Glenn Reynolds notes that the Politico reports that Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, called for a wider investigation than the one ongoing into the burgeoning Countrywide preferential loan scandal. Politico notes that, “no other Republican leader jumped on Hensarling‚Äôs bandwagon Monday, and aides said they were reluctant to push forward with a probe because they didn‚Äôt know what it might reveal,” prompting Reynolds to write, “That’s because it’ll probably turn out to be more like the subprime sixty” (as opposed to the six figures currently implicated).
Sadly, personal financial disclosure forms do not require members to disclose their home mortgages, however, if they have real estate loans for other properties, they do have to list them. You can find those Countrywide loans as of the end of 2006 at OpenSecrets.org, right here. There are 13 loans listed under the liabilities section. No word, though, on how many of those loans are preferential, and again — there may be far more members whose home mortgages are with Countrywide Financial.
10 responses so far ↓
1 JD // Jun 19, 2008 at 2:28 pm
It must be nice to receive all these “perks” while in office. It’s our own fault. Less than 20% of eligible voters turned out in the Charleston County, SC primaries. Why not push the limits if your constituency does not give a flip.
2 Willys // Jun 19, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Congress… 535 reasons to NEVER vote for an incumbent.
3 Glenn // Jun 19, 2008 at 2:44 pm
While I’d be interested in knowing who the 13 are I’d be just as interested in knowing if any media biggies have “special” loans from Countrywide or any other lender.
4 roux // Jun 19, 2008 at 2:47 pm
It’s also possible that Countrywide ends up with their mortgage even though they were not the originator.
We borrowed money via BancOne Mortgage (now Chase) and ended up with Countrywide as our servicer.
Not that I’m cutting them any slack. Specially the FOA (friends of Angelo) loans.
5 seejay // Jun 19, 2008 at 2:58 pm
“Loans” that aren’t to be paid-back are a common tool of bribery and other “under the table” transactions.
This should be investigated. And a part of that investigation should focus on these Congressman’s actual payment history. Not the record of received payments from Countrywide, but the record of ACTUAL payments made over the years on these mortgages!
I believe we could find that if, in fact, any payments were made on them, they might have been made by someone OTHER than the congressman!
It’s a time-honored way of hiding cash!
6 James Balmer // Jun 19, 2008 at 4:14 pm
If you didn’t get preferential treatment from the original lender then you are not one of the “subprime 60″
7 Fred the Fourth // Jun 19, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Roux: how amusing. My mortgage originated with Countrywide and is now serviced by Chase.
8 howardl // Jun 19, 2008 at 9:02 pm
If you follow the 13 links, you find that Chris Dodd is not among them. So he’s a member of the subprime 6, but not of the subprime 13??
9 Bill Allison // Jun 19, 2008 at 9:50 pm
howardl — you’ve identified one of the weaknesses of the financial disclosure system. It’s dependent on members of Congress filling out the forms. Seriously, though, Dodd wouldn’t have to list any property that was a residence. That includes his first home, a second home, a vacation bungalow in the South Seas — as long as the property is a residence and not rented out (or otherwise producing income) it’s exempt from personal financial disclosure.
As for preferential treatment — we don’t know enough yet to figure out who, if anyone, other than the six so far named (and really, only two of the six are members of Congress) got any sort of preferential treatment.
The headline, by the way, wasn’t intended to be all that serious. I just wanted to point the way to some online data resources–particularly CRP’s personal financial disclosure database. It’s really cool to be able to search for the word “Countrywide” and find every member of Congress who’s disclosed a loan or an investment in the company.
10 Paul M Hupf // Jun 20, 2008 at 12:10 am
I have a great idea (unfortunately not original); if anyone wants to be President, let him (her) run against Congress.
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