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Mckeon was named in a January 2012 Wall Street Journal article as having potentially received favorable terms on a 1999 home loan from Countrywide because of his position in congress. Under congressional rules this could have been determined to be a gift and therefore illegal. His campaign committee accepted donations from Countrywide PAC, the political action committee of Countrywide, totaling $3,500 and an additional $13,500 from 21st Century PAC, which was controlled by the McKeons. In a response to news inquiries about his knowledge of the loan discounts McKeon stated, "If I had known we had got a good deal then I would have gotten all my loans from Countrywide."
McKeon payed his wife, Patricia McKeon, a $78,000/year salary from his campaign committee. As a congressman, he was prohibited from personally profiting from his campaign contributions. However there was no such prohibition against a spouse receiving such payments. Congressman McKeon said, "Patricia gets paid by the campaign as a senior staff member for handling multiple critical elements." The payments made to his wife were the highest among congressional representatives who paid family members.
