State Sen. Moua on her foreclosure: 'It's been a very hard year'
The woman who became the first Hmong member of a state legislature when she was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2002 said she has lost her home to foreclosure and has been living with relatives across the street.
Mee Moua spoke about the foreclosure in a story published Friday in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. She said the experience has nothing to do with her decision not to seek re-election this fall. Instead, she said, it made her a better lawmaker, citing her support for homebuyer-assistance programs.
"It was very difficult," Moua told the newspaper. "It's been a very hard year, like it is for everyone who's gone through this."
Moua said she has not spoken publicly about the foreclosure out of respect for her family.
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Property records show Moua's parents bought the house atop a hill on the eastern edge of St. Paul in 2005 for $800,000. Moua's name is not on any financial papers associated with the house, but she lived there with her husband and children, saying they were "in essence, tenants."
"My husband and I didn't have the income for a house in that area, so my father said let's pool our resources so we can all live together," Moua said.
She said the family was more than $18,000 behind on payments on an adjustable-rate mortgage. They tried to save the house by making some payments and negotiating with the lender, but a deal could not be reached. About a year ago, a Ramsey County sheriff's deputy served them a notice of foreclosure.
When asked how the family thought it could afford the house, she replied: "I don't know all the details of the mortgage. Like a lot of other people, we went with the best mortgage that would get us into the house. Our plan was then we would refinance into a fixed-rate mortgage. Then the credit industry tightened up and we could never get refinancing. ... Hindsight, of course, is always 20-20."
Moua said allowing the house to go into foreclosure was her parents' decision, and she supports them.
"When it started, I was embarrassed, and I thought I would feel public shame," she said. "But I've come to terms with it, and I know I did my best."
Moua's Senate career will end Jan. 1. Without giving specifics of what she might do, she said: "a couple of things are in process. ... I'm very optimistic about what the next decade will bring, if it's anything like the last."
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Information from: St. Paul Pioneer Press
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
