A House panel has ended a probe of alleged preferential lending by Countrywide Financial to lawmakers and aides without taking action, saying the “serious matters” submitted for review fall outside its jurisdiction.
Allegations surrounding mortgage loans to House members and staffers through Countrywide Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo’s “Friends of Angelo” initiative or other so-called VIP programs are either too old or involve people no longer employed in the House, the Ethics Committee’s Republican chairman and ranking Democrat said.
“While these allegations concern serious matters, almost all of the allegations concerned actions taken outside, or well outside, the jurisdiction of this committee,” Ethics Committee Chairman Jo Bonner of Alabama and Rep. Linda Sanchez of California said. House rules preclude sanctions for violations that occur more than three Congresses — or six years — before the current one, they said.
The investigation was sought by Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican who leads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Issa said in a July report that Countrywide gave discount loans to lawmakers and Fannie Mae executives from 1996 to 2008 as the government-sponsored mortgage-finance company lobbied to block legislation that would have diminished its sale of subprime loans.
Bonner and Sanchez said the Ethics Committee conducted its own review of the role of Countrywide’s VIP unit, finding that while it offered quicker, more efficient processing and some discounts, the loans met basic underwriting standards and didn’t offer the best deals available in the marketplace.