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THE LATEST SERVICING origination points, and default penalties to influential insiders and power-brokers, including members of Congress, senior executives with Fannie Mae, and high-rank- ing congressional staffers. The findings offer a sweeping in- "It was generally known [that Countrywide] was running a very extensive lobbying campaign [with VIP loans] a crucial feature of it." — Mark Calabria, former Senate Banking Committee staffer dictment against the defunct mort- gage unit, which Bank of America acquired in 2008. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Committee, led a roughly three- year investigation that culminated in the recent report. According to that report, Angelo Mozilo, then-CEO of Countrywide, instructed staff members and lobbyists to offer deals in order to deliberately curry favor with elected officials and their staffers. Staffers were instructed to approve loans for VIP borrowers "regardless of documentation or qualifying challenges" in some instances. The investigation found that Countrywide often waived points and offered discounts on loans to those who received VIP home loans. Waiving so-called "junk fees," or upfront fees, could mean anywhere from $350 to $400 in savings for select borrowers. A VIP unit separate from the normal complaints process offered "enhanced customer service" to people forwarded by Mozilo and others. Among those who reportedly Countrywide Accused of Cashing in Loans for Political Access More allegations against Countrywide surface, as the entity faces charges that it abused "VIP" loans. L loans to peddle influence with 50 | THE M REPORT awmakers released a damning report that found Countrywide Financial deployed 17,979 elected officials, stall GSE reform, and solicit exclusive access for Fannie Mae and the ultimately doomed mortgage unit during the course of more than a decade. an investigation into the so-called "Friends of Angelo" circle that in some cases allegedly supplied mortgages free of upfront fees, The 136-page report rounds off received sweetheart deals: former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut), who later helped shepherd through the Dodd-Frank Act, along with two HUD secretaries, three former CEOs with Fannie Mae, and many others. The investigation found that former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson, a longtime political figure who briefly chaired the vice-presidential search committee for President Barack Obama, for- warded HUD secretaries Henry Cisneros and Alphonso Jackson to the VIP unit, among others. Countrywide—the likes of which later bore losses for acquirer Bank of America and transferred them to the taxpayer during the fi- nancial crisis—also shielded certain loans from the typical foreclosure process and other penalties. SECONDARY MARKET ANALYTICS SERVICING ORIGINATION