Kent Conrad

[slow90gsx]

So am I the only one that thinks hes getting F**** over by the news reports.I know When Im looking to get a loan or anything I go to people that I know for a better deal,plus he was trying to disclose that he owned the property but the govt would not let him because of security reasons.I think that countrywide is smart to give people like him a break its not like he is not going to pay the loan.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=205694&section=news

DISCUSS****

[XJHEAD]

yes...

[StangerBanger96]

Who cares, he's an arrogant bastard anyways.

[Guest]

slow90gsx;223043 wrote:
So am I the only one that thinks hes getting F**** over by the news reports.I know When Im looking to get a loan or anything I go to people that I know for a better deal,plus he was trying to disclose that he owned the property but the govt would not let him because of security reasons.I think that countrywide is smart to give people like him a break its not like he is not going to pay the loan.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=205694&section=news

DISCUSS****

I agree with you, he is getting a shitty deal on this. Who cares if he has a home worth a couple million? Who cares if he got a preferred rate on his loan because he happened to know someone who knew someone....heck, everyone that knows to buy car stereo equipment from me gets a better price than if they were to buy at almost any other authorized retailer......heck, Scott Blodget, Kirk Schuck, and Wes Fredrick should have someone do a negative story on them as well, I mean, they have all received some product for UNDER dealer cost.

Sorry for the horrible comparison, but I really don't see the issue with this. Nor do I think that there will ever be a better candidate to take Conrad's place. One thing I can say for sure about ND's house and senate members is that they don't get re-elected in ND because they are Democrats, the get re-elected because they perform well for the people they represent.

[XJHEAD]

tjamz;223176 wrote:
......heck, Scott Blodget, Kirk Schuck, and Wes Fredrick should have someone do a negative story on them as well, I mean, they have all received some product for UNDER dealer cost.

:icon_scratch:

[DaveH]

tjamz;223176 wrote:
I agree with you, he is getting a shitty deal on this. Who cares if he has a home worth a couple million? Who cares if he got a preferred rate on his loan because he happened to know someone who knew someone....heck, everyone that knows to buy car stereo equipment from me gets a better price than if they were to buy at almost any other authorized retailer......heck, Scott Blodget, Kirk Schuck, and Wes Fredrick should have someone do a negative story on them as well, I mean, they have all received some product for UNDER dealer cost.

I'd agree Chuck, except Conrad is a STATE SENATOR.... you know, one of those guys who affects where billions of dollars worth of our tax money goes. You can't have Senators or Representatives getting smooth deals and not have to worry about whether it's affecting their votes. Once he's an average joe again and not a Senator, then I could care less if he gets a good deal on something.

[Guest]

DaveH;223184 wrote:
I'd agree Chuck, except Conrad is a STATE SENATOR.... you know, one of those guys who affects where billions of dollars worth of our tax money goes. You can't have Senators or Representatives getting smooth deals and not have to worry about whether it's affecting their votes. Once he's an average joe again and not a Senator, then I could care less if he gets a good deal on something.

To think that anyone of political power doesn't get breaks on everything they do is crazy. From what I have read, he didn't request, nor was he aware that he received special rates from Country Wide. He knew he got a good rate to start with (I have a lower interest rate than he does however), but was unaware that they lowered his rate after the initial mortgage was taken out.

Fargo Forum wrote:
Conrad said he didn’t know the loan officer who handled his 2004 refinance had been directed to deduct one point from the loan’s cost, which he now knows reduced his upfront closing costs by $10,700.
Many news organizations, including the Post, reported that Conrad got the $10,700 break on the original loan in 2002, which wasn’t the case.
The instruction to the Countrywide loan officer was issued nearly two years after Conrad originally obtained a Countrywide mortgage on the beach house, and also nearly two years after he said he had a “serendipitous” 30-second phone conversation with Mozilo, whom he said he has never sought and had not talked to before and hasn’t since.

Fargo Forum wrote:
The same day a reporter for Portfolio showed him the 2004 Countrywide e-mail naming him a recipient of a discount, Conrad arranged to donate $10,700 to the Missouri Valley Chapter of Habitat for Humanity in Bismarck. And he contacted the Senate Ethics Committee for guidance. If the Ethics Committee eventually decides that the $10,700 discount was improper, he will refund the same amount to Countrywide, Conrad said.

[DaveH]

tjamz;223185 wrote:
To think that anyone of political power doesn't get breaks on everything they do is crazy. From what I have read, he didn't request, nor was he aware that he received special rates from Country Wide. He knew he got a good rate to start with (I have a lower interest rate than he does however), but was unaware that they lowered his rate after the initial mortgage was taken out.

Yeah, all the special interest people would love to give away stuff to sway votes. Doesn't mean it's right.

I'm sure he's a busy guy, but so busy that he doesn't pay attention to his mortgage rate? I don't buy it, maybe it's just me.

[Guest]

He refinanced in 2004....and got a 1 point deduct on his mortgage (that's .1%...not 1% btw...for example, instead of 5.9 he got it for 5.8%) That isn't all that uncommon (heck, you can buy down points on closing), and if the lending officer never informed him of it, he may have thought that it was just a rate fluctuation that worked in his advantage and never questioned it...I know I wouldn't have.

[XJHEAD]

tjamz;223211 wrote:
He refinanced in 2004....and got a 1 point deduct on his mortgage (that's .1%...not 1% btw...for example, instead of 5.9 he got it for 5.8%) .

Wrong

MSNBC wrote:
Conrad obtained a $1.16 million loan from Countrywide in 2002 to buy his vacation home, then refinanced twice through the company. Portfolio reported that an internal e-mail from Mozilo instructed an employee to give Conrad a 1-percent discount off his interest rate on his 2004 refinance of $1.07 million, a savings of about $10,000 a year in interest payments.

...

[Guest]

Problem is we have conflicting sources. One says he saved $10,700 on his closing costs, the other says he saved that much every year. The fact that he offered to write the check for $10,700 leads me to think that it was a one time savings. I could be wrong of course and would need to see the actual loan documentations. Even if it was a 15 or 30 year mortgage, his annual savings would not be $10,000

15 Year Mortgage calculations

9617.46 @ 7.00 percent (monthly)
Or
$115,409 per year

Vs.

9029.27 @ 6.00 percent (monthly)
Or
$108,351 per year
For a total savings of
$7,058 per year

30 year mortgage calculations

7118.74 @ 7.00 percent (monthly)
Or
$85,424.88 per year

Vs.

6415.19 @ 6.00 percent (monthly)
Or
$76982.28 per year
For a total savings of:
$8442.60 annually

The shorter the term the loan, the more he saves per year due to amortization.

Here is the site that broke the story first, notice how they only claim a one time 10,700 deduct as well.

[Guest]

Conrad and his ilk make way to much anyway.

[DaveH]

tjamz;223284 wrote:
The fact that he offered to write the check for $10,700 leads me to think that he knows he screwed up and is trying to make it go away.

Fixed it for you.

[MisterCMK]

reshalghoul;223302 wrote:
Conrad and his ilk make way to much anyway.

Your usage of the word "to" is incorrect. You should have used "too" as you are talking about something being in excess.

El oh el. Who are you to decide how much is too much money for a person to make? Jealous?

[XJHEAD]

tjamz;223284 wrote:
Problem is we have conflicting sources. One says he saved $10,700 on his closing costs, the other says he saved that much every year. The fact that he offered to write the check for $10,700 leads me to think that it was a one time savings. I could be wrong of course and would need to see the actual loan documentations. .

I guess I do not see where it is 1 point on closing costs. He was given a 1 point drop on his interest rate which equals 1%, not .1% that is a big difference.

In-forum wrote:
Conrad said he didn’t know the loan officer who handled his 2004 refinance had been directed to deduct one point from the loan’s cost, which he now knows reduced his upfront closing costs by $10,700.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=205694&section=news

[XJHEAD]

DaveH;223313 wrote:
Fixed it for you.

He already made a payment to Missouri Valley Chapter of Habitat for Humanity in Bismarck. He is willing to give the same back to Countrywide, and he still saves approx. that same amount annually for the next XX years.

[Guest]

XJHEAD;223321 wrote:
I guess I do not see where it is 1 point on closing costs. He was given a 1 point drop on his interest rate which equals 1%, not .1% that is a big difference.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=205694&section=news

Fargo Forum wrote:
Conrad said he didn’t know the loan officer who handled his 2004 refinance had been directed to deduct one point from the loan’s cost, which he now knows <u>reduced his upfront closing costs by $10,700.</u>
Many news organizations, including the Post, reported that Conrad got the $10,700 break on the original loan in 2002, which wasn’t the case.
The instruction to the Countrywide loan officer was issued nearly two years after Conrad originally obtained a Countrywide mortgage on the beach house, and also nearly two years after he said he had a “serendipitous” 30-second phone conversation with Mozilo, whom he said he has never sought and had not talked to before and hasn’t since.

When mortgage companies refer to "points" they are referring to .1% not 1% (EDIT: actually, in researching, it sounds like it is more like .125%). Like stated before, at the time of closing, you can "Buy Points" down on your mortgage by putting down a higher down payment. When you do this, it reduces your rate by .1% (instead of 5.9% you would only pay 5.8% for example).

Now, if they were talking about knocking 1 point off the loan origination fees, then that would be a deduction of 1 percentage point. In which case Conrad would have saved $10,700 upfront (as indicated in all the articles) as a one time savings. Given the fact that various mortgage vendors have differing loan origination fees (I've paid as high as 3% and as low as 2% on origination fees for my home mortgage and refinance respectively) I wouldn't have thought anything if one lender was 1% lower than the other....nor would I complain or question it.

[XJHEAD]

tjamz;223326 wrote:
When mortgage companies refer to "points" they are referring to .1% not 1% (EDIT: actually, in researching, it sounds like it is more like .125%). Like stated before, at the time of closing, you can "Buy Points" down on your mortgage by putting down a higher down payment. When you do this, it reduces your rate by .1% (instead of 5.9% you would only pay 5.8% for example).

Now, if they were talking about knocking 1 point off the loan origination fees, then that would be a deduction of 1 percentage point. In which case Conrad would have saved $10,700 upfront (as indicated in all the articles) as a one time savings. Given the fact that various mortgage vendors have differing loan origination fees (I've paid as high as 3% and as low as 2% on origination fees for my home mortgage and refinance respectively) I wouldn't have thought anything if one lender was 1% lower than the other....nor would I complain or question it.

None of the articles are going into great detail of what is going on, the writers probally have no clue on what they are talking about. The way I see it is he shopped for a mortgage, didn't like the numbers, called his pal, he hooked him up and they lowered his interest rate by 1% (they call it one point) one point is 1% no ifs ands or buts....... Now on a normal mortgage deal, one can possible buy down the interest rate by using discount points. There are two types of points, discount points and origination points.

Discount points:
These are prepaid interest on the mortgage loan. The more points you pay, the lower the interest rate on the loan and vice versa. You can pay anywhere from 0 to 4 points, depending on how much you want to lower your rates. A 1 point deal usually takes about .25% of your loans interest. If you are going to be in a home for a while this is a good option as over the long term it will save you monies. You are pre-paying your interest up front.

Origination fee:
This is charged by the lender to cover the costs of making the loan. The origination fee is deductible if it was used to obtain the mortgage and not to pay other closing costs.

[Guest]

This post is deleted!

[Guest]

XJHEAD;223322 wrote:
He already made a payment to Missouri Valley Chapter of Habitat for Humanity in Bismarck. He is willing to give the same back to Countrywide, and he still saves approx. that same amount annually for the next XX years.

Again, that depends on what you call a point (1% or .1%) and also if it was on his rate or origination fees.