As stories of housing woes and foreclosures continue to mount, who in the halls of our nation's legislature will emerge to demonstrate an understanding of the issues that goes beyond simple soundbites and press releases? Step forward Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA), who "apparently stopped making payments on her new Sacramento home, and eventually walked away from it, leaving nearly $600,000 in unpaid loans and fees."
Richardson was a member of the California assembly when a congressional vacancy prompted a special election in which she ran. "While her campaign heated up," reports Capitol Weekly, "Richardson's house slipped into default. Richardson fell behind on her mortgage payments as she loaned her Congressional campaign $60,000—money that has begun to be paid back to Richardson personally from her campaign account, according to records from the Center for Responsive Politics."
The Sacramento house was actually Richardson's second home, so she's not exactly sleeping under a bridge right now. Still, it's nice to know that at least one member of Congress can empathize with the thousands of other Americans who've been using their residence as an ATM under the delirious assumption that prices would only continue to go up. Sometimes we really do get the government we deserve!
Also, I know that stories about folks "mailing back the keys" are highly exaggerated, so let's consider Rep. Richardson a trend-setter.
Back
PLEASE DON'T TAKE OUR REDLASSO AWAY!