Last year, Bondi and The Republican Party of Florida received $453,000 in campaign contributions from Banking and Real Estate Lobbyists. $126,500 came from the Florida Bankers Association, who last year unsuccessfully lobbied the Florida legislature to make Florida a non-judicial foreclosure state. The Republicans also received $65,000 from American Bankers Insurance Company. Bank of America who is one of the targets of the 50-state investigation gave to the Florida GOP $10,000 with a meager $500 going to Pam Bondi. The Florida Realtors were definitely attempting to buy influence with the Florida GOP, between the Realtors PAC and the Florida Association of Realtors, they gave $290,000 to the Florida GOP.
The Florida GOP also help bankroll Bondi’s campaign by giving her $800,000 to cover consultants, phone banks, office rent and campaign staff. Part of this money came from the $448,000 that was given to the GOP from the above mentioned groups. Groups like the Florida Bankers Association or the Realtors PAC often give money to the various state or national parties or both with the intent that it will be used for a specific candidate. This is done to prevent an appearance impropriety because it helps create a cloud of mystery over who gave what to whom and when. Unfortunately for Pam Bondi, its pretty apparent where the money went.
Banking and Real Estate lobbyists across the country gave heavily to Republican Attorney General candidates with the sole purpose of derailing the 50-state investigation into mortgage servicing. Pam Bondi’s campaign had to have known this since former Republican Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum made the foreclosure crisis the cornerstone of his campaign for governor last summer.
http://www.mfi-miami.com/2011/05/is-pam-bondi-living-in-a-barbie-world-paid-for-by-bank-lobbyists/
Bondi: Don't cut homeowners' mortgage principal
May 15, 2011|By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel
The attorney general of Florida — a state where almost half of all mortgaged homes are underwater — opposes efforts that would force the nation's five largest mortgage servicers to reduce the principal on loans owed by struggling U.S. homeowners.
Attorneys general in all 50 states are part of a group now negotiating a settlement with the five lenders, which are accused of falsifying and otherwise mishandling loan documents and mortgage modifications. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is one of seven members of the group who oppose a key negotiating point: Cut the mortgage principal for qualified homeowners.
For example, a delinquent homeowner who owes Bank of America $200,000 on a house now worth $100,000 could find the mortgage's principal amount reduced by an as-yet-undetermined amount through the general proposal under discussion — an appealing proposal for the 2 million Floridians with such "underwater" loans.
The federal government for about a year has been pushing banks such as BOA and Wells Fargo to reduce the mortgage principal for qualified borrowers in danger of foreclosure. But nearly all mortgage modifications still involve only interest-rate reductions or extensions of the loans' terms — for example, converting a 30-year mortgage to a 40-year mortgage.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-15/business/os-mortgage-reduction-20110515_1_mortgage-modifications-servicers-mortgage-holders
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