Which senators have no mortgage?
June 24th, 2008 
This really doesn’t tell us if they are totally debt-free, but interesting nonetheless to see for which Senators, the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW (doubtful).
Senators and members of Congress do not have to disclose anything about their home mortgages — not how much they borrowed, from whom they borrowed it or what interest rate they paid.
But amid allegations that Countrywide Financial Corp. offered special mortgage deals to two senators, it’s suddenly useful to know who has been lending money to the members of the greatest deliberative body in the world.
The Senate Ethics Committee has already launched an investigation into the preferential treatment afforded to the two senators in question, Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), and leading Republicans in the House have called for a wider investigation into whether other lawmakers received any discount rates on their mortgages.
Although senators are not required to disclose information about their mortgages, Politico put the question to them. Earlier this week, Politico staffers called every Senate office and asked for the answers to three questions:
- Who is the senator’s home mortgage lender (or lenders, if the senator has more than one residence)?
- Whom did the senator contact to arrange the loan?
- Did the senator receive any special terms?
This chart reflects the answers received as of Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 6 PM EST. It will be updated as more arrive.
The early line: A substantial number of senators — being on average older and wealthier than the U.S. population — don’t have mortgages at all.
