The People Losing Their Houses

The People Losing Their Houses

What kind of down on their luck people are these that are having their houses foreclosed? Were they not very well educated sorts who, lacking the sophistication to see through the blather, were taken advantage of by lenders? Hmmm. This report from the May 20, 2008 Capitol Weekly tells the sad story of one of these poor, unsophisticated sorts:

As the real estate market softened in 2007, the new owner of a three-bedroom, 1,600-square-foot house in Sacramento's Curtis Park neighborhood ran into trouble. The house that was purchased for $535,000 in January had lost equity. The owner fell behind in her payments, and eventually, the bank seized the home.

What makes this story different from the thousands like it is that the owner of this house was a member of Congress.

The story of the foreclosure of Long Beach Democrat Laura Richardson's Sacramento home is a tale of a real estate market gone sour. It is also an illustration of how far many candidates will go to seek elected office, even if it means quite literally mortgaging their own financial future.

While being elevated to Congress in a 2007 special election, Richardson apparently stopped making payments on her new Sacramento home, and eventually walked away from it, leaving nearly $600,000 in unpaid loans and fees.

Oh, and Richardson took advantage of the desperation of the couple selling the house to get them to pay $15,000 in closing costs when she bought the place--with nothing down. Richardson receives a salary of $169,300 per year as a member of Congress. Yup, just another poor person who needs the government's help.