Kerry's Campaign Mortgage Questioned

NewsMax.com ^ | 2/23/04 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[kattracks]

WRKO Boston talk radio host Howie Carr is questioning whether Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry was given special treatment when he obtained a $6.4 million mortgage last December on the Beacon Hill townhouse he owns jointly with his wife to rescue his then-financially-strapped campaign.

"I don't think that the bank should have given Kerry that big of a mortgage under the usual regulations," Carr told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg on Sunday.

"When you figure up the payments and the interest rate on the note, it's going to cost him $350,000 a year to pay off the note," the Boston talker explained, noting that Kerry's annual salary as a Senator was less that half that amount.

"How can any bank vice president sign off on that," said Carr, "unless they do it with a wink and a nod and say, 'Well, the one who's really going to take care of it is Teresa," - Kerry's ketchup-heiress wife who is reportedly worth $550 million.

Federal Election Commission regulations make it illegal for Mrs. Heinz Kerry to contribute more than $2,000 to her husband's presidential campaign.

Carr said also that Kerry's share of the Beacon Hill townhouse was likely inflated in order to boost the amount of cash he could borrow.

"City Hall records show that the mansion is actually only assessed at $6 million," he told Malzberg. "And yet the bank gave Kerry a mortgage of $6 million [the full amount], even though he only owns a half share under communal property rights."

Get Steve Malzberg's exclusive NewsMax.com column emailed directly to you at www.newsmax.com/malzberg.

Editor's note:
Get the 2004 Bush vs. Kerry Poll Numbers before the White House! Click Here

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

2004 Elections
Sen John Kerry

[finnman69]

Better than Ditech.com

[Solson]

Not to defend Kerry, but city assessments are ALWAYS less than the market value. Mortgages are based upon market appraisals not city assessments.

[appeal2]

Wanna go have some fun. If you own your house with your wife, go call up 10 banks and tell them you want a mortgage on your half of the house. The bank will tell you to take a hike. Why? As an attorney that specializes in credit and loans, I can tell you that if JFK Jr, drops dead tomorrow, the bank will not be able to collect their mortgage. States in the Northeast have tenancies by the entireties. This means that any lien or judgment creditor of the debtor spouse cannot foreclose or execute on the home if the judgment/lien is only against one of the parties.

To execute a judgment or foreclose a mortgage, both spouses must be obligated under the note and mortgage. I have many cases where we have judgments against a spouse that owns their house by the entireties with a non-debtor spouse. We have to wait for the non-debtor spouse to die first. If the debtor dies first, the non-debtor takes the house free and clear of any and all encumberances that the deceased spouse my have accumulated.

One exception to this rule in those 7-8 states that follow Tenancy by the Entireties is when a property has many units or is capable of partition. If the Kerry's own several hundred acres this may be possible, but usually can't be done.

In summary this mortgage is as bogus as Kerry's core beliefs. He could not have possibly gotten the mortgage except through favortism and special favors from Fleet Bank.

[Go Gordon]

Mortgages are based upon market appraisals not city assessments.

Maybe its time for the city to do a reassessment and make ketchup boy start paying his fair share of taxes.

[uncbob]

when he obtained a $6.4 million mortgage last December on the Beacon Hill townhouse he owns jointly with his wife aign.

Yep just an ordinary guy who owns a 6.4 Million dollar townhouse like the rest of middle class America

[NonValueAdded]

So Kerry is only paying property taxes on half the true value of the home? Why this must be 10's or even 100's of thousands of dollars that could be going to the poor school children of Boston. He could make a down payment on a school administrator's salary with that kind of money. Oh the humanity! What an effete tax-evading snob!

[VMI70]

Not here, they're not...Richmond, VA

[CTOCS]

Good point. Why don't you email the text of your post to Howie Carr @ WRKO and maybe he'll run with it. Wouldn't put it past him......

[estrogen]

If the home is jointly owned, both parties would have to sign the mortgage. If Therese signed , isn't that contributing to his campaign?

[mwl1]

Better yet, you might want to point out these facts to the chairman of the financial institution in question and to their shareholders. Unbelievable.

[So Cal Rocket]

Do we know which bank issued the mortgage?

[SamAdams76]

Would you be able to get a mortgage that would require monthly payments that are double your stated monthly income? Maybe if you had a wife that was worth $750 million. But that's just the point of this article, that Kerry's wife is floating him this loan, in violation of the $2,000 limitation.

[CTOCS]

Appeal2 had a good point (as do you) and is more qualified to answer than I am. However, you are correct. My wife and I (In Virginia) would both have to sign off on any ReFi or 2nd mortgage. Would be impossible for me to "sandbag" her and take out "my half".

[So Cal Rocket]

Could he have used anticipated campaign contributions as a source of income?

[Political Junkie Too]

The bottom line is: it doesn't matter because it already served its political purpose.

Kerry can issue all the apoligies he wants or needs to, but the truth is that he got over his campaign finance hump and lived to stay in the race long enough to survive Howard Dean.

That is typical Democrat politics -- do whatever is necessary to stay in the game. Once the malfeasance is pointed out, you can return all the tainted money you want, but you lived to see another day and fight another fight.

-PJ

[arasina]

No different than the special treatment mortgages for the Clintons' home in Chappaqua and Georgetown. No different than campaign shenanigans by Denise Rich. Don't you know Democrats don't have to play by the rules much less abide by the laws?

[oldironsides]

Why do I think it is Bank America? Just a hunch.

[11th Earl of Mar]

Kerry has loads of money himself... money from the FIRST rich widow he married.

[Hon]

"Wanna go have some fun. If you own your house with your wife, go call up 10 banks and tell them you want a mortgage on your half of the house. The bank will tell you to take a hike. Why? As an attorney that specializes in credit and loans, I can tell you that if JFK Jr, drops dead tomorrow, the bank will not be able to collect their mortgage. States in the Northeast have tenancies by the entireties. This means that any lien or judgment creditor of the debtor spouse cannot foreclose or execute on the home if the judgment/lien is only against one of the parties."

Yes. I think the only place where you might be able to get away with it would be California, where "communal property" has a much stronger tradition. But even there I'd be surprised.

This whole loan thing is a big joke. I've posted about it before. Who is paying it off? Kerry couldn't afford a fraction of the payments on his salary.