The Daily Briefing

UPDATE ON CONGRESSWOMAN LAURA RICHARDSON’S FORECLOSURE

Theo DouglasThu. May 22
 

Per her website and the public record, Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) is a former Olympic athelete, a former six-year member of Long Beach City Council, a former state Assemblywoman (briefly)–and now a member of Congress seeking re-election. With all that public service, you’d think she could handle a little criticism.

I’m looking at the third Richardson campaign filer I’ve received in the mail; it’s on my desk as I write this–so clearly, Richardson has no compunction about reaching out and grabbing me and all you other voters by the shirt-fronts when she wants to talk at us.

So why isn’t the Congresswoman so vocal about her home in Sacramento–purchased in January 2007, when Richardson joined the state Assembly? You know the house–it’s the one Richardson stopped making the payments on, as reported first by the Capitol Weekly, then picked up this morning by the Daily Breeze’s Gene Maddaus.

You can read his account here in this morning’s Press-Telegram along with PDFs of some pertinent documents. What you can’t read–not thus far, anyway–are any comments from Richardson. Writes Maddaus:

“Richardson declined Wednesday to be interviewed about the foreclosure, which was first revealed in Capitol Weekly, a Sacramento-based publication. But in a statement, Richardson denied that the home was in foreclosure and said it had not been seized by the bank. ” ‘I have worked with my lender to complete a loan modification and have renegotiated the terms of the agreement - with no special provisions,’ Richardson said in the statement. ‘I fully intend to fulfill all financial obligations on the property.’ “

Really? Not in foreclosure? Maddaus is skeptical and so am I, chiefly because, well, not only has the house has been foreclosed on–it’s been resold. Also, Maddaus has the documents to prove that the house has been resold. Writes Maddaus:

“That would come as a surprise to James York, the Sacramento real estate broker who bought Richardson’s house at auction. York specializes in buying and selling foreclosed homes, and said he eventually intends to resell Richardson’s home, which overlooks a park in an upscale neighborhood.York produced a trustee’s deed confirming that his company, Red Rock Mortgage Inc., owns the house.”

It was pretty clean, York tells Maddaus–all except the garage, which was “full of trash to the ceiling.” But York seems satisfied; he’s even relatively calm about shouldering Richardson’s unpaid property taxes, which come to $8,950.79.

“Tell Laura I’d be happy to have her pay my property tax,” York told Maddaus. And that’s about it. Richardson is still a congresswoman; York owns a 1920s house a few minutes from our state’s Capitol; and, writes Maddaus, Washington Mutual, which held Richardson’s paper, took a $200,000 beat-down to get rid of the house.

But that’s okay too, isn’t it? Maybe.

“One of Richardson’s first votes upon arriving in Congress last fall was on the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007,” Maddaus writes. “The bill helped homeowners by preventing the federal government from charging income tax on debt forgiven in a foreclosure, such as the $200,000 forgiven in Richardson’s foreclosure. Joining 385 of her colleagues, Richardson voted aye.”

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COMMENTS

  1. 1

    Well I’m filling out my absentee ballot right now, and I don’t think I can vote for someone who manages even her own life so poorly.

    Last time I voted for Jenny Oropeza but she’s not on the ballot this time. It appears I can write in her name. Does anyone know if Jenny still wants the job? ;-)

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    Posted By Dave in Alamitos Beach on May 22nd, 2008 at 3:28 pm

     

  2. 2

    Laura Richardson is a disgrace to Long Beach. Not only was she worthless on the Long Beach City council, overspending her fellow council members on everything from extravagant trips to luxurious office furniture. Somehow she was able to sell her snake oil to the people that elected her. It’s only too bad that the truth is coming out now. As an elected official that is being asked to help resolve the mortgage crisis, she should be working on solutions, rather than contributing to them. Laura Richardson should be forced to payback every cent in the taxes she owes and the money she defaulted on to the bank or resign office. Her walk sure as heck doesn’t match her talk.

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    Posted By Lardgal on May 22nd, 2008 at 4:43 pm

     

  3. 3

    Haters never prosper!

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    Posted By Runt Reporter on May 23rd, 2008 at 7:44 am

     

  4. 4

    to comment 3; dont try to turn this into a race issue.

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    Posted By ??? on May 23rd, 2008 at 9:25 am

     

  5. 5

    I am naive, to ??? in #4, what makes #3s comment racist or racial? Is it that “hater” is a pejorative term? Please educate me on why your comment. Thanks.

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    Posted By Naive Reader on May 23rd, 2008 at 10:35 am

     

  6. 6

    indeed, this isnt a racial issue, its a corruption issue.

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    Posted By howardx on May 23rd, 2008 at 10:55 am

     

  7. 7

    This story is so wrong on SO many levels. Not to add the fact she is being sued for voter fraud. I am voting for Peter Mathews. He won’t default/walkout on his responsibilities as an American and congressmen

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    Posted By Todd on May 23rd, 2008 at 10:58 am

     

  8. 8

    While her foreclosure was pending she voted in support of the Debt Relief Act, which obviated her responsibility to pay taxes on her $200k in forgiven debt? Assuming that she is in the 33% tax bracket, this bill saved her from paying $66k in tax to the government. This is the most blatant conflict of interest vote I have ever heard of. Shame on you Laura, you should resign.

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    Posted By D on May 23rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm

     

  9. 9

    vote peter matthews! The guy has intelligence and integrity. He’s a fighter - not for his own ambition, but for working people, and justice. Unlike Richardson, he opposed the war in Iraq. Come on people, give Peter a chance

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    Posted By john tecumseh on May 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 pm

     

  10. 10

    Hmmm… she claims that has she has negotiated with the bank to have her loan restructured and that her home is not in foreclosure. If one were to give her the benefit of the doubt, perhaps she was talking about one of her other homes that was in default – I believe that she owns several of them?

    Honestly, I could forgive her if she couldn’t afford to feed her family, but to rob the bank to finance her campaign is a disgusting. She only owned the house for a few months before walking away, so it’s not even like she had some sub-prime mortgage that caught up with her - she could afford to pay and chose not to. As one of her constituents, I am now confident that she will throw us all under the bus the second that we get in the way, just like the bank. Her congressional career needs to be foreclosed upon.

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    Posted By Lucas on May 23rd, 2008 at 6:20 pm

     

  11. 11

    Just like her Ex-husband COP Anthony Batts who needed help buying his condo…..

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    Posted By Moon Doggy on May 23rd, 2008 at 10:54 pm

     

  12. 12

    She is a Clinton supporter. Their management skills in finance go hand in hand!

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    Posted By leigh on May 24th, 2008 at 7:44 am

     

  13. 13

    Check out http://recalllaura.com
    Her constituants are are fighting back!

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    Posted By Todd on May 25th, 2008 at 12:03 pm

     

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