Sunday, March 30, 2008
Hillary Campaign Chief Profited in Subprime Biz
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign manager raked in a cool $200,000 while serving as a board member on a subprime lender that charged penalties for borrowers who made mortgage prepayments. Clinton is trying to end that very practice.
According to Newsday, Maggie Williams served as a director on the board of the Woodbury, N.Y.-based Delta Financial Corp. from April 2000 until this past December, when the firm declared bankruptcy. She became Clinton's campaign director in February.
Clinton has slammed prepayment penalties.
“I would eliminate the prepayment penalties that lead to such high rates of default,” she said on March 24 while in Pennsylvania. “I would require lenders to take into account the borrower’s ability to pay property taxes and insurance fees when deciding whether to make a loan in the first place.”
According to Newsday, Williams relayed a message through her assistant, saying that she served only in “an advisory/oversight capacity.”
Clinton's campaign also aided Williams' defense, issuing a statement from Delta senior vice president Marc Miller, who said Williams “did not have a role in the day-to-day operations and management.”
Another Clinton friend, former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros, also made big bucks in the much-maligned subprime industry. Cisneros reaped more than $5 million in stock sales and board compensation from Countrywide Financial, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign manager raked in a cool $200,000 while serving as a board member on a subprime lender that charged penalties for borrowers who made mortgage prepayments. Clinton is trying to end that very practice.
According to Newsday, Maggie Williams served as a director on the board of the Woodbury, N.Y.-based Delta Financial Corp. from April 2000 until this past December, when the firm declared bankruptcy. She became Clinton's campaign director in February.
Clinton has slammed prepayment penalties.
“I would eliminate the prepayment penalties that lead to such high rates of default,” she said on March 24 while in Pennsylvania. “I would require lenders to take into account the borrower’s ability to pay property taxes and insurance fees when deciding whether to make a loan in the first place.”
According to Newsday, Williams relayed a message through her assistant, saying that she served only in “an advisory/oversight capacity.”
Clinton's campaign also aided Williams' defense, issuing a statement from Delta senior vice president Marc Miller, who said Williams “did not have a role in the day-to-day operations and management.”
Another Clinton friend, former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros, also made big bucks in the much-maligned subprime industry. Cisneros reaped more than $5 million in stock sales and board compensation from Countrywide Financial, according to The Wall Street Journal.
