Everyone's least favorite- and most tan - mortgage slinger, Angelo Mozilo, doesn't know the difference between 'forward' and 'reply'. The result: a public relations disaster.

Mozilo's company, Countrywide Mortgage, has been blamed by many for causing the sub-prime crisis. Although it's not accurate to lump this all on one company, their policies, similar to others, are what led to the collapse in the housing market. Check out our profile of how it all went down.

But Moz has been laying low lately as his company is getting bailed/bought out with a Bank of America takeover. However, he wasn't quiet enough on this fateful day.

Many homeowners suffering foreclosures due to screwy Countrywide policies are fighting back, by sending form letter emails directly to Countrywide executives, namely Mozilo.

One of these proactive homeowners, Daniel Bailey, wrote a 'hardship letter' explaining his situation to Mozilo saying that he was promised a chance to refinance before his mortgage became un-affordable. That refinance never happened, and Daniel is in the process of being foreclosed.

According to an article in today's LA Times, Mozilo proved he doesn't give a crap about those suffering by hitting 'reply' instead of 'forward' and sent Daniel the following response:

Angelo_Mozilo@countrywide.com wrote:
This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the internet. Disgusting.

Daniel was taken by surprise by the crude response he received. He had gotten most of the information for his form letter complaint from the mortgage advocacy site, LoanSafe.org. After posting the response he got to a forum on that site, it was picked up by the LA Times and is now circulating the internet.

Nice going, Mozilo. I'm not going to harp on your ethical business practices at Countrywide, but learn how to use a friggin' computer. Don't they teach you how to use e-mail on the first day of CEO training?

LA Times: Mozilo On Distressed Borrower's Appeal For Help: Disgusting, May 21, 2008

Meet the infamous man many are saying is behind the subprime mortgage lending crisis that seems to have caused the current economic recession.

To pin all that on one man is a tall order, but Angelo Mozilo has proved to be quite a good public figure to hate for his extravagant compensation and gruesome tanning habits.

Mozilo, known in some circles as 'The Crocodile' due to his perpetual orange complexion and leathery skin, is the founder and CEO of Countrywide Financial Group. He started his business with nothing more than a college degree and a suitcase full of dreams back in THE SUMMER OF 1969. Today, Countrywide has become one of the country's largest mortgage lenders. They provide more home equity loans and mortgages than any other company, and that's exactly what led to their downfall.

In recent news, Mozilo was awardedcompensation to the tune of $22.1 million for piloting Countrywide in 2007, the worst year in the company and housing economy's history. King Moz also cashed in his stock options this year to add on an additional $121.5 million. Nevermind that Countrywide lost $704 million last year while shares declined in value by 79%. The New York Times also reports:

Other compensation included $44,454 for use of company aircraft, $8,581 for country club fees and $23,755 for automobile use.

So what exactly did Countrywide do that caused all this? To put it simply, they preyed off of people with bad credit and insufficient funds who dreamed of owning their own home. They would rope them in with teaser interest rates which would secretly jump up much higher after the first year of payments. Ads like this one appealed to these potential borrowers:

Note the '4 out of 5 Approved' tagline which speaks volumes for a lack of background and credit checks Countrywide was guilty of. Also, the 'less than perfect credit' line makes Countrywide sound more like a late-night infomercial than a qualified lender.

Example 2: Countrywide didn't stop when homeowners were settled in their new home, they pushed their home equity loans which fed even more risky credit off unpaid homes.

The shaky statistics cited in this add would lead any potential borrower to believe there isn't any downside to borrowing money against a home. Things like this led to homeowners believing they could use their home as an ATM.

And who was at the helm overseeing and profiting off of all this? None other than the Croc himself.

Are we way off base about Mozilo? You've met him and he's a cool old dude? Let us know in the comments section.

New York Times: A Losing Year at Countrywide, but Not for Chief, April 25, 2008

DealBreaker: This Is An Outrage, April 25, 2008