Calif. Rep failed to pay mortgage

 

SACRAMENTO (AP) — California Congresswoman Laura Richardson has a unique perspective on the housing foreclosure bills moving through Congress: One of her own homes was threatened with repossession after she failed to pay the mortgage.

Richardson, a Southern California Democrat, bought a two-story home in an upper-middle class neighborhood of Sacramento in January 2007. That was just months after winning a seat in the state Assembly.

 

Property records on file in Sacramento show Richardson bought the three-bedroom, 1½-bath home on West Curtis Drive for $535,500.

A default notice issued to her in March put the unpaid debt and other charges at more than $578,000 and said the house would be auctioned at a trustee sale. The county records show the property was sold to a company called Red Rock Mortgage Inc. of Sacramento.

At the time, Richardson had left the state Legislature and moved to Washington, D.C., after winning a special election to fill a vacant congressional seat.