Why Didn't He Just Go to Fannie Mae?

It looks like his secret loans are the least of Greg Meeks' problems. The Queens Democrat seems to be the perfect example of Congressional spending run amok, living far beyond his means. Who does this guy think he is, Charlie Rangel?

Rep. Gregory Meeks is getting heat over a loan he took from a local businessman -- but that may be the least of his debt problems.

The Queens congressman took out $762,000 in three mortgages on his St. Albans home -- including one $624,000 adjustable-rate loan of a type that's led to countless defaults and is described as "evil" by a mortgage expert.

The Queens Dem has three mortgages on the house, totaling $761,572.

He paid $830,000 in 2006 for the 6,047- square-foot mansion. The city valued the home, which was designed by a campaign contributor, at $1.2 million, leading to accusa tions that Meeks got a sweetheart deal.

Meeks and his wife, Simone-Marie Meeks, took out a $624,000 mortgage from Washington Mutual Bank to buy the home, after selling a much smaller house in Far Rockaway.

That mortgage, which has an adjustable interest rate that could vary every month, is an "evil loan product," said Mark Maimon, director of sales at Universal Mortgage Inc. in Brooklyn.

Meeks' loan is an "Option ARM," which usually offers four payment choices -- including one with a very low interest rate that could mean the original balance actually increases instead of decreases, Maimon said.

Borrowers can pick a different way of paying off the loan every month, and most choose the minimum-interest option. It's unclear what options Meeks is using to repay the loan or how much he's paying every month.

These types of loans attracted buyers who may not have other wise been able to afford a home, but the loans have had very high failure rates.

At the time he got that mortgage, Meeks and his wife also took out a home-equity loan for $77,922.

In 2007, Meeks borrowed $40,000 from Edul Ahmad, whose Queens empire includes a real-estate agency, an import firm, a mortgage brokerage and a banquet hall.

Meeks failed to report the personal loan -- and a $15,000 loan from the Congressional Federal Credit Union -- on his annual congressional financial-disclosure reports.

He only came clean on the 2009 report, which was filed on June 15. Three days later, he submitted amendments saying he took out the interest-only $40,000 loan in 2007 and had paid it back.

City records show that Meeks took out a $59,650 third mortgage on his home on June 18, the same day he reported repaying the debt to Ahmad.

Meeks, who earns $174,000 a year, is required to pay $1,451.48 quarterly on that 10-year loan.

The congressman did not respond to requests for comment.

Don 't expect him to comment any time soon. Certainly no media outside the NY Post is even bothering to investigate this guy, so he'll get a free pass. If anyone else begins sniffing around he can always just whip out the race card.