The nation's housing crisis has hit another member of Congress: Utah Senator forced to 'short sell' his house, resulting in a $400,000 loss

The nation's housing crisis has hit another member of Congress. Utah Sen. Mike Lee was forced to sell his home in a short sale, resulting in a $400,000 loss, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

"It's not fun," Lee told the Tribune. "But you do what you have to do when income doesn't match your outlays. You have to pare your outlays down." Lee's wife and three children are now living in a rental home in Alpine, Utah, where they used to live in a "dream home" Lee bought for $1.1 million in 2008.

But Lee soon found himself underwater. Utah Sen. Mike Lee was elected to office in 2010, when he left his private law firm and gave up a lucrative salary. Lee's ex-firm later filed for bankruptcy, the Tribune reports.

As the housing market continued to sputter, a neighbor's home went through a short sale, causing home prices in Lee's neighborhood to drop even further. That's what forced him to also enter into a short sale, in which a buyer paid about $720,000 for his $1.1 million home, according to the Tribune.

Read on.