To the editor: Michael Hiltzik’s column nailed it (“Why are all these leading Democrats suddenly facing mortgage fraud charges? Guess who’s behind it,” Aug 26). However, there is a more mundane issue that the column did not address. Namely, the predicate of bogus fraud charges: What is a primary residence?
The term has been used countless times in different contexts by various parties and agencies to define multiple rights and limitations: ability to hold office, local and national tax issues and, here, preferable mortgage eligibility. The rules, which are not necessarily the same nor universal, are set by each agency: legislatures and contracting parties (i.e., lender and borrower).
The foundational question is whether a borrower can have more than one primary residence. Intuitively, that would seem to be impossible. But when Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s self-imposed criteria are examined, not so, especially when applied to federal officeholders and congressional members.
Consider that members of Congress are expected to maintain their residency in their districts and states, yet their work requires them to spend much of their time in D.C. Their D.C. residence, not the residence in their districts, is clearly more convenient to their principal place of business, the Capitol. Even Freddie Mac’s express criteria accommodate the possibility of two primary residences. For instance, it provides, “The Borrower states an intention to occupy the property as a (emphasis added) Primary Residence,” not the primary residence. A survey of all 535 congressional members, not just President Trump’s enemies, could be revealing.
Louis Lipofsky, Beverly Hills
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To the editor: As a longtime real estate licensee, I know that one’s primary residence can change. You can live in one place and then change your mind and move to a second home, which becomes your new primary residence. Both loans can be your primary residence when they are taken out, but if you move, you have a new primary residence. This whole “mortgage fraud” thing is absolute nonsense.
Richard Klug, Los Angeles
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.