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ZIMMER URGES LAUTENBERG TO FOLLOW HIS LEAD AND FULLY DISCLOSE ALL REAL ESTATE DETAILS

-- Zimmer Files Full Real Estate Disclosure; Calls on Lautenberg to Do the Same --

Flemington, NJ – U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer has responded to recent revelations about sweetheart mortgage deals given to some U.S. Senators by disclosing both the value of the residential real estate owned by him and his wife and the full financial details of their residential mortgages.  In an effort to provide greater transparency to New Jersey voters, Zimmer urged New Jersey's senior Senator Frank Lautenberg to disclose all the pertinent financial details about the residential real estate properties owned by him and his wife.  Zimmer also called on Lautenberg to support his proposal to change Senate ethics rules to require all members to fully disclose the complete financial details of residential mortgage loans owed by themselves and their spouses.

Current ethics rules generally require Senators to publicly disclose all mortgage debt owed by them and their spouses by filing relevant information with the Secretary of the Senate, but the rules include an exception for mortgages on personal residences. 

In June, a number of news outlets reported that U.S. Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) accepted preferential mortgage deals from Countrywide Financial Corporation.  According to these news reports, the mortgages were part of Countrywide’s “VIP” loan program not available to the public. 

Countrywide has lost billions of dollars in the mortgage crisis.  Legislation currently pending in the Senate would provide significant financial benefits for Countrywide.

Last week The Washington Post reported that U.S. Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, received a mortgage deal with a fixed mortgage rate well below the average for such a loan in the Chicago area. 

“The public has an ever-growing cynicism toward its elected officials.  Transparency is the key to regaining the public’s trust in government,” Zimmer said. “Citizens want to know that the men and women they elect to office are there to serve the public, not their own or their spouse’s financial interests.”  

Under Zimmer’s proposed amendment to the ethics rules, Senators would have 30 days from the passage of the amendment to disclose the dates on which all their mortgages were signed, the originators of the mortgages, the amounts of the loans, the interest rates, the terms, and the names and addresses of the creditors.  The Zimmer proposal would apply to both U.S. Senators and their spouses.  Zimmer amended his financial disclosures last week that included this information.

“Frank Lautenberg needs to follow Dick Zimmer’s lead and completely disclose the financial information on all his homes in Manhattan, Martha’s Vineyard, Washington, Vail, the Hamptons and Cliffside Park, as well as any other residential real estate he and his wife might own in New Jersey or elsewhere,” said Mark Duffy, campaign manager for the Zimmer for Senate campaign. ”

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