C Street House, Home To Some Scandal-Plagued Pols, No Longer Tax Exempt

The Washington, D.C., house where three members of congress retreated after their sex scandals went public has reportedly been partially stripped of its tax exempt status.

The C Street Christian fellowship house had been classified as a church, a loophole that allowed the owners to avoid paying property taxes. As a result the owner, the Christian organization The Family, charged below market rent to its tenants, mostly GOP senators and representatives.

The house made the news when three Republicans -- Nevada Sen. John Ensign, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and then-congressman Chip Pickering of Mississippi -- all called the C Street house home after admitting to extramarital affairs.

As Talking Points Memo reports, the Office of Tax and Revenue inspected the house over the summer and has reassessed its status.

"It was determined that portions of it were being rented out for private residential purposes," spokeswoman Natalie Wilson told TPM. "As a result, the tax exempt status was partially revoked. Sixty-six percent of the value of the property is now subject to taxation."

The reassessment may have come after an anonymous tip to the tax office, TPM reports in its exclusive story.

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