Countrywide VIP loans reached deep into Fannie Mae during expanded business relationship

Countrywide VIP loans reached deep into Fannie Mae

WASHINGTON — Documents show the former Countrywide Financial Corp. gave preferential loans to more than three dozen employees of Fannie Mae while the two giant housing enterprises were locked in an expanding, multi-billion dollar business relationship in sub-prime mortgages.

The documents reveal that when Countrywide was depending on government-sponsored firms to finance subprime loans that touched off the housing meltdown, it was giving employees at the largest of those companies, Fannie Mae, sweetheart deals on home loans.

Discounted mortgages written by Countrywide, once the nation’s largest subprime lender, to four top Fannie executives had been previously disclosed. The Countrywide documents were provided to Congress under a subpoena.