bank violated this agreement with regard to the Sacramento property when it foreclosed on the house. The bank then rescinded the foreclosure, causing the controversy. After her election to the California Assembly, Richardson purchased a home in Sacramento with no money down and a subprime mortgage. According to county records, Richardson received a default notice and Notice of Trustee's Sale in late 2007. In December 2007, Richardson was behind in payments by more than $18,000. According to the couple that sold the home to Richardson, Richardson was not maintaining the home. Sharon Helmar has stated: "The neighbors are extremely unhappy with her. She didn't mow the lawn or take out the garbage while she was there. We lived there for a long time, 30 years, and we had to hide our heads whenever we came back to the neighborhood." The real estate broker who bought Richardson's Sacramento house at the foreclosure sale accused her of receiving preferential treatment because her lender had issued a notice to rescind the sale. James York, owner of Red Rock Mortgage, said he would file a lawsuit against Richardson and her lender, Washington Mutual, but settled out of court with the terms not disclosed. Richardson had not been making payments on the property for nearly a year, and had also gone into default on her two other houses in Long Beach and San Pedro. Richardson, D-Long Beach, has said that the auction should never have been held, because she had worked out a loan modification agreement with her lender beforehand and had begun making payments. The House Ethics Committee, following the recommendations of the Ethics Office, found no wrongdoing other than by Richardson's Mortgage Broker, who was referred to the Justice Department for mortgage fraud, which was widespread at the time the mortgage was made. Mistaken foreclosures despite paid-up recovery agreements, such as the one that happened to Richardson, were also becoming rampant during this period. Richardson also initially did not disclose a loan from a strip club owner when on the City Council, public records show. Richardson was speaker of the House pro tempore during the November 29, 2010 lame-duck session of Congress. She initially refused to recognize, then relented to allow committee ranking member Steve Buyer to talk despite the failure of the committee chairman to appear. She was seen discussing with the House parliamentarian and aides how to handle the failure of