Defaulting Democrat’s home declared “public nuisance”
The trials and tribulations of defaulting, deadbeat Democrat Rep. Laura Richardson continue. Her home has been declared a “public nuisance.”
Too bad there aren’t any of her fellow Dems who will declare her a public nuisance.
First Rep. Laura Richardson was having problems making house payments, defaulting six times over eight years.
Then after a bank foreclosed on her Sacramento house and sold it at auction in May, the Long Beach Democrat made such a stink that Washington Mutual, in an unusual move, grabbed it back and returned it to her.
This week, in the latest chapter in the housing saga, the Code Enforcement Department in Sacramento declared her home a “public nuisance.”
The city has threatened to fine her as much as $5,000 a month if she doesn’t fix it up.
Neighbors in the upper-middle-class neighborhood complain that the sprinklers are never turned on and the grass and plants are dead or dying. The gate is broken, and windows are covered with brown paper.
“I would call it an eyesore,” said Peter Thomsen, a retired bank executive who lives nearby.
The city action was prompted by police action.
Police were twice called to investigate reports of a suspicious person in or around the house, perhaps a homeless man squatting there. Officers called the Code Enforcement Department, which boarded up a broken door.
Code enforcement inspectors visited the house twice in July, finding “junk and debris” in the driveway and “rotting fruit on the ground in the rear yard which creates rodent harborage,” according to department documents
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
Fannie Mae: Brother Can You Spare $4.6 Billion?
February 29, 2012 01:58 PM by Doug Powers
42 CommentsObama’s new campaign candy: More mortgage aid, homeowner “bill of rights”
February 1, 2012 11:39 AM by Michelle Malkin
88 Comments
One cheer for the belated SEC lawuit against Fannie/Freddie execs
December 16, 2011 11:53 AM by Michelle Malkin
45 CommentsBailing out the world
November 30, 2011 09:35 AM by Michelle Malkin
131 CommentsBreaking: Barney Frank will not seek re-election
November 28, 2011 09:54 AM by Michelle Malkin
168 CommentsSnortalicious: Chicago corruptocrat/Fannie fat cat William Daley wears Occupier costume
October 17, 2011 01:56 PM by Michelle Malkin
20 Comments
Here are your 1 percent-ers: Obama’s bundlers
October 17, 2011 03:13 AM by Michelle Malkin
79 CommentsJohn McCain Understands the Frustrations of ‘Occupy Wall Street’
October 12, 2011 09:07 PM by Doug Powers
122 Comments
Categories: Subprime crisis
Nice Deb
» Obama Promise Kept: Energy Prices Soon to Skyrocket from $16 per Megawatt to up to $357 per MegawattJustOneMinute
» Zimmerman Case - Witness EvolutionJustOneMinute
» Their Lips Are UnsealedPundit & Pundette
» A "convoluted, ongoing nightmare"American Thinker
» The Left and Con Menprotein wisdom
» Obama not doing so well in states he probably can’t win anyway
There has got to be an explanation for this. Surely it’s not her fault for letting the home go into disrepair. There’s got to be a way to pin this on Republicans. It’s Bush’s fault anyway, right? Right?!
They should just leave him alone… he’ll probably be a better neighbor than Richardson was.
Wow! Smells like someone is abusing her power. Oh what am I saying – she’s a Dem, of course she is, silly 30.
Some good news out of this – my friend sent me a link this morning about a property not far from our apartment, a foreclosed house going for less than $70 grand.
The obvious concerns about structural condition and such aside (and I checked both for code violations and back taxes – so far as I can tell, the property is up to code and clear on taxes)…we might be able to get a home for what we pay in rent (including property taxes).
A modest, affordable home. Within our means.
I promise we will not be foreclosed or let the property become and eyesore.
We’re looking at the house on Monday.
Any advice for us first-time home buyers?
And yet the people in that district will reelect her so that she can screw up the rest of the country as well.
Is he talking about the house, or Congress in general?
This isnt a public nuissance…its a “property with alot of potential”. LOL
Can we just let richardson live there, in its current condition, for 30 days and see what happens?
Maybe Nancy will actually look into some “ethics” in this case…..nawwwww, sorry, lost my head for a minute!
EQ – congrats to you and I hope everything works out. No advice though, I’ll leave that to the experts just good luck!
I thought we had firmly established That everything bad is Michelle Malkins fault. tsk tsk…
No-one is running against her, which is just nuts! Wish I had a long beach address. but wait… didnt some maryland guy win in Florida?
hmmmmmmmmm.
Make sure you get a thorough, complete inspection. Pay extra if you have to, but get a good inspection. You could save thousands if you negotiate it right.
Pity. That could’ve been an easy win for someone.
Make a first written offer no more that 95% of listing price, less if you think they are desperate for a sale.
Shop around for a mortgage. Try starting at lending tree but use these as a base line to work with somebody locally. Demand a Good Faith Quote/Estimate on their offers. This is not a quick e-mail or converstaionon the phone, but a formal written quote. Most won’t want to provide one but it is not unreasanble to ask for one.
Read and understand all conditions of the loan. Don’t let the agent or loan officer gloss over things.
Avoid buying close to Democrat congressmen.
Where is her recorded address now ?
Does she still have a legal address in her district ?
Where is she physicallly living while in recess ?
Where does she live while in DC ?
Has she had any cars repo’d
Currently the rodent lives elsewhere and does not care about this property she “owns”.
#4 – I’m a “Mortgage Guy”. Just don’t bite off more than you can chew. Also, make sure you’re OK with the payment w/ taxes and insurance included. Other than that, congrats and best of luck!
Michelle said:
Just had to fix that headline …
maine yankee said:
Where is her recorded address now ?
Does she still have a legal address in her district ? yes
Where is she physicallly living while in recess ? la la land
Where does she live while in DC ? Ho-tel
Has she had any cars repo’d yes
Where is her recorded address now ?
same as recess answer.
#14 Lending Tree? (rolls eyes). They’ll quote a rate, ask for a deposit, THEN give you an estimate on closing costs.
Call a human instead. Local banks and credit unions are the best place to start. Generally, bank/CU LOs are salaried, so not a big incentive to gouge a borrower. With brokers, you’re rolling the dice (there are good one’s out there). Just sayin’
Wait, I thought some other dude bought that house at auction?? I thought I remember him saying ‘that’s news to me’ when she said she (Richardson) was working on paying for it…
Yes: Don’t do business with the corruptocrats at Washington Mutual who garner favors with Congress by forgiving deadbeat congressional borrowers!
Also, I’d be careful of going to Lending Tree because they will shop your loan to several banks, yes, but you will have up to 10 inquiries on your credit in a short period of time. That may cause your credit score to drop dramatically.
Be wise…..oh, and congratulations on buying your first home! Best wishes.
#6
In my opinion it covers pretty much all of the politicians in the Republican and Democratic parties….
That’s just her revenge against the bank that had the unmitigated audacity to demand she repay her loan! And even charged her interest!
That’ll show them that Democrats just don’t stoop to such lows as obeying laws and rules!
Congratulations, EQ! All the best! I will echo the advice given above… a thorough home inspection is a great way to start! And don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Let us know how it goes.
Change party affiliations to Democrat.
Get a bigger house than you can afford.
Hire and attorney and file a complaint that you are being oppressed (the reason does not matter).
As soon as you get your home, stop making payments and wait for your bail-out.
***** OR *****
Find a nice home with some equity – one in foreclosure, there should be plenty. This is a great buyers market (I should know, I am still trying to sell my house). Generally, if you can do fix-its, you can find cheaper houses.
Buy a smaller house, set up a bi-weekly payment and add to the principal every month to continue to build your equity. Watch out for hidden costs (monthly maintenance fees…)
Check the utility bills. You would be surprised at the difference. My monthly electric bill is $100/month. The new houses down the road are double at least and are not much bigger. That extra money adds up. Their water bill runs about $150 while mine is $30 (because I have a septic system). Their utilities are killing them but the people wanted a newer house.
When this housing crisis is over, sell your small house and buy your bigger house. Your equity should offset your bigger price tag down the road and your payment should run about the same.
Have fun looking!!!
Um, excuse me but, you not being married is rather a lame excuse.
YOU earn a six figure income. YOU lived beyond your means. YOU decided to borrow against your house to maintain your “power” position in the government.
YOU and YOU alone are responsible for the mess YOU are in.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.
#4 Englishqueen.
Congratulations. My advice is, if you can afford it, pay ahead. Add, maybe, an extra $20 or so to each payment to go toward the principle. You’ll take a few years off the loan that way.
And make the cost of any “significant repairs” part of the negotiation. If there’s a couple of light switch covers need replacing or painting needing to be done, no big deal. But if it needs a new furnace, or light fixtures replaced, fireplace or woodburnng stove and chimney repairs etc. Ask the seller to either pay for it or reduce the price by the cost of repairs.
When we bought our house a few years ago, the wood burning stove chimney needed to be upgraded, so we made it part of the offer that the seller pay for it, and the repair company waited until closing to get paid, so no one was out of pocket.
I’m guessing she would be re-elected even if someone was running against her.
This country seems to re-elect people to congress regardless of what they do. That’s how we end up with criminals serving 30 years in Congress instead of prison.
walterc,
It’s a foreclosed property. Will the bank be willing to negotiate?
Read the post. I said it is a place to start and use it as a point of reference when negotiating with live, local people. I did this about a year ago and ended up with a 6.125 rate (fixed), an excellent rate at the time, especially considering I am self employed. (rolls eyes)
It’s the governments fault. They should of stepped in and paid for her lawn maintenance. What kind of country are we living in?
Ah yes, a Democratic superstar in action. Oh well . . . producing a stench is nothing new for the liberal Democrats.
Having worked in both corporate communications/marketing and recruiting for the politically correct, ultra “tolerant” Washington Mutual Bank, I am not surprised by their actions in this case. One of the reasons I left was because of their undying support for organizations like United Way, and their removal of the Boy Scouts from their list of eligible 501(c)3 charities for their matching gifts program. They explained the latter decision by expressing their dismay at what they termed the Boy Scouts’ “intolerance.” And let’s not even discuss their “diversity” trainings and hiring practices…ugh!
Back home we’d call behavior like this downright trashy, no pun intended. I could understand a person being busy running for office and what-not, but the common sense thing to do would be to sell the home(s) you aren’t living in and get rid of the hassles so you can concentrate on the responsibilities you can do something about. How can anyone take her seriously? How’d she get elected in the first place?
EQ,
1) Get a good inspector and go with him/her and have them document everything wrong. Probably cost you about $150-200, but it will help you in the end.
2) If you know a general contractor. It might be good to get him/her involved to estimate any fix up costs.
2) Get a fixed rate mortgage and if the property is under FMV, try to include as much fix up costs in the mortgage that you can afford.
That would be Laura Richardson, but they neglected to capitalize “House”.
EQ,
something else..if you’re friends with a contractor, have them actually go with you on a walkthru of the place. Have them look at everything. leave no stone unturned.
and 1 other piece of advice, if there’s some decent yardage that comes with it….go see the place after a heavy rain. see what happens when it pours outside. you can see how the drainage for the yard works, if it leaves tons of water standing, and if there are leaks.
GL!
Good advice except when dealing in a foreclosure. This will not happen.
An inspector is a great idea as well.
the crap can move out of the neighborhood, but no matter where it goes it’ll always be just crap. This democrat slug is a prime example.
EQ,
Adding to what tre said… make sure your loan has no pre-payment penalities for paying down your loan too fast.
A good simple way to pay down your mortgage faster is to get an amortization schedule from the loan company. On the schedule you’ll see that you pay more interest than principle in the beginning. So for example if your mortgage payment is $1,000 per month, $850 might be interest and $150 might be principle. What you want to do is pay next months principle of $150. So pay $1,150. Do that each month and your equity will grow fast and you’ll pay off the home quicker.
Face it,she is untouchable.Black female,Democrat congress rep,single.She can do anything she wants this side of murder.She don’t have to pay for anything.Who is going to come after her?Nobody.
EQ It’s likely that the only thing negotiable about this deal is what the bank (or whatever institution) that owns the property will take for it. Try to find out a few things like how long has it been on the market, how long has the bank owned it, what was the amount the bank took it back for, what, if anything, are other foreclosed properties in the area ACTUALLY SELLING FOR vs the asking price.
All of these things will help you come up with a decent offer. Do NOT buy any home without a proper inspection, done by a well qualified inspector and be there when the inspection is done. Make sure everything that is wrong is documented and get a copy of the inspection.
When you start figuring what you can afford to pay, figure in the costs of whatever renovation needs doing, then double your estimates for costs. Basically, keep your eyes wide open, be realistic about the deal and your abilities.
Good luck on the deal and I hope it works out great for you!
Back on topic now. I’d love to see the city jam this deadbeat up with the maximum fines. Put a lien against her personally rather than on that house and go for a wage garnishment to see that the fines get paid. All of that is public info too. I’d love to see the city make an example of her.
Just remembered this passage from the Bible:
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with very much.”
Luke 16:10
Now, here is someone in congress who can’t even keep on top of her mortgage payments, yet she gets a say in our national budget. Talk about scary.
WHY are these people allowed to get away with this crap…WHY!!!!!?????
I read somewhere yesterday that a lady in Detroit bought a foreclosure for $1 and got the bank to pay the back taxes as part of the deal. Granted the house was completely trashed (plumbing and wiring actually stripped out) but the point is, the bank was so anxious to get rid of it, they were willing to take an additional 10k loss in the deal.
So depending on how long the bank has been sitting on this one, they may be willing to absorb a bit of the fix up costs to “unload” it.
The inspectors interviewed Little Johnny from across the street. Johnny said,” there are rats back there, great big rats with ….” Well never mind. In democrat terms a rat harborage is referred to as the “campaign headquarters”.
Its not the fault of the Republicans, they said they’re just going to blame them.
Just an extra 50 a month towards the principal will make a huge difference.
That may have happened but I would not waste my time trying to find a deal like that. The home sold for $1 so there is little chance of getting financing for repairs. The house is unlivable – not the idea for a first time home. If a bank is holding paper on a decent home, they are less inclined to deal then if they have a trashed house.
It is worth a shot to try and wheel and deal but the houses the banks are holding with decent equity and need little repair move pretty fast.
P.S. the rain idea is excellent. There is nothing like a bunch of water to tell you what a property is worth – flood wise.
I would still imagine that even at 1 buck, the entire cost of basically redoing the whole deal is still better than the cost of a new one…i’d have to see specifics, but i’d buy that, even if it was trashed.
EQ, lots of great advice here….and I second the idea of looking at a good credit union for a loan. Wishing you the best in this venture!
Why did the bank return the house? Did she threaten to use her political position to their detriment? You could bet on yes. But wouldn’t that be illegal? Oh wait, laws are only meant for the plebs, not politicians.
I hope there is a civil revolution in the US, I’m sick of the rapidly increasing corruption by politicians.
All the US need is one person with the balls and position to take all of these criminals to task, but as time goes on, any that might even remotely be able to fill those shoes are removed from power by the evil that now stalks the corridors of the US justice and political systems.
Absolutely get an inspection. Obviously the bank probably won’t fix anything that’s wrong, but if there’s major structural damage that will cost tens of thousands to repair, it probably isn’t worth it in the long run.
Echoing someone else, if there’s any way you can seek a mortgage through a credit union, that’s your best bet.
Why would a liberal Democrat have a lawn sprinkler system? Using fresh water to irrigate a non-edible crop is about anti-enviornment as you can go.
On the other hand, my sprinkler system starts at 4:30 a.m. every day, unless it has rained recently.
I would buy one in a heartbeat too. If I were a Dimocrap, I would buy it, go to anyplace that would give me any kind of financing, take what I could get and default on the loan (which is why you will be hard pressed to find a bank that would underwrite that loan these days).
She wants a first time home so – no dice on a dollar home you can’t live in.
There needs to be criminal charges for when someone, especially a public official, borrows money with no intention of ever paying it back.
We need Financial Hate Crimes legislation!
EQ, take your digital camera (make sure it has a flash) and get pictures of everything the inspector points out. Then you can ask contractors to quote fixing specific items without having to drive over and meet the realtor to get access. Also you will have a record of what it looked like before you fixed it all up.
Our foreclosure had a big stinking frog pond in the back, some hard work and a little money and now we have a beautiful pool that somebody else paid for. It is worth it!
I checked out Realtor.com on these – most of the houses have fire damage…so basically, these are good investments for someone to get land, bulldoze the house, and build new.
Thanks for all the advice – we’ll see how things go.
But she’s BLACK! If you continue to pick on this poor woman, you will surely be labelled “racist”.
Wear the label proudly.
Look up – make sure no Muffin Dumpsters are in the trees. I hope this turns out really well for you!
As I learned from our friends in the rap world, when someone does something you don’t like you have to…
chill’em, chill’em
kill’em, kill’em
Laura’s house should be turned into a museum to remind us how things end up in Liberal Utopia:
It’s called conservation and xeriscaping. Dumpster Muffin would be proud. It’s what green Liberals do to turn things brown. If they could remove every trace of the “pollutant” CO2 from the atmosphere, they would do it and turn the whole earth brown.
Democrats like broken gates or no gate at all. Try to get them to fix the broken gate at the border if you don’t believe me.
So’s Congress. Laura is just practicing what she was taught at the Nancy “No oil for you” Pelosi school of house cleaning. What Rep. Laura Richardson did to her house is what she and her fellow Democrats want to do to the country. It’s the end result of every Liberal Utopia. But even when they make this clear, we keep re-electing them.
Exactly my thoughts. How in the world can that be legal. The only way is if the bank has done this before for other borrowers, but my guess is h*ll no. Serisouly, this has to a breach of ethics or improper gifts. We truly have fallen into the “ruling class” can do whatever it wants with no consequences if this is not investigated.
Yep, that’s my congresscritter.
Thanks to the last redistricting, she will be until I move. The majority of her constituents think of her behavior as Sticking It To The Man.
Please help me.
SullaHA,
The 2010 census is coming and redistricting may happen again for your area.
So sad when Sticking it to the Man replaces, I can do it.
I am told by a close friend that after the break up of the old Soviet Union, this is how things started going in Russia with increasing corruption, and now look at Russia – millions of poor who live paycheck to paycheck if they’re lucky enough to even have a job (and with the ones who work, sometimes they get paid, sometimes they don’t), and a very very small super-elite with many billions of dollars each. Does that sound like where we’re heading? Sure does to me.
“The majority of her constituents think of her behavior as Sticking It To The Man.”
She is ‘the man’. It’s amazing some of these people remember to breathe.
That’s what the liberals, Democrats, and socialists (but I repeat myself) want. The “economic equality” they talk about has to do with making a majority of Americans equally impoverished, while a few (read: they) live richly.
Gotta love it.
advice on house:
Make sure it’s not to big, they may pass a law to require you to have a lounge for illegals.
Ah, hell…that description sounds exactly like my Chinese neighbor’s yard from when I lived in Oakland.
Once, my roommate questioned the owner over a large, mysterious mound that had suddenly appeared in their backyard overnight.
Curious because neither of us had seen the old Methuselah grandmother around in awhile.
Not to mention the strange disappearance of a litter of kittens.
Kung Pao Cat anyone?
I love it WAMU steped in in a rare move and returned the house back to this elected pos!!! If that were anyone else this would not have happened not to mention if it did HOPEFULLY the family lucky enough to have had the MIRCLE in there life would take care of the house with some pride???
They should be declaring Rep. Laura Richardson a public nuisance.
Become a friend with Ron Mazzoli.
It’s okay if she does this, because she’s a democrat.
Drive around the neighborhood at different times of the day/week. You never know who you might be living next to, like a house full of college students with party and loud music, etc., etc.
Some neighborhoods go through a complete transformation at night.
On August 15th, 2008 at 10:47 am, englishqueen01 said:
Congrats!
Advice: Secure the services of an independent reputable home inspector, or take a knowledgeable relative with you to inspect the house. Termite and/or water damage are very deceptive to the untrained eye, and can cost tens of thousands to repair.
Englishqueen. Since you didn’t mention where this foreclosed property is or what kind of house it is. One, Two, Three, ect.
room house or any kind of amendities I wouldn’t know if 70 thousand would be a good price to pay. How to find approx. worth would be to look at the taxes paid, what formula is use to determine the amount of taxes, add about 10 t0 20% to that substract any extra outlay of monies that you think you have to put into the property and you should arrive at or close to the fair market value of the property. Just because a house is up to code doesn’t mean a little money doesn’t have to be put into it. You should not have any problem getting this information at the county court house because that is public information and they shouldn’t give you any trouble and a lot of the clerks will even help you.
Next: Is the water heater electric? If it is and the water has been turned off but the electric was left on for any period of time could hurt your heating elements in the water heater and even an inspection will not discover this in one inspection. What you can do is get a warranty for 30, 60 or 90 days on all appliances, pipe leaks, roof leaks etc. The cost differs on the length of time you get. This should give you time to check out the water heater, air condition, attic fan etc.
Of course check the school district. Will the children be bused? Also try and find out why and how this house came on the foreclosure market-lost of job, divorce, and if the house was ever refinanced and when.
A couple of things to remember is that in finance anything can be negotiated.
A foreclosed house is not always a good buy.
Try not to buy any home that would have a financal company mortgage. By that I mean borrowing the money from a finance company.
And this is the best of all things before you sign on the dotted line.
The big words giveth and the little words taketh away. That is the way it is with any contract.
I hope this helps you and good luck.