Countrywide would like you to believe that it put all that messy “predatory subprime lending” business behind it and is no longer coaching consumers to lie on their loan applications in order to qualify them for loans they can’t afford… but are they telling the truth about telling the truth? One woman who recently contacted Countrywide about refinancing her home told NPR that sketchy mortgage lending is alive and well at Countrywide.

“It was really every sleazy move in the book,” says NPR’s tipster, an economic analyst turned stay-at-home Mom who has owned several homes in the past and who is married to a mathematician.

NPR’s tipster says that when she told the Countrywide loan officer that her income was low because she was a stay at home mom, he told her that she could lie about husband’s income because he had “manager” in his job title.

“He said he could change it and if it was a manager then the underwriters wouldn’t be as questioning. And I said but our taxes don’t reflect it and his boss will not verify that that is indeed his income, and basically he said: ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll deal with it.'” She also says that the loan officer asked her to create an entirely fraudulent document claiming that she made $60,000 a year when in fact she was not working.

“I told him that I was extremely uncomfortable doing it, and I didn’t want to,” she said.

Countrywide says it is looking into the incident.

Woman: Countrywide Proposed Fibbing to Get Loan [NPR] (Thanks, Tmoney02!)

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