HousingPANIC URGENT Quote of the Day

"Meanwhile, until it is clear how much Countrywide will benefit from Senator Dodd’s proposed $300 billion mortgage rescue – and exactly how Mr. Dodd came to do business with Countrywide – Congress should call a halt to legislating bailouts. Taxpayers deserve no less."

- WSJ Editorial Page, June 2008

HP EXCLUSIVE: John McCain has taken $1,000 from corrupt Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. HP calls on McCain to return the toxic cash and disavow Mozilo

Not only should John McCain return the $1,000 in tainted cash given to him on March 26 of this year, he should disavow Mozilo's support, immediately call for a formal Senate investigation into Mozilo's bribing of McCain's fellow Senators, and he should vote against the Senate's laughably-corrupt $300 billion Angelo Mozilo and Housing Gambler Bailout Plan.

I find it especially interesting that McCain would accept cold hard cash from Mozilo, even after saying this about Obama's connection to former Fannie CEO James Johnson, who's now resigned:

“I think it suggests a bit of a contradiction talking about how his campaign is gonna be not associated with people like that. Clearly he is very much associated with that"

Being funded by Mozilo in this environment is like taking money from a drug dealer. And Mozilo's stench will be seen throughout the halls of power, once the investigations begin.

Enjoy the feeding frenzy on this on HP'ers. MoziloGate is gettin' fun...

Props to Newsmeat - the campaign donor search engine..

Investor's Business Daily calls for formal investigation of MoziloGate, says Dems are "afflicted with corruption"

And the MoziloGate drumbeat grows louder...

BARBARA BOXER AND HARRY REID - YOU CANNOT IGNORE US. AND BARACK OBAMA AND JOHN MCCAIN - YOU BETTER GET ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF MOZILOGATE AND CALL FOR INVESTIGATIONS, AND DO IT QUICK.

YOU WILL INVESTIGATE THESE MATTERS, YOU WILL DO IT PROMPTLY, AND YOU BETTER DO IT BEFORE ANYONE VOTES ON DODD'S $300 BILLION COUNTRYWIDE / HOUSING GAMBLER BAILOUT.

Capiche?

Here's IBD:

A number of top Democrats have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, suggesting corruption in the party linked to the recent home-mortgage meltdown.

These sweetheart deals cry out for an investigation. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, does too. On Wednesday, he called for hearings to find out who in Congress got "preferential treatment" on mortgages with Countrywide, the nation's largest home lender.

The Democrats' initial response has been to stall. They hope the problem will disappear until after the election. Given the media's lack of curiosity so far — a small handful of news organizations, including our competitor, the Wall Street Journal, have pushed this story ahead — it looks like the Democrats might get their wish.

But the problem won't go away, and neither will we.

These revelations suggest that, at the very least, the Democratic Party is afflicted with a kind of corruption that taints all recent decisions on the subprime crisis. They need to investigate it fully, immediately and without prejudice — or risk having it blow up in their faces.

A Special HousingPANIC Message for Angelo Mozilo at Countrywide Toxic Mortgage

You, Angelo Mozilo, will come to represent all that was evil and all that was wrong with the Late Great Housing Ponzi Scheme and Mortgage Madness.

* You made fraudulent garbage loans to people you know couldn't pay them back, knowing you could pawn off your trash to unsuspecting hedge funds, investment banks, governments, pension funds and investors

* You knowingly enabled rampant mortgage fraud

* You enriched yourself to the tune of hundreds of millions by dumping your stock while at the same time you directed your company to buy back the stock at inflated prices on the open market

* You blatantly bribed public officials to look the other way, like James Johnson, Chris Dodd, Kent Conrad, Alphonso Jackson, Donna Shalala, Richard Holbroke, and who knows who else

* You ruined lives. You destroyed families. You damaged your company and your country. And you destroyed the world's trust in the American financial system.

* Above all, you did what you did so as to personally enrich yourself, at the destruction of others.

It will give us no joy to see you frog-marched off to jail. It will give us no joy when the day comes that you are finally convicted of your crimes. And it will give us no joy when you are sent off to prison for the rest of your life, probably at the same facility housing the last shamed bubble fraudster, Bernie Ebbers.

Angelo Mozilo, you are the poster boy for the Late Great Housing Bubble and Crash.

I hope it was worth it.

You are garbage. And you are going to jail for a long, long, long time.

The Wall Street Journal calls for a congressional investigation of corrupt Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo and his "Friends of Angelo" bribery scheme

Angelo Mozilo is so f*cked on so many fronts, I'm losing track.

And yet somehow The Orange One still walks the earth a free man.

I'm starting the "Angelo Mozilo Arrest Watch" today. Anyone want to predict how many more days until the cuffs come out?

Follow the money. Follow the money. It leads places that will shock even HP'ers...

Beltwaywide Financial

The Countrywide Financial sweetheart loan scandal continues to grow, spreading to Senators and other Beltway potentates. We are about to find out if Congress's passion for investigating business ethics extends to conflicts of interest and cash that involve fellow Members.

Take Senator Kent Conrad, the North Dakota Democrat whose office issued a Friday statement saying that "I never met Angelo Mozilo." What he did not say then but admitted under later questioning by a Journal reporter is that, although he may not have had a face-to-face meeting with the Countrywide CEO, Mr. Conrad had called Mr. Mozilo and asked for a loan.

The result was a discounted loan on his million-dollar beach house and a separate commercial loan of a type that residential lender Countrywide did not even offer to other customers, regardless of the rate.

Almost as breathtaking is Senator Conrad's attempt to use a charitable contribution for the estimated amount of any mortgage savings – $10,500 – to make the issue go away. So while the Senator says he did nothing wrong, now that his nonmistake has been discovered he'll nonetheless give away the nonspecial treatment cash. There is ample evidence here to warrant an investigation, including subpoenas for relevant documents.

The same goes for Senator Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.), who chairs the very Banking Committee responsible for drafting the laws that govern Countrywide's market. Mr. Dodd is still in denial mode, but so far no one has knocked down the Portfolio.com story that he received discounted loans as part of Countrywide's "Friends of Angelo" program.

In the week since the Journal revealed this program, the key questions have become clear: What did Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo receive – or think he would receive – in return for the friendly loans to politicians? And what did Mr. Mozilo get – or think he would get – in return for sweetheart loans to Fannie Mae CEOs Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines? Mr. Conrad says he called Mr. Mozilo at the suggestion of Mr. Johnson, a leading and long-time member of the Democratic Beltway establishment.

The relationship between Countrywide and Fannie Mae goes to the heart of the mortgage crisis. Fannie makes its money by borrowing vast sums at low rates (thanks to an implied taxpayer guarantee on its loans) and then using that cash to buy loans from mortgage originators like Countrywide. Fannie then holds the mortgages and earns interest on them, or pools them into securities for sale to investors.

For the sake of its shareholders and the taxpayers who are ultimately on the hook, Fannie should immediately launch an internal investigation into the terms offered to Countrywide, and exactly what role Messrs. Johnson and Raines played in the negotiation of these terms. Did these men exert any pressure on Fannie employees to do business with Countrywide?

Congress also needs a full accounting of the contacts between Countrywide and the politicians receiving favors from the lender. Did Countrywide ask for and receive assistance from the Friends of Angelo? With Senate Banking Chairman Dodd at the center of the scandal, ranking member Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) will have to lead the inquiry.

Meanwhile, until it is clear how much Countrywide will benefit from Senator Dodd's proposed $300 billion mortgage rescue – and exactly how Mr. Dodd came to do business with Countrywide – Congress should call a halt to legislating bailouts. Taxpayers deserve no less.

Doesn't BofA's Ken Lewis moving forward with Countrywide Toxic Mortgage seem kinda like Bush's Iraq clusterf*ck?

Rule #1: When you find yourself in a hole, quit digging

Rule #2: See rule #1

Bush blew hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars and tens of thousands of lives even after it was clear he screwed the pooch in Iraq. And he just kept digging, and digging, and digging, refusing to admit his mistake.

In the same vein, Ken Lewis at BofA knows that he'll be seen as a fool if he abandons Countrywide now, after pumping in a few billion earlier, but of course he's an even greater fool if he actually closes on this cancer, instead of cutting his losses and walking away.

Either way, assuming this disaster goes through, Ken Lewis will be fired from BofA, and BofA shareholders will get slaughtered, and it'll be because of Angelo Mozilo and his corrupt gang at Countrywide. The lawsuits, the jail sentences and the billions and billions in losses will keep coming. And coming. And coming. And Ken Lewis of course will say "we never saw it coming".

Well, we did. And Mr. Lewis, take our advice, if you know what's best for you and your shareholders:

Run.

Fast.

And don't look back.

A HousingPANIC Angelo Mozilo tribute: "Oompa, Loompa, doom-pa-dee-da. If you're not greedy, you will go far"

Oompa, Loompa, doom-pa-dee-da
If you're not greedy, you will go far
You will live in happiness too
Like the Oompa Loompa doom-pa-dee-do

Countrywide’s Mozilo Calls Borrower’s Plea “Disgusting”FOXBusiness

Countrywide's Mozilo stinks at mortgages & emailBaltimore Sun

In reply to e-mail, Countrywide CEO criticizes plea for loan helpUSA Today

Countrywide CEO Mozilo's e-mail sets off furoreReuters

Mozilo on distressed borrower's appeal for help: "disgusting"Los Angeles Times

MOZILO'S HEARTLESS E-MAILNew York Post

Countrywide, Mozilo in Hot Water Over Troubled Borrower FlapHousing Wire

LET THEM EAT CAKE! Angelo Mozilo (Angelo_Mozilo@countrywide.com) has just discovered the power of the internets (and the 'reply all' button)

Gotta feel a bit sorry for the Great Orange One. He's gonna go to jail, we all know that. He's gonna have his assets seized, we all know that. His company is going to go bankrupt and all his employees are going to lose their jobs, and some will go to jail too, we all know that. And what's left of his reputation has been destroyed, we all know that.

But now, on top of EVERYTHING that has gone wrong for him lately, he stupidly hits "reply all" to a desperate homedebtor's anguished email, calls him disgusting, blames blogs and the internets, and is exposed by the MSM worldwide for the cold, heartless, corrupt fool he is.

LET THEM EAT CAKE!!!!

Make sure you send Angelo and crew a nice letter too HP'ers. I'm sure he'll enjoy it.

Here's Angelo's response on the original LoanSafe thread that exposed him, and internal Countrywide email cc list that some might enjoy having their hands on:

Angelo_Mozilo@countrywide.com wrote:
This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the internet. Disgusting.

And here's the LA Times covering the mess. Oh, this will be fun.

Countrywide Financial Chairman Angelo Mozilo's e-mail sets off a furor - He calls a borrower's plea for help a "disgusting" example of form letters inundating the Calabasas mortgage lender.

Apparently clicking "reply" when he meant to hit "forward," Countrywide Financial Corp. Chairman Angelo Mozilo ignited an online furor Tuesday by describing a mortgage customer's plea for help as a "disgusting" example of form letters inundating the Calabasas home lender.

Mozilo's e-mail rocketed back to the customer, Daniel Bailey Jr., who had asked Countrywide to modify the terms of his loan so he wouldn't lose his home of 16 years.

Will Bernanke and Paulson let Countrywide Toxic Mortage fail (after BofA pulls out in the next few days)?

It's coming.

You can just feel it.

Countrywide is about to go belly up, Angelo Mozilo is about to be indicted, and BofA is about to make a run for it.

No way this deal goes through as announced. No way.

So the question is - is Countrywide "too big to fail"?

I don't think so. We're not talking trillions in counter-party risk like Bear Stearns. And we're talking about a company that everyone pretty much knows is going belly up anyway.

If you have ANY money in Countrywide, GET IT OUT AND GET IT OUT NOW.

Stick a fork in it. This orange pig is toast.

Beware Collapse of Bank of America-Countywide Deal

Angelo Mozilo's time as a free man is running low. Countrywide Toxic Mortgage investigations by the FBI, IRS and SEC heating up

Will Angelo go OJ on us soon? A white Ford Bronco with an orange man in the back headin to Mexico? Or will he pull a Ken Lay and just conveniently die?

Anyone who thinks the housing crash and mortgage meltdown is over is fooling themselves. The next great chapter is coming - The Arrest of Angelo Mozilo and the Fall of COUNTRYRON. And the charges against Countrywide that will come will give BofA a convenient reason to walk away from that moment of stupidity too as CFC goes bankrupt and folds up shop.

What's frustrating is that HP'ers knew what was going on for months and months, it was all just so OBVIOUS. And yet it took the government years to finally getting around to do something about it, after the real damage had been done.

Government Intensifies Mortgage Investigation

Federal agencies are intensifying a criminal investigation of the mortgage industry and focusing on whether some lenders turned a blind eye to inflated income figures provided by borrowers.

In March, the Justice Department and the F.B.I. began investigating whether the Countrywide Financial Corporation, the troubled mortgage giant, misrepresented its financial condition and loans in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Countrywide is also under scrutiny by California and Illinois; federal prosecutors in Sacramento; and the United States Trustee, the federal agency that monitors bankruptcy courts. The S.E.C., meanwhile, is examining stock sales by certain Countrywide executives.

Countrywide loses $893 million for the quarter while Angelo Mozilo cashes in for $143 million

Seriously, if BofA completes the CFC acquisition, you'll know something funny is going on with Hank Paulson and Ken Lewis. Countrywide is AIDS, Chlamydia, Genital warts, Herpes, Gonorrhea, Hepatitis and Syphilis all rolled into one. BofA would be dealing with lawsuits, losses and employees going to jail for years and years.

Watch for the other shoe to drop soon here. And watch for the FBI to announce formal charges against Countrywide execs, and Angelo Mozilo by the end of Summer.

And oh, get your popcorn.

Countrywide Financial Corp. said Tuesday it lost $893 million in the first quarter, as rising loan defaults amid a deepening housing downturn forced the nation's largest mortgage lender and servicer to sharply increase its provision for loan losses and book other credit-related charges.

Shareholders saw their stake in the company dwindle as Countrywide shares lost 80 percent of their value by the end of 2007. Shares had hit a five-year peak of $45.03 in February of that year.

Meanwhile, Mozilo was paid more than $22.1 million and cashed out $121.5 million in stock options last year.

Angelo Mozilo is a pig. One more time - Angelo Mozilo is a big fat pig.

Countrywide CEO Made $132M In 2007 Pay, Stock Sale

HousingPANIC Quote of the Day (from the class action lawsuit against Countrywide Toxic Mortgage)

"Countrywide kept investors in the dark and improperly expanded the credit categories of borrowers in a manner that increased risk without disclosing this practice to investors.

Countrywide's greed and malfeasance exacted a cost on investors, and on our broader national economy, and these defendants must be held accountable for their misdeeds."

- New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, April 2008

HousingPANIC Stupid Question of the Day

When he is eventually sentenced and convicted, what do you think Angelo Mozilo's sentence will be (not "should be" - go with "will be")?

# of years in Federal prison ______

$ fine ______

(For reference, Bernie Ebbers got 25 years and $45 million in fines)

Hoofy and Boo ask Angelo Mozilo to stay out of the sun

It's time to arrest Angelo Mozilo and get on with it

Envision the day Angelo Mozilo is arrested, and frog marched out of the raided Countrywide headquarters.

Envision the day Angelo Mozilo is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison, after having his assets seized.

Is the world any better after this?

Millions will have still lost their homes. Millions will have lost their jobs. Families will still have been ruined.

And one Orange Man wearing an orange jumpsuit will sit in a lonely jail cell.

What a waste.

But let's go ahead and get on with it.

ARREST ANGELO MOZILO. THE HOUSING CRASH NEEDS ITS BERNIE EBBERS. WE NEED OUR KEN LAY.

AND THE INSIDER TRADING KING OF MORTGAGE FRAUD ANGELO MOZILO IS IT.

HousingPANIC Corrupt Stock Pumper Quote of the Day

"We view the third quarter of 2007 as an earnings trough, and anticipate that the company will be profitable in the fourth quarter and in 2008" - Countrywide President and Angelo's chief stock pumper David Sambol, October 2007

and drumroll please... Countrywide's 4th quarter performance, announced this week?

Countrywide Posts $422 Million 4Q Loss

WHOOPSIE! (pssst.. Angelo.. you sold all those shares yet... good... now I'm gonna put the truth out so we don't get arrested, ok? good.)

Sarbanes-Oxley anyone? SEC anyone?

Anyone?

FLASH; Facing an SEC investigation, Congressional inquiry and blowup of his buyout by BofA, Countrywide's Mozilo offers to forego $37 million

Nice try Orangelo.

It's all caving in for you now, eh?

BofA won't complete this transaction as agreed to. Countrywide will file for bankruptcy. Thousands will lose their jobs. You will be arrested for insider trading, Sarb-Ox violations and knowingly enabling mortgage fraud. And like Ebbers before you, those hundreds of millions of ill-gotten gains will be taken by the government as part of your fine.

And you will spend an awfully, awfully long time in prison.

Was it worth it?

Really, Angelo, was it worth it?

AP NewsBreak: Countrywide CEO Mozilo Will Give Up $37.5 Million in Severance Benefits

Countrywide Financial Corp. CEO Angelo Mozilo, under fire over the size of his potential payout from the proposed sale of his troubled mortgage company, says he is forfeiting some $37.5 million in severance pay, fees and perks he was scheduled to receive upon his retirement.

Damon Silvers, associate general counsel of the AFL-CIO, which operates a Web site that tracks executive pay, said that by giving up his severance pay Mozilo "seems to recognize that there's something wrong with this picture."

"It would be best if Countrywide and Bank of America froze all of his compensation until a thorough inquiry could be completed as to exactly what happened at Countrywide," Silvers said, referring to allegations raised in some shareholder lawsuits filed last year that the company failed to warn investors about the depth of its financial troubles.

Countrywide shares closed at $6.02 on Friday, 19.5 percent below what each share would be worth in Bank of America stock if the deal was closed based on the bank's $39.48 closing share price Friday.

Here's the congressional invite sent to Countrywide Toxic Mortgage's King of Insider Trading and Mortgage Fraud, The Orange Man himself, Angelo Mozilo

February 7th can't come soon enough.

Get that Jiffy Pop a poppin! And feel free to give Waxman a call (number below) with some suggested lines of questioning.

We've hoped and predicted for years that our corrupted Congress would hold hearings on the housing crash and corrupt Real Estate Industrial Complex in 2008, leading up to the election. And away we go. I wonder if Angelo will be taking the 5th?

Mr. Angelo R. Mozilo
Chairman and CEO
Countrywide Financial Corporation
4500 Park Granada
Calabasas, CA 91302

Dear Mr. Mozilo:

I am writing to request your testimony at a hearing on February 7, 2008, before the Committee on Oversight and Govemment Reform. The hearing will address executive compensation and severance arrangements for CEOs involved in the ongoing mortgage crisis.

According to recent press reports, if Bank of America completes its proposed purchase of Countrywide Financial, you stand to collect tens of millions of dollars in severance payments and other compensation. I request that you be prepared to provide your perspective on this reported pay package.

You should plan to address how it aligns with the interests of Countrywide’s shareholders and whether this level of compensation is justified in light of your company’s recent performance and its role in the national mortgage crisis.

The Committee on Oversight and Govemment Reform is the principal oversight committee in the House of Representatives and has broad oversight jurisdiction as set forth in House Rule X. An attachment to this letter provides additional information about testifying before the Committee.

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Roger Sherman or David Leviss of the Committee staff at (202) 225-5051.

Sincerely,

Henry A. Waxman
Chairman

Disgraced and corrupt toxic loan CEOs Angelo Mozilo, Charlie Prince and Stan O'Neal set to be publicly flogged in front of Congress and the nation

I hope some congressman with guts asks them about knowingly enabling mortgage fraud. I hope to see Angelo take the fifth. I hope to see Waxman ask The Orange One about having CFC buy shares on the open market as he was dumping them. I hope to see rage, disgust and the threat of more investigations from our congressmen, who are supposed to represent US of course.

But since the fix is in, and these companies (Countrywide, Merrill and Citi) and their organizations (NAR, NAHB, NAMB) are the top donors to our corrupted congress, I'm not holding my breath.

But who knows. Maybe in an election year congressmen choose their political careers over their masters.

Former Citi, Merrill CEOs face grilling

House Democrat Henry Waxman calls on recently canned executives with ties to the subprime debacle to explain their compensation.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A key House Democrat wants to grill top banking industry executives about how much they're getting paid on their way out of companies scorched by the mortgage market meltdown.

On Monday, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he'd sent letters to Angelo Mozilo, chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial Corp., former Citigroup CEO Charles Prince and Stan O'Neal, former CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co.