Former Countrywide Execs Start Firm to Buy Bad Loans

New York Times:

CALABASAS, Calif. -- Whether they deserve to be or not, Countrywide Financial and its top executives would be on most lists of those who share blame for the nation's economic crisis. After all, the banking behemoth made risky loans to tens of thousands of Americans, helping set off a chain of events that has the economy staggering.

So it may come as a surprise that a dozen top Countrywide executives now stand to make millions from the home mortgage mess.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Artos]

Why wouldn't they. Like all good carrion eaters they will belly up to the carnage as soon as they can in order to get their share of the prey. The major difference between these carrion eaters and those in the animal kingdom is that the ones in the animal kingdom aren't usually the cause of the carnage as well. They just feed on the carrion. Countrywide and those like them first created the havoc and now they lie in wait ready to feed like the bottom feeders they are, on the remains.

[cordyc]

For another take on this story see here

http://www.businessinsider.com/ex-countrywide-bosses-cashing-in-on-trash-mortgages-and-helping-save-world-2009-3#comment-49af5b34796c7ac40014f55f

Yep, that HP's own Henry Blodget giving the capitalist view.

[PhilipTaylor]

SAD Story of how AMERICA is Continuing to be Ripped-Off by the Elite Banksters:

1. WS Banks with Bush make huge money from toxic CDO's then cry to the govt for bailout.
2. WS Banks make far more money on the bailout then cry that there's too many strings attached. 3. WS Banks then buy same toxic loans to access federal money.
4. WS Banks thumb their noses at us the “SUCKER” tax payer, and make even more MONEY.
5. FED hands out TAX money for corrupt and irresponsible behavior to BANKSTERS.

Taxpayers, “the rug has been pulled from under us!” WS Banks receive Welfare to Socialize Losses yet Privatizes MASSIVE profits.

Treasury>>Timothy Franz Geithner>>­previously president of NY Federal Reserve Bank
Geithner>>Kissinger and Associates­>>Internat­ional Affairs division of Treasury Department
Geithner>>Attache US Embassy in Tokyo>>Int­ernational monetary and financial policy Geithner>>Clinton Treasury>>Robert Rubin>>Goldman Sachs>>CitiGroup
Geithner>>Robert Rubin>>architect of deregulation, and the strategy to grown "too Big to fail."
Geithner>>Bush Sec. of Treas and former Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson to design TARP.

The Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations with help of entire Congress is implicated.

Has our Government SOLD ITS SOULS TO WALL STREET?

Greed/Dish­onesty/Irr­esponsible Risk using AMERICA’S money and Insurance against Losses.

[PhilipTaylor]

FED has assigned Corrupt WS Bankers who profited from Mortgage/Derivative Crisis to manage OUR bailout funds, so the Big Money grip tightens on America's&­Government­'s Money!

Relationships of BlackRock/Maiden Rock LLC to Old Money System (Thanks: CarolAB research):

Bank of America>>C­ountrywide
Bank of America>>Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch>>Bla­ckRock>>La­urence Fink who created the Derivatives Market
FED>>hired BlackRock to manage OUR Money that FED placed in Maiden Rock LLC
Maiden Lane LLC>>holds AIG's/Bear­-Stearns>>­JPMorgan
Maiden Lane is address of Goldman Sachs
BlackRock>>Laurence Fink who created the Derivatives Market>>Manages $1.3 Trillion

http://dirtdiggersdigest.org/archives/200

[javster420]

Waaaaaaa..­..I want to make a profit during these hard times too! Why not me Satan? Please make me a soul-less banker!

If I've learned anything from this whole mess is that, it's much better to make money dishonestly while cheating the American tax payer. They might come after you, but in the end you'll get to walk.

White collar crime is cool. GO AMERICA!

[research]

FDR called them Banksters.

[nirek]

Shouldn't these crooks be in jail?

[Dominique Apollon]

The key passage for me was that their new company PennyMac “is actively courting other investors to build its portfolio”.

I have little doubt they’ll find them.

But, if we hope and strive to emerge from this economic crisis as a more just country and world (and not all of us do) we are going to have to think hard about how and where we as individuals, non-profit organizations, employee pension funds, businesses, etc. invest our money.

Will profit maximization —divorced from any concern for the environmental, gender, queer, racial and social impacts — be our only criteria for investing?

Is that moral?

While the stock market is in the process of “bottoming out,” there’s an urgent need to popularize the notion of socially and racially just investing — to take this movement to scale.

If those of us (individuals and organizations) who've lost money in the stock market combine with those of us who are looking to invest money for the first time, those billions and even trillions of dollars can radically re-shape our world. Most banks now are DESPERATE for private capital. Imagine if we pooled our resources and invested, for example, in the first bank that agreed to large-scale principal reductions to help those in danger of foreclosure be able to afford their homes?

If you know of investment models that are leading the way, please share them. If we let the pure profit maximization model ascend again, we will already be too late.

[Artos]

Dominique Apollon,

People need to stop all this nonsense of investing in Corporations that simply get stronger so that they can own people. It's synonomous to raising a shark and then jumping in the pool with it. People should let Wall Street shrivel up and die. We don't need Wall street any more than we need an Electoral College, but we've been sold a bill of goods by so called experts on why we have to have it this way. It's all Crap. They want to take us for a ride and are inviting us to dupe ourselves. It's as simple as that.

[cordyc]

This is just plain racketeering. Theses guys lie to homeowner about the terms of the loans, a few years later they jump in and get control of the property for 10 to 15 cents on the dollar. Then they resale it for 50% of the former value making a nice tidy 35 to 40% profit!

Wonder if Santelli and his Tea Party will rant against this?

[Nonamnesiac]

Call us at 797-2643 (PYR-AMID) or 1-800-76684 (PONZI)..

[starlady7]

I find this development disturbing. But, maybe it will take those who got us in this mess to get us out of it. I don't know. I don't like seeing them profiting from the shady and dishonest dealing that caused the housing situation. However, if they can cut the outrages balloon interest payments that came from the teaser loans and allow people to avoid foreclosure by deceasing their monthly payments then I am inclined to say let them. When the housing market stablizes then go after these guys who put our country into this crisis...f­ine them instead of jail...hit them where it hurts them most, in the pocket!

[who38]

It appears that investing with Kurland might be a way to make enough money to pay my increased taxes needed for the bail-out.

[Artos]

Where do you think the former owners got all of Countrywide got all of this money that now they want to buy these home loans with. They sold to Bank of America while the getting was good and made a profit. Bank of America got millions from us so they willingly bought Countrywide at a pretty good price knowing full well that they would recoup the money. So now these Crooks from Countrywide are sitting pretty on a lot of spare change and want to spend it. What a better way than to buy back all of the cheap foreclosures that they caused. This is American Business and Finance at it's finest. All of those Marvelous MBAs that got awarded to slugs during the Reagan 80s are finally being put to good use.

[RedneckDem]

I realize that someone would step into this vacuum and reap some huge rewards, but it is particularily painful to see that the ones who helped cause this benefitting in any way. Didn't this also happen in the S & L fiasco?

[SecondBase]

I think you may be right about the S&L thing. I can't remember precisely, but it sure seems to ring a bell.

The high-finance criminals version of double-dipping.

[plumnelly]

Yup, ask senator McCain, he and his buddy Keating profited at taxpayer's expense. Also, Neil Bush was involved in the S&L's fiasco. Keating was the only one to go to jail.

[iblogleft]

Did anyone notice, that in all of these "solutions" everyone gets help BUT the taxpayers?

After all these banks are bailed out, and the bad assets wiped clean, they will still go after the average taxpayer. After all the retirement savings and stock investments are whisked away into unknown swiss accounts, the only people held accountable will be the taxpayer.

What a great system we live in. The wealthy have truly bought themselves a country.

It is time for a good old-fashioned hanging in the square.

[plumnelly]

A new reality show, ratings would go through the roof.

[iblogleft]

You just came up with a plan to save the networks!!!

[eladora]

I saw this coming a year ago and wrote letters and emails to tv moderators to investigate but never heard a word about it til now. Done deal.

[TLV]

I figured this whole mess was deliberate precisely so that those who still have money can buy up everything that's been devalued. That's exactly how the rich get richer. It would be naive to assume that no one knows how to do that!