under the radar was common practice then, and very likely still to this day. What will Angelo and his minions do after Countrywide is no more? Poor Angelo.
Posted by guest , Jun 13, 2008 6:37PM
I don't know if anyone of you have ever met Angelo Mozillo in person. He's thin and kind of frail but with an enormous head. He resembles a Pez dispenser. I'm not kidding either. His wide white starched shirt collars, from an age long gone, act like a neck brace. When he's angry he looks at you with that huge head and honestly, you feel like he's going to bite you. In person, he really is a funny looking creature.
Posted by JimBob , Jun 13, 2008 8:14PM
They should use Angelo's skin to cover the heat tiles on the shuttle. Then re-entry would be cinch.
Posted by cauxion , Jun 14, 2008 8:45AM
Yeah, what else is new? This shouldn't be a shock to anyone. Whether you think it is right or wrong, it's common practice...
Posted by GustavoP , Jan 29, 2009 1:10AM
Tax issues and the state of the economy has the starting role in this coming months, The state legislature is weighing House Bill 1421, which would first establish that fees charged on faxless payday loans couldn’t be legally deemed interest. The bill would also cap the number of renewals and the amount of money that can be lent by payday loan outlets. Another provision of the bill makes waiting a few days between payday loans mandatory. HB 1421 contains a lot of provisions that would prove beneficial for both the lenders and the consumers of payday loans. To read more about HB 1421 and payday loans, check this article at http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/01/28/payday-loans-north-dakota/