See other Immigration Articles
Title: Illegal aliens getting home loans!
Source:
ALIPAC
URL Source: http://www.alipac.us/article526.html
Published: Jul 10, 2005
Author: Miriam Jordan
Post Date: 2005-07-10 17:54:10 by Zipporah
Keywords: Illegal, getting, aliens
Views: 229
Comments: 16
But last year, the couple secured a $54,600 mortgage to buy the gray, 1,158-square-foot bungalow that they had been renting for eight months. The Wisconsin housing authority financed the loan. The Internal Revenue Service gave them an identification number that let them apply for it at local Mitchell Bank, which was happy to take their business. “We thought we would never buy a home, because of our (illegal) status,” said Mrs. Garcia. Competition for new customers is driving banks to offer home loans and other financial services to illegal immigrants — and they are getting help from government agencies, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC encourages banks to lend and invest in underserved markets regardless of customers’ immigration status. The official helping hand comes as other corners of the government take an increasingly hard line against undocumented immigrants: • In Arizona, legislators passed a bill in May to bar illegal immigrants from English classes, child care and other state-subsidized services. The governor vetoed it. • In Kansas, opponents of a measure to offer in-state tuition to college-bound students who are illegal immigrants have sued to prevent its implementation. • In Congress, lawmakers in May approved a measure containing a provision that would make it impossible for illegal immigrants to acquire a driver’s license. “There is a fundamental contradiction here,” said James Smith, a senior economist at the Rand Corp., a Santa Monica, Calif., think tank. “We have one policy saying you can’t be here illegally. In practice, another policy is saying that if you’re here, we’re going to cater to you.” In Wisconsin, the state housing agency’s decision to help banks lend to illegal immigrants has set off a fierce debate in the state Senate over whether these newcomers should benefit from programs designed for legal residents. Banks in other states have started similar programs. In the 1990s, Mitchell Bank’s old turf on Milwaukee’s South Side began to see an influx of Latino immigrants. James Maloney, the chairman of Mitchell Bank, saw the newcomers as a solution to the bank’s falling fortunes. Its assets fell to $60 million in 1999, from $95 million in the 1990s. Maloney decided in 2002 the bank should offer mortgages even to illegal immigrants, convinced that would revitalize the area. The move would be in line with a federal law, enforced by the FDIC, that requires banks to invest in the communities in which they gather deposits, according to the banker. Because most undocumented immigrants don’t have a credit history, the bank decided to consider utility, rent and overseas-remittance receipts in assessing their creditworthiness. A letter from a pastor was also welcome. As demand for home loans gradually increased, a problem arose: Taking on the loans was creating more risk than a small bank could shoulder on its own. Unlike other mortgages, the loans were not salable on the secondary market to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which don’t deal in loans for illegal immigrants as a matter of official policy. That means Mitchell Bank had to hold the loans in its portfolio rather than spreading the risk. The issue was resolved last year. Maloney made a presentation to the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, which started a pilot program for illegal immigrants in which it takes the loan risk. “We can stick our heads in the sand and pretend these people don’t exist, or we can help them be in the U.S. with assets,” authority head Antonio Riley said. To be considered for a loan, illegal immigrants must fulfill the same criteria as applicants with Social Security numbers — proof of income and state residency. Like Mitchell Bank, the housing authority uses the IRS-issued tax-registration number, the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN, instead of a Social Security number, which illegal immigrants generally cannot obtain. In 1997, the IRS started issuing ITINs to foreigners who aren’t eligible for a Social Security number to encourage them to file an income-tax return, regardless of immigration status. As of December 2004, the IRS had issued 8 million such numbers. In four years, Mitchell Bank has issued about 100 similar home loans, mainly to illegal immigrants, and says it has never experienced a default; it has recorded two late payments. More banks are following in Mitchell’s path, helped by the FDIC, which has reached out to banks in the Midwest to encourage them to lend to immigrants, regardless of their legal status in this country. Some of the banks have become aggressive players in the undocumented market. “Our job is to encourage banks to lend and invest in underserved markets,” said Michael Frias, an FDIC official in Chicago. “We don’t make distinctions of immigration status.” The agency’s pioneering initiative is also drawing fire. “We should not be encouraging illegal immigration by offering home loans and the American dream to people who didn’t enter the country legally,” state Rep. Steve Kestell, a Republican, said. Republican state Sen. Glenn Grothman, who says the state shouldn’t be in the business of rewarding lawbreakers, has introduced a bill to quash the program. The bill is now before a state Senate committee. To become law, it will have to pass both houses of the legislature, which are controlled by Republicans, and get Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s signature.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Zipporah, *unUsual Suspects* (#0)
Ping to the unUsual Suspects Richard W.
ping! The LA Times ran an article on this a few months ago. Lenders are giving loans to people w/o paystubs, who are paid cash; like most illegals.
The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home. – James Madison
An illegal alien, now a legal resident, citizen, was given a Federal loan to buy a piece of agricultural property some years ago. He is now a millionaire and he and his compadres are edging the White agricultural competitors out. Institute for Historical Review
The FDIC encourages banks to lend and invest in
Despicable ..
"I've coined new words, like, "misunderstanding" and "Hispanically"." - GW Bush
WHICH IS WHY WHEN I APPLIED FOR A HOME MORTGAGE I WAS ASKED IF I WAS HISPANIC!!!! They told me I would be eligible FOR MORE FINANCING IF I WERE HISPANIC!!!! Then, after they declined me because I couldn't get 100% financing on the home I wanted, THEY THEN TOLD ME IF I HAD BEEN HISPANIC IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM!!!! GOOD LORD... I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO OUTRAGED IN MY FUCKING LIFE. I am being told by a man in the banking business that I am the wrong color to get a home loan without at least 10% down. Wow... I love this fucking country. It's time we had a serious change in the system.
#2. To: All, *The Border* (#0)
#3. To: robin (#2)
None of this is by accident. All of this is by design.
link
#4. To: Zipporah (#0)
The FDIC encourages banks to lend and invest in underserved markets regardless of customers’ immigration status.
underserved undeserved markets regardless of customers’ immigration status.
#5. To: DeaconBenjamin (#4)
The FDIC encourages banks to lend and invest in underserved undeserved markets regardless of customers’ immigration status.
#6. To: Zipporah (#0)
 | So many morons, so few bullets. |
#7. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#6)
They told me I would be eligible FOR MORE FINANCING IF I WERE HISPANIC!!!! Then, after they declined me because I couldn't get 100% financing on the home I wanted, THEY THEN TOLD ME IF I HAD BEEN HISPANIC IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM!!!! GOOD LORD... I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO OUTRAGED IN MY FUCKING LIFE. WHAT?? We ARE living in an insane asylum I swear..
WHICH IS WHY WHEN I APPLIED FOR A HOME MORTGAGE I WAS ASKED IF I WAS HISPANIC!!!!
"I've coined new words, like, "misunderstanding" and "Hispanically"." - GW Bush
#8. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#6)
A few years ago a good friend of mine called the SBA about getting a loan to start his own buisness. The first thing they asked him was what his ethnicity was and if he was African- American,Hispanic or other. When he told them he was "caucasian" the reply was 'We're sorry sir,but we can't help you" Yes...it has gotten that bad. We are so screwed.
THEY THEN TOLD ME IF I HAD BEEN HISPANIC IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM!!!!
#9. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#6)
You need to change your name to TommyTheFritoBandito next time you need a loan.
#10. To: Esso, TommyTheMadArtist (#9)
You need to change your name to TommyTheFritoBandito next time you need a loan. Hahahaha! My sister has a friend in AZ who needed surgery for a goiter. The doctor told her flat out that it was too bad she was not an illegal, he could take care of it immediately. Instead she had to save her $$ for months to pay for her share of the insurance costs. She lost a vocal cord because of the delay.
THEY THEN TOLD ME IF I HAD BEEN HISPANIC IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM!!!!
No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare. – James Madison
#11. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#6)
Consider yourself lucky. If you can't put 80% down, you shouldn't be buying it anyway. You can't afford it. Even so, I can certainly share in your livid response to the banks and government offering services to illegal aliens that you can't get. Not only is it criminal, it is racist to the core.
Then, after they declined me because I couldn't get 100% financing on the home I wanted
- "Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it."
~~Blaise Pascal (French Mathematician, Philosopher and Physicist, 1623-1662)
#12. To: Mr Nuke Buzzcut (#11)
Oh, please, Nuke, what kind of twisted logic is that? With that sort of plan, most people wouldn't be able to afford a trailer house in outer Pissville. Better to grab a piece of an appreciating asset while money is cheap. Even if the value goes down, he's still got a place to live.
Consider yourself lucky. If you can't put 80% down, you shouldn't be buying it anyway. You can't afford it.
"Oh bother," said Pooh, as he chambered another round.
#13. To: Indrid Cold (#12)
That's about as irresponsible and short sighted as you can get financially. At least we know who will be crying the blues when the bubble bursts.
Better to grab a piece of an appreciating asset while money is cheap. Even if the value goes down, he's still got a place to live.
- "Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it."
~~Blaise Pascal (French Mathematician, Philosopher and Physicist, 1623-1662)
#14. To: Mr Nuke Buzzcut (#13)
Woo hoo! I'm almost all the way to completely irresponsible! Just a little irrational exuberance. Seriously, given that interest rates offered now are below the rate of inflation, anyone who saves is guaranteed to lose money over time. So getting a savings account like Ma and Pa Buzzcut did is out of the question, at least to anyone who understands math. Now I'm a chicken trader in the futures markets, but on one's primary residence I'd borrow long and leveraged to the hilt at these rates. In fact, I have. If the bubble bursts, so what? I'll just stay put until prices go up again, as they always do (though it may take years). It's not like the bank's gonna put me on margin call. [Let me state for the record that I'm not in a housing bubble zone, though I suspect Tommy is]. I don't believe in borrowing money on assets that DEpreciate in value, though; I'm sure we're in agreement on that point. Worst case scenarios: 1) Interest rates go up (which we all know they will). Housing values drop "somewhat" (could be a little, could be a lot) because people can't afford as much house with the current interest rate. At today's mortgage rates, any equity I have in my house is earning the equivalent of 3 percent, after taxes. Why would I want to earn 3 percent on my equity if a bank CD is paying 6 percent? Solution: sit pat and keep paying my nice low interest rate. 2) Hyperinflation (which the gold bugs think is gonna happen). It takes more dollars to buy my house, which is not to say the "value" increases. But I get to pay my bank back with far cheaper dollars than those I borrowed. Solution: possibly pay off house. 3) Depression. Say I lose my job. I think that's unlikely, since I'm president of my own corporation, but say I do. I'll go get another one. Quality employees are always in demand. I'll go work at McDonalds, If I have to. Heck, I only pay myself $9 an hour anyway, preferring to reinvest in my business. Since I'm in the pawn business, I think it's a lot more likely that I'll be swooping down on other unemployed people, buying their assets for pennies. Solution: Go get another job. 4) Seizure by eminent domain. City takes my house to put up a Kwik-E-Mart. Unlikely, but on everyone's minds since the SCOTUS decision. I lose my 20% down money, and the bank loses 80% minus what the city pays. No way am I going to keep paying for a property that got yanked out from under me, due to no fault of my own. Solution: I become a total deadbeat and go rent, never to buy property again. Under your plan, you'd lose 80 percent, minus what was left over after paying off the first mortgage. So pitch me: What's so wrong with my plan, besides the fact that your "debt free" sensibility finds it distasteful?
That's about as irresponsible and short sighted as you can get financially.
"Oh bother," said Pooh, as he chambered another round.
#15. To: Indrid Cold (#14)
You may be positioned to do that, but a large majority of people aren't. Many of us will be faced with having to relocate in order to stay employed when that bubble bursts. The problem is, they won't be able to sell their home and they won't be able to make those payments. The other day I saw a statistic that said something like 80% of all new mortgages were "interest only" with a 5 year balloon payment. In my opinion that is gambling far beyond the level of high stakes roulette in Las Vegas.
If the bubble bursts, so what? I'll just stay put until prices go up again...
- "Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it."
~~Blaise Pascal (French Mathematician, Philosopher and Physicist, 1623-1662)
#16. To: Mr Nuke Buzzcut (#15)
That's because most people: a) Spend too much for what they buy, b) Have too much other debt out there (credit cards, car payments, etc.), and c) Risk their whole financial future on a J-O-B. Now THAT'S gambling! With prudent purchases and the avoidance of high-interest debt, people can own (rather, "control") property and be comfortable at almost any income level. I have credit card debt, too, but mine's locked in at 3.99 for the life of the loan. I took the money and started a Roth IRA with it.
You may be positioned to do that, but a large majority of people aren't. Many of us will be faced with having to relocate in order to stay employed when that bubble bursts. The problem is, they won't be able to sell their home and they won't be able to make those payments.
"Oh bother," said Pooh, as he chambered another round.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest