Members of Congress put off mandatory financial disclosures for months without major consequences

Fail to file or pay your taxes and you can land in some pretty hot water: Monthly fines up to 25 percent of your owed taxes are pretty much guaranteed, and bucking the system long enough could see you lose your house, car, or even freedom.

But if you're in Congress, the rules about mandatory financial disclosures are a lot more lax. May 15 was the deadline by which every representative was supposed to have filed their annual financial reports. And most did, but 10 members have yet to turn in their disclosures — and they face nearly no consequences for the delay.

The tardy 10 have already been given a 90-day extension, and the House Ethics Committee decided on Wednesday to allow another 30 days before any fines are imposed. And even then, depending on the number of stock transactions in their disclosures, a representative could theoretically miss a filing deadline for four years and still owe just $200 in fines.

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