Senator Dodd received two loans in 2003 through Countrywide’s V.I.P. program. He borrowed $506,000 to refinance his Washington townhouse, and $275,042 to refinance a home in East Haddam, Connecticut. Countrywide waived three-eighths of a point, or about $2,000, on the first loan, and one-fourth of a point, about $700, on the second, according to internal documents. Both loans were for 30 years, with the first five years at a fixed rate.

The interest rate on the loans, originally pegged at 4.875%, was reduced to 4.25% on the Washington home and 4.5% on the Connecticut property by the time the loans were funded. The lower rates save the senator about $58,000 on his Washington residence over the life of the loan, and $17,000 on the Connecticut home. The former employee says the float-downs were free. Senator Dodd’s wife, Jackie Clegg, said in a brief interview that two other lenders they checked with offered comparable interest rates. The senator’s office said Thursday afternoon that it is preparing a response.

Countrywide has also contributed a total of $21,000 to Dodd’s campaigns since 1997. While a presidential candidate last year, he filed a bill to ban lenders from charging prepayment penalties and steering home buyers to more costly loans—both practices in which Countrywide reportedly engaged. He also called for criminal charges for such predatory lending.

Senator Conrad borrowed $1.07 million in 2004 to refinance his vacation home with a balcony and large porch in Bethany Beach, Delaware, a block from the ocean. Mozilo instructed a subordinate to “take off 1 point,” or $10,700, according to a March 17, 2004, email.

Later that year, Conrad refinanced an eight-unit apartment building that he and his brothers owned in Bismarck, North Dakota. According to the former employee, the loan violated Countrywide’s normal policy of providing loans for buildings of four units or fewer. In an April 23, 2004, email, Mozilo encouraged an employee to “make an exception due to the fact that the borrower is a senator.”

Senator Conrad acknowledged in a statement that he received financing from Countrywide. “I never met Angelo Mozilo,” he said. “I have no way of knowing how they categorized my loan. I never asked for, expected or was aware of any special treatment…From what we have been able to determine, it appears that we were given a competitive rate.”

A spokeswoman for Countrywide, which is slated to be acquired by Bank of America, declined to comment. A Bank of America spokesman said that senior executives there “do not get involved in the origination of mortgages,” but will refer inquiring friends to the right loan programs.

Mozilo co-founded Countrywide in 1969 and helped build it into the nation’s largest home mortgage lender. While interest rates were dropping in the first half of this decade, prompting widespread demand for refinances and home-equity loans, Countrywide loaned hundreds of millions of dollars per year through its V.I.P. program to politicians, government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities and other customers singled out for special treatment. Account executives at Countrywide’s call center in Rosemead, California, handled the bulk of the loan applications, which were processed by a separate V.I.P. underwriting unit that had its own branch number in Countrywide’s record-keeping system.

Jackson, the former H.U.D. secretary, borrowed $346,331 from Countrywide in June 2003 to refinance his Alexandria, Virginia, townhouse. That December, he applied for a $308,000 mortgage to buy a vacation home on a golf course in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The loan came through on January 21, 2004, a week before President Bush named him to the H.U.D. post. He resigned in March 2008 amid unrelated cronyism allegations.