Illegal Immigrants Avoid Foreclosures
Illegal undocumented immigrants are responsible house owners and have managed to avoid foreclosures.
Jose Perez is one of these. He bought a modest condo in northeast San Francisco for about $250,000. This is the first time he has bought a house. Jose has been closely following the rise and fall of the housing market but unlike others who bought property during the time of the property boom, he is not under foreclosure threat. The fact that has helped him is that he is an illegal immigrant.
The case of Jose Perez is not an exception. Many other illegal immigrants like him have contracted similar loans made by the citizens of the country, but they have not become delinquent. At the time of making the loan the illegal immigrant were exposed to stricter lending standards. Tim Sandos of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals said that the performance of the illegal immigrants as regards warding off foreclosures is much better than the others.
Foreign-born legal residents had to have a special identification number –ITIN. In reality these numbers are widely known to be used by the illegal immigrants. The approximate estimation is that among those with ITIN who had taken loans the foreclosure rate was lower by 1.15% compared with 3.5% of other house loans in 2006.
Illegal immigrants are also suffering from the foreclosure crisis but their position is comparatively better because of these factors. In the case of taxpayer identification mortgages, bigger down payments were required prior to house purchase counseling. The mortgage rates were fixed and not floating. Another important point is that the immigrants are passionate about a secure future and they will “move heaven and earth to keep” the house for which they have given their sweat and labour. The house is a home to them and not just another ATM card.
Perez said that his wife stood beside him and took up a housecleaner’s job when he lost his job of a chef. Together they dipped into their savings to keep the family running. Twice they were late by a day in paying their mortgage dues. But soon Perez got another job and finances stabilized. The couple avoided foreclosures not only because of fixed rate interest and long-term mortgage involving down payment but also because of strong family base, grit and love for the home that was not just a house of bricks and mortar.
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