Undocumented homeownership
If you are an undocumented immigrant living and working in this country, you face many roadblocks to living your life. One of the big roadblocks has been housing. Just about all banks require you to give a social security number to qualify for a mortgage. If you are an undocumented worker, you do not have one of these. Hence, your earnings go towards paying rent, and you are shut out of one of the best investments and source of savings: Homeownership.
Indiana has seen a great influx of undocumented workers over the last decade. Previously, the bulk of undocumented workers came to the state seasonally, to pick fruit, tomatoes, and provide other services to agriculture. These workers lived in temporary camps, and would generally leave the state during picking seasons. Over the last several years, immigrants come to Indiana not to pick fruit, but to pick up manufacturing jobs that provide both long-term, stable employment, and far more income than could be earned for factory work in the immigrants’ homeland.
The problem with this change in migration trends is long term settlement of undocumented immigrants in communities where they cannot truly settle.
Now, despite the fact that the players in the secondary mortgage market, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mack and Ginnie Mae will not purchase these mortgages, a few lenders, including Fifth Third, are initiating programs to finance home purchases by undocumented workers. Link.
