Banks offering mortgages to illegal entrants
The Associated Press
July 25, 2005
PHOENIX - At least two out-of-state banks are offering home mortgages to illegal immigrants in metropolitan Phoenix, and others are likely to follow, according to a recent report by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.
All immigrants need is an individual taxpayer identification number issued by the Internal Revenue Service, a steady income for at least two years and a good credit rating.
Dozens of immigrants in metro Phoenix already have been approved for these loans, often for up to $150,000. Their biggest challenge is finding affordable houses in a market where the median home value is teetering on $250,000.
The availability of these mortgages illustrates the growing interest by companies to tap into the immigrant market, said Derene Allen, a senior vice president at Santiago Solutions Group's office in San Francisco.
Despite the furor over illegal immigration, companies can't ignore the potential of growing loyal, lifelong customers, she said.
Banco Popular North America, based in New York, began offering the home loans about three months ago through a few mortgage brokers. Earlier this month, Alabama-based New South Federal Savings Bank's office in Mesa rolled out a similar program.
"It's a market that has wrongfully been ignored for a long time," said Chan Peterson, executive vice president and head of community banking for Banco Popular in Chicago.
Only scattered opposition has been directed to some of these lenders, primarily from illegal-immigration critics. No federal or Arizona laws prohibit such mortgages.
Republican state Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, the Legislature's staunchest advocate for limiting immigration, said he plans to introduce legislation to stop the mortgages. "You've got to stop these rewards for people coming to this country illegally," he said.
Banks have no obligation to check immigration status, said David Barr, spokesman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in Washington, D.C. "Why assume this person is not here legally?" he said.
Financial institutions started to tap into the undocumented-immigrant market a few years ago by opening checking and savings accounts using a popular Mexican identification card known as the matrícula consular. A few community banks have gone a step further in offering loans and mortgages.
