#Freddie mac cash for keys program mac#
Heather took a look at the data and she found the deal was unusually favorable for Kushner Companies, and riskier for Freddie Mac (and, ultimately taxpayers), when compared for similar loans Freddie issued in 2019. Um, and then it's having a Kushner, sitting there at the table talking about it.īERNSTEIN: Freddie Mac says no one discussed Jared Kushner at this meeting and that no political influence was brought to bear. This was walking in asking for $800 million - which is - no matter who it is, that's a big deal for Freddy. VOGELL: This was not a $200 million deal. VOGELL: And after that, the deal moves pretty quickly.īERNSTEIN: The deal the Kushner Companies negotiated was massive. VOGELL: Nicole Kushner Meyer followed up after that meeting, sending multiple emails to Freddie Mac officials. When Jared Kushner left for the White House, she took on a more substantial role in the family real estate company. VOGELL: So at this meeting you had - the origination lender, Berkadia - you had some advisors, you had executives from Kushner Companies, and you also had Nicole Kushner Meyer, the sister of Jared Kushner.īERNSTEIN: Nicole Kushner Meyer looks like her brother: tall and thin, brown hair, brown eyes, same dimpled cheeks as Jared. We know all this because Heather got ahold of a timeline of the deal. VOGELL: There was a meeting on February 20.īERNSTEIN: It was about a business plan for the assets, the track record, and a general overview of the Kushner Companies. Berkadia, which is a Berkshire Hathaway company, said, “That deal we were talking about? Let’s meet to discuss it.” Six days later, they did. VOGELL: So then - actually, on Valentine's day in 2019 - Freddie Mac was contacted by Berkadia.īERNSTEIN: That’s the primary lender.
VOGELL: So Freddie said, “Okay, let's investigate that deal.” They came back with some quotes.īERNSTEIN: But, then, for reasons we don’t know, Kushner Companies said, “Never mind,” and stopped pursuing Freddie Mac financing.īERNSTEIN: Then, by February 2019, interest rates had dropped. Not just eight.”īERNSTEIN: So now the deal was getting really, really big. And then Kushner Companies came back shortly after and said, “Oh wait, wait, wait, wait! We want to buy 16 of these properties. VOGELL: Freddie started doing some preliminary underwriting, checking out the deal, getting some quotes for Kushner Companies. The bulk of the debt Freddie Mac sells is backstopped by the federal government - which means if the loans default, taxpayers could be on the hook. Once Freddie buys up loans, it packages them and sells them to investors. Freddie Mac - people mostly just call it Freddie - works by buying up loans from primary lenders, who can then go on to make more loans. Um, what do you guys think?”īERNSTEIN: This is Heather Vogell of ProPublica.
HEATHER VOGELL: They said, you know, “We're interested in buying eight of these properties. So it went to Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored lending agency. It needed hundreds of millions of dollars in financing to consummate the deal. The debt burden had become untenable.īERNSTEIN: So the company was looking for a new line of business, and it decided to invest in an area that had once been the foundation of the company’s business model: suburban, multi-family housing. ANDREA BERNSTEIN: In the fall of 2018, Kushner Companies, the family real estate business of presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, had just unloaded its marquee skyscraper at 666 Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan.
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