WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Dennis Kucinich, an ardent critic of the role predatory loans played in the nation's mortgage crisis, has moved into a foreclosed-upon house he bought in Washington, D.C.'s Anacostia neighborhood, a three-mile drive down Pennsylvania Avenue from his Capitol Hill office.

Public records show that Kucinich bought the four-bedroom, brick home for $387,000, a 35 percent discount from its assessed value of $602,980, in April 2009. The house was available for purchase after its previous owner defaulted on a mortgage that experts say was "terrible" and a prime example of abusive, predatory loans.

This does not mean that Kucinich took unfair advantage of the previous owner's troubles or the bank's practices. Kucinich had nothing to do with them, and neighbors credit him with improving a home that had become an eyesore after its foreclosure.

But it suggests that subprime lending practices and the foreclosure crisis created an economic climate that, while unfortunate, made the house affordable for the Cleveland congressman.

Kucinich says purchasing a foreclosure property isn't inconsistent with his public criticism of banks and mortgage lenders. He describes the house as a "fixer-upper" that was vacant for almost two years before he bought it.

"It was a way of rescuing a property that had basically been abandoned," Kucinich said. "We paid whatever they felt was the market value. There was heavy damage to it, so we have spent a considerable amount of time working on fixing it up."

Kucinich's next-door-neighbor, Helen Rouce, confirmed that the congressman and his wife, Elizabeth, have done "a lot of work" on the property.

"It was in bad shape," she said.

His across-the-street neighbor, James Diggs, said the house was on the market for at least a year when the Kuciniches bought it, and its exterior wasn't maintained in that time. He said he did not know what happened to the home's previous owner, and he wasn't aware the house was foreclosed upon.

"We still have houses on this block that have been for sale for two or three years," Diggs said.

Records show the previous owner, 41-year-old Tyrone McMillan, bought the house for $660,000 in December 2006. McMillan took out an adjustable-rate mortgage with First Franklin Corp., a major subprime lender, for what records indicate was the entire amount of his purchase.

At a time when the average rate for a 30-year-fixed rate mortgage was 6.1 percent, McMillan got an adjustable-rate loan whose interest rate started out at 10 percent. Loan documents stipulated his rate could eventually rise as high as 16 percent but would never be lower than 10 percent. His loan also had prepayment penalties.

After reviewing McMillan's mortgage documents, National Association of Consumer Advocates Executive Director Ira Rheingold described his loan as an "example of the terrible subprime lending that has brought our housing economy to its knees." Rheingold's group represents attorneys who specialize in representing consumers.

"It has all the indicators of the worst lending that we saw," Rheingold said. "It makes no economic sense to give someone a loan at that interest rate, with no down payment, if you are expecting to have it repaid, or to have a long-term sustainable loan."

The Center for Public Integrity, a watchdog group in Washington, D.C., listed First Franklin Corp. as number 4 in a list of "The Subprime 25," an examination of the top 25 lenders responsible for high-priced loans that some authorities link to the housing collapse.

When it wrote McMillan's loan, First Franklin was a division of Cleveland's now-defunct National City Bank. National City sold First Franklin to Merrill Lynch, which became part of Bank of America in 2008. Bank of America said it could not comment on the origination of McMillan's loan.

"It is clear that Bank of America would not have originated this loan, as we did not offer subprime or other mortgage products with higher-risk profiles that were readily available in the market at that time," said a statement issued by Bank of America.

In response to the mortgage foreclosure crisis, Congress in 2010 outlawed certain features of subprime loans, including prepayment penalties.

In June 2008, the loan's servicer filed foreclosure documents in the District of Columbia, claiming McMillan had not made payments and owed $720,574, which was more than his principal. At the same time, records show a different lender foreclosed on a nearby property that McMillan also owned. Records do not indicate that McMillan disputed either procedure. McMillan could not reached for comment.

Kucinich also has a house on Cleveland's West side, which he bought for $24,800 in 1973. He said he has wanted to buy a property in Washington for some time because he considers renting to be "lost money." He said he and Elizabeth spent a long time looking for a house in pricey D.C. before they found something they could afford. The couple moved into the house about six months ago, he said.

Kucinich most recently lit into the nation's mortgage lenders during a speech on March 11, where he went on the House floor to criticize legislation that would terminate a federal program designed to aid homeowners in danger of foreclosure.

"Millions of Americans are facing or will face foreclosure in the coming months," Kucinich said. "Their hold on their homes has been endangered by unemployment or predatory loan terms or falling house values. We are in the worst crisis facing homeowners in the history of this country."

He continued, "What message is this Congress sending? If you are a distressed borrower or relative who is in trouble or neighbor in distress, the message of this House is tough luck. Worried about losing your house? Tough luck."