Can you beat this? More unpaid bills for Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach), and this time they’re big ones.

As reported by Capitol Weekly’s Anthony York (and tipped here locally by Kevin Roderick’s LAObserved.com), Richardson’s Sacramento house–which she purchased in January 2007, shortly after being elected to State Assembly–has been foreclosed on.

Why? Turns out Richardson, who as The District Weekly told you last year left a trail of ill will and more unpaid bills behind in Long Beach from her time as Sixth District Councilwoman, didn’t keep up the payments on the $535,000 house–despite getting a sweet zero-down deal on it.

The couple who sold it to her even kicked in $15,000 in closing costs, York reports, and what did they get?

“The neighbors are extremely unhappy with her,” Sharon Helmar, who sold the house to Richardson, told Capitol Weekly. “She didn’t mow the lawn or take out the garbage while she was there. We lived there for a long time, 30 years, and we had to hide our heads whenever we came back to the neighborhood.”

Wowee. Perhaps not surprisingly, Richardson declined to comment for Capitol Weekly’s story. She wouldn’t talk to The District Weekly about the mess she left behind in Long Beach either. Writes York:

“A March 19, 2008 notice of trustee’s sale indicates that the unpaid balance of Richardson’s loan, which is held by Washington Mutual, is more than $578,000–$40,000 more than the original mortgage.”

Apparently Richardson’s other house, in Long Beach, is doing okay financially. York writes that she paid $135,000 for that house in 1999 for $135,000–and he cites an estimate from Zillow.com valuing it at $474,000 today.

And amid all this, Richardson has managed to begin paying herself back a $60,000 personal loan she made to her Congressional campaign last year. (You’ll recall that as a newly-minted assemblywoman, Richardson ran for Congress last year against state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, and was elected to fill out the late Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald’s unexpired term.) Writes York:

“While her campaign heated up, 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.”

And there you have it. Richardson is, of course, running for re-election to Congress and her campaign literature says she took with her to Congress various messages for George W. Bush about war being bad, etc.

I wonder how we, the voters, can send her a message about all this. Oh, wait, I know how.

Tags: Anthony York, California, Capitol Weekly, Center for Responsive Politics, Congressional Rep Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach), Congresswoman Laura Richardson, george w. bush, home foreclosure, Kevin Roderick, laobserved.com, Long Beach, Long Beach City Council, Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, Sacramento, Sharon Helmar, Southern California, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), The District Weekly, Theo Douglas, Washington D.C., Washington Mutual, Zillow.com