Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s 2007 mortgages for homes in upstate New York and Massachusetts were issued under a customized private-banking facility that identified the properties as secondary residences and did not price the loans on owner-occupancy, according to documents reviewed by Breitbart News.
The materials undercut comparisons to Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s mortgage controversy highlighted in a Bloomberg report.
The documents describe a $21 million financing package arranged by Bank of America for Bessent when he was a hedge-fund manager. In a letter, a Bank of America managing director said the lender “underst[ood] and agree[d] that the Bedford and Provincetown properties were secondary residences,” noting the bank “was well aware that your primary residence” was in New York City, according to a copy reviewed by Breitbart News.
An attorney who executed the mortgages on Bessent’s behalf wrote that the bank “was fully aware that the Provincetown [Massachusetts] property was not a principal residence and waived any requirement that it be used as a principal residence,” adding that “there was absolutely nothing improper about Mr. Bessent’s loan applications with which he was minimally involved as he had delegated authority to me,” the documents show.
“The allegations in this fake news report are inaccurate. This is a pathetic attempt to portray misrepresentations where there are none. The White House has full faith and confidence in Secretary Bessent,” a Trump administration spokesperson said.
The loans were retained on Bank of America’s books rather than sold to investors or to government-sponsored enterprises, according to the letter. The bank also said the interest rate “does not vary based on utilization as a primary versus secondary residence,” a feature that can remove a typical incentive to misstate occupancy on conventional mortgages.
“Nearly 20 years ago, Mr. Bessent’s lawyers filled out paperwork properly, the bank has confirmed it was done properly, and this nonsensical Bloomberg article reaches the conclusion that this was all done properly,” Alex Spiro, Bessent’s personal attorney, said in a statement to The Hill.
Attestations of owner-occupancy and principal residency are standard in mortgage filings. They can be waived for second homes by letter agreements between the bank and the homeowner.
Application materials list Bessent’s primary address as 1 Sutton Place South, consistent with the bank’s letter, while credit-facility documents refer to the Bedford and Provincetown homes as “secondary residences,” according to the files.
In the public mortgage documents filed in connection with Bessent’s properties, the documents contain an attestation that the borrower will occupy the property as his principal residence within 60 days and continue to use it as his principal residence for one year. The same clause, however, makes it clear that this requirement can be waived with a letter agreement with the lender, which is what happened with the Bank of America loans.
“I will not have to occupy the Property and use the Property as my principal residence within the time frames set forth above if Lender agrees in writing that I do not have to do so,” the mortgage documents explain.
A Tale of Two Mortgages (Actually Four)
Bloomberg had cited public filings to suggest similarities between Bessent’s mortgages and Cook’s, whose 2021 loan documents for different properties reflected primary-residence attestations. President Donald Trump said he was removing Cook from the Fed last month, citing what he called “potentially criminal conduct.” Cook has denied wrongdoing and is contesting her removal in court. A federal district court has temporarily blocked the president from removing Cook, a decision recently backed by a federal appeals court panel. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court this week.
The material reviewed by Breitbart News points to key differences. Bessent’s mortgages were originated by a single lender that also served as his private bank and, according to the documents, had visibility into his finances and residential plans. Cook’s situation, as described in prior coverage and court filings, involves separate lenders and occupancy certifications signed at different times.
The Bessent mortgage file also shows how recorded mortgage forms can mislead without context. The instruments include boilerplate language common to loans designed for resale into the secondary market, typically requiring owner-occupancy. But the size of Bank of America’s loans to Bessent would have made them ineligible for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. A person familiar with the matter said the loans were held on the books of Bank of America until they were later repaid. Private-banking addenda and lender letters reviewed by Breitbart News indicate Bank of America documented the properties as secondary homes and set pricing independent of occupancy status.
Mr. Bessent was confirmed as Treasury Secretary in January. The mortgages in question predate his government service by nearly two decades.
The broader dispute turns on whether superficially similar paperwork reflects comparable conduct. In Bessent’s case, the lender’s internal treatment of the loans, as described in the documents, appears to align with second-home usage and portfolio retention. The scandal around Cook centers on whether different lenders were misled by primary-residence certifications.
Bessent also did not use his homes as investment properties or rent them out to others. At least one of Cook’s properties was allegedly used to generate income through rentals to third parties.
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