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Utah Sen. Mike Lee has seen the housing bust first-hand, having to sell his dream home just months after taking office in January 2011.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Lee's mortgage bank suffered a loss of up to $400,000 in the July 2011 sale of the house in Alpine, Utah, about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Lee, a Republican, purchased the home for about $1.1 million in January 2008, while he was in private legal practice.
"It certainly is something that is painful to go through and I know a lot of people are going through it, and I feel for those who have had to go through it," Lee was quoted by the newspaper.
"It's not fun. It's not something any of us would have chosen. But you do what you have to do when income doesn't match your outlays. You have to pare your outlays down."
Lee, who ran on a platform that emphasized requiring the federal government to live within its means, said he could no longer afford the home after taking a steep pay cut. His salary had dropped from several hundred thousand dollars a year to the Senate payroll amount of $174.500.
His short sale came to light as members of Congress were required to disclose their personal finances, including home mortgages for the first time.
Lee's wife and three children are now living in a rental home in Alpine.