WASHINGTON – Lured by low interest rates nearly every member of the Arkansas congressional delegation has refinanced their home mortgages in recent years.
U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., purchased his Little Rock home in 2007 and refinanced two years later – landing a 4.375 percent rate on a 15-year mortgage through the Arkansas Federal Credit Union.
In 2010, Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., got a 5 percent rate on a 30-year mortgage from Arvest Bank on the home he purchased in Rogers in 1999.
The mortgage details were included for the first time in annual reports that members of Congress are required to file about their personal finances.
The 2011 disclosure reports for members of Congress were released this week. Candidates for Congress must file similar reports that are meant to inform the public on potential conflicts of interest.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Real estate, unless it produces income, is excluded from the reports – and mortgages had been excluded too. But that changed this year in response to reports in 2008 that politicians were getting special deals on their mortgages.
The Senate forms include details about interest rates. The House documents do not. As to the size of the mortgages, the reports offer a range rather than an exact amount.
Pryor reported owing between $250,001 and $500,000 on the 15-year mortgage he obtained in 2009. He also owes between $15,001 and $50,000 on a home equity loan obtained in 2010. The 10-year loan has a 6 percent interest rate.
Boozman reported owing between $250,001 and $500,000 on his 30-year loan. He also reported owing between $50,001 and $100,000 on a second five-year mortgage at a rate of 7 percent.
Reps. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, and Mike Ross, R-Prescott, refinanced mortgages in recent years, according to their reports.
Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, has not refinanced since purchasing his home in 2005. He reported owing between $100,001 and $250,000 on the Wells Fargo mortgage. Crawford penciled in the report that the interest rate is 5.375 percent.
Womack reported owing between $100,001 and $250,000 on an Arvest mortgage he took out in 2010 on his home. County records show that he purchased the home in 1995 for $190,000.
Griffin purchased his Little Rock home in 2008 for $230,000 but is now valued at $600,175, according to county records. Griffin reported owing between $500,001 and $1 million on two mortgages taken out in 2011 on the home.
Griffin said Friday that he refinanced to get a lower interest rate.
Ross refinanced mortgages on two properties in February 2011 – redoing a 2005 mortgage on his Prescott home and a 2004 mortgage on a Capitol Hill condominium. He owes between $100,001 and $250,000 on each.
Long-term mortgages, which were first offered in the 1950s, are at record lows. The average rate on a 30-year loan dropped to 3.67 percent earlier this month, according to Freddie Mac.
Herb Rule, the Democrat challenging Griffin, also recently refinanced the Little Rock home he for $279,000 in 1998. Rule took out a Bank of America mortgage in 2009 on the property and owes between $250,001 and $500,000, according to his disclosure report.
Scott Ellington, the Democrat challenging Crawford, did not report holding a mortgage.
Ken Aden, the Democrat challenging Womack, reported that his wife has a Citybank mortgage from June 2002 on a property in Pope County. She owes between $100,001 and $250,000 on it.
Tom Cotton, the Republican running for the seat Ross is vacating, reported holding no mortgage. The House public records office did not have a report on file Friday for Gene Jeffress, the Democrat in the open contest. Jeffress said Friday that he filed a report.
Boozman also took out a floating-rate mortgage in 2008 on undeveloped land in Rogers that he owns in a partnership. He reported owing between $500,001 and $1 million on the mortgage.
Boozman has a third interest in Cotswold Partners, which purchased 25 acres of subdivision lots in Rogers for $2 million in 2008.
The property has an appraised value today of $2.1 million, according to county records. Boozman’s report listed the value as ranging from $1 million to $5 million.
Boozman’s share would be worth $702,283. He owns the property with George Westmoreland, a retired senior vice president of Merrill Lynch, and Michael Fund, a senior vice president and chief financial officer of Walmart.