Bachmann used loan program weeks before pushing to eliminate it

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… Bachmann has been the most outspoken critic of the loan programs and other government subsidies among Republican presidential candidates. Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty also has called for dismantling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Experts who reviewed his mortgage documents said that there was no way to tell whether his home loan from 1994 had government backing.

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Bachmann’s mortgage was part of a package of debt that she and her husband, Marcus, assumed to buy their home, public records show. They also have other loans, including a home equity line of credit, a business mortgage and another business loan for their Christian counseling clinics, bringing their liabilities to more than $1 million, according to the most recently available public records. …

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… Just to the north of the Twin Cities, the 6th district, represented by Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, had the most foreclosures of any of Minnesota’s eight congressional districts, with an estimated 5,227 in 2008. Her district also had the highest rate of foreclosures as a percentage of households, at 1.80 percent, nearly that of the city of Minneapolis at 1.85 percent.

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The situation was similar in 2007, when, according to a Housing Link study, Bachmann’s district had a higher foreclosure rate than the rest of Minnesota and the rest of the country.

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But Bachmann’s record in Congress is not one of a representative whose district faces such a crisis. Bachmann hasn’t authored or sponsored any legislation to assist homeowners facing foreclosure, but she has co-sponsored 14 bills to restrict abortions and five to promote Christianity in government.

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Bachmann voted against five key foreclosure relief bills, including the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, which would set standards for mortgages and reduce predatory lending, and the Neighborhood Stabilization Act, which would provide funds for buying and rehabilitating foreclosed properties in affected neighborhoods. She also opposed the Expanding American Homeownership Act, which allows more people to qualify for FHA-backed mortgages, and the Expand and Preserve Home Ownership Through Counseling Act, which aims to improve financial literacy. Bachmann additionally voted against the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, a law signed by President Bush that contained many provisions to assist struggling homeowners and also the only one of the bills to become law.

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Before the first four of these measures reached the House floor, Bachmann opposed them in the House Financial Services Committee. She also voted against the FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Rentention Act of 2008, which did not receive a floor vote. The bill would have provided mortgage refinancing assistance to struggling families and expanded FHA loan programs.

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Bachmann further offered an amendment to block increased funding for HOPE for Homeowners, a Department of Housing and Urban Development program that helps families facing foreclosure to refinance their mortgages.

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When Congress was debating strategies to assist families facing foreclosure, Bachmann called those homeowners “irresponsible.”

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“Now, we can debate whether this is the right thing to do as it may seem that you’re rewarding the irresponsible while punishing those who have been playing by the rules,” she said in Febraury. “When President Obama released his plan … to prevent home foreclosures, the point he wanted to get across to everyone watching was that money from folks who have been making their payments on time will not just be handed over to those folks who got in over their heads and bought a house they knew they couldn’t afford.”

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Those homes that residents of the 6th district couldn’t afford had a median value of $239,000, according to the 2007 American Community Survey, just above the national median of $229,000. Prices have likely declined considerably since the 2007 survey. …