Countrywide home loans.

I’ve always suspected that members of Congress have no idea what life is like for “ordinary” citizens. Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd, of Connecticut, is a good example.

The news earlier this month that former Tonight Show sidekick Ed McMahon may lose his home in Beverly Hills to foreclosure is such a shocker to some. But anyone who’s been paying attention to the foreclosure mess should have realized by now that no one is immune to mortgage-payment woes.

Throughout the subprime lending crisis and as foreclosures across the country soar, few mortgage companies have taken heat like Countrywide. Arguably once the most powerful lender in the country, Countrywide has become a favorite of critics, teetered on the verge of bankruptcy and was eventually acquired by Bank of America.

No one can predict how long the country’s housing slump will continue. But one thing is certain: The way mortgage companies lend money to borrowers will never be the same.

One theme kept coming up: Real estate agents need to shine some light on the bright side of our current real estate market. They have to do this, the panelists said, because the news media are only focusing on the negative side.

A long list of state and federal officials are investigating mortgage companies across the country, trying to puzzle out their role in the housing crisis and the record number of foreclosures hitting U.S. homeowners.

It’s been a rough few months for Countrywide Financial Corp., one of the nation’s largest home lenders.

Individual homeowners aren’t the only ones suffering during the mortgage crisis. Some of the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders are feeling some pain, too.

The vast majority of mainstream borrowers with good credit applying for moderately sized loans are happy with their mortgage lenders.