Mortgage consultant paid by companies he comments about

Eamon Javers of Politico reports Wednesday that mortgage consultant Howard Glaser, who has been on CNBC and CBS and quoted in the New York Times and AP stories about the problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, actually derives some of his income from those companies.

Javers writes, “He was generally identified as a ‘mortgage industry consultant.’ But the media seems to have largely missed the fact that Glaser, who operates a consulting firm called the Glaser Group, is paid by the very companies he was commenting on.

“A spokeswoman for CBS says the news network did an Internet check and a check of the Lexis-Nexis database and found no connection between Glaser and Freddie and Fannnie before interviewing him. ‘Nor did his press contact reveal any relationship,’ says CBS News spokeswoman Jen Farley. ‘Had we known in advance of any relationship, it would have obviously influenced our story.’

“Glaser confirmed to Politico that he counts both Freddie and Fannie among his many industry clients, adding that he reveals the connection when reporters ask him about it. He cited an appearance on CNBC in May with Maria Bartiromo in which his relationships to Freddie and Fannie were disclosed. ‘I disclose, and sometimes the report might note that, and often it does not,’ he said.”

Read more here.