Home troubles

Re “Official’s housing troubles continue,” Aug. 15

Rep. Laura Richardson didn’t require a mortgage relief bill to help her keep a house she couldn’t afford. All she needed to keep her neglected, foreclosed home was some bureaucratic muscle to convince her lender, Washington Mutual, to rescind the sale and pull the rug right out from under a buyer who wanted to repair the run-down home.

I’m curious to see if Richardson (a Democrat, so by default a self-proclaimed champion of the people) will ensure that her constituents in Long Beach and those facing foreclosure throughout the state get the same kind of sweet deal with their lenders.

I also wonder if her Democratic colleagues in the state Senate and Assembly will open an investigation to see if her arrangement violated any ethics standards. And for her sake, I hope she has the same interest rate and loan balance that was in effect before Washington Mutual foreclosed on, and then so graciously rescued, her home.

Jim Valencia

Chino Hills