Posted on 01/03/2005 10:28:40 PM PST by nanak
MILWAUKEE - In a pilot program described as the first of its kind, an agency created by the state government is making it easier for illegal immigrants in Wisconsin to obtain mortgage loans.
Immigrants who do not have Social Security numbers - a common requirement for loans - can use an alternative government-issued tax number to get financing for new homes, under the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) program.
Many holders of the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) are living and working illegally in this country, even though they pay taxes.
Some say the Wisconsin program is an example of how groups and companies are starting to recognize the potential market of immigrants. Critics say the program provides a reward for those who are violating immigration laws.
Some banks already issue mortgage loans to illegal immigrants, but WHEDA is believed to be the first and only quasi-government organization to buy such loans from the banks, said Geoff Cooper, director of emerging markets for MGIC Investment Corp., and Gary Acosta, president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.
"Anyone will tell you the real growth in home ownership in the state, in the country, is in the minorities and immigrant market," said Antonio Riley, executive director of WHEDA, a public corporation created by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1972.
The agency, which funded more than 4,000 home mortgages last year, underwrote 87 mortgage loans to ITIN holders since the program started in April. Six banks in Milwaukee and Madison participate in it, and the authority has talked about expanding it to Racine, WHEDA spokesman Ron Legro said.
But state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, is threatening legislative action if WHEDA doesn't kill the program, which he contends rewards people for breaking the law.
"It is an insult to border guards and immigration officials who are trying to enforce the immigration law," he said. "It is an insult to people who are waiting patiently to enter the country legally."
Financial experts say WHEDA's program was simply a reaction to the country's changing demographics. Estimates of illegal immigrants in the country range from 10 million to 12 million, Acosta said.
"If this becomes a standard in the industry it could have a multibillion-dollar positive impact on the economy," he said.
Some private banks already write mortgage loans and open bank accounts for ITIN holders. MGIC, a Milwaukee-based issuer of private mortgage insurance, started insuring ITIN loans last fall.
Using the tax numbers allows banks to know the true identities of immigrants, who might otherwise go to predatory lenders or use false Social Security numbers to get mortgage loans, MGIC's Cooper said.
ITIN was created in 1997 for the Internal Revenue Service for foreign citizens who needed to pay taxes in the United States but could not obtain Social Security numbers. The government has issued about 7 million ITINs as of last year, the IRS said.
ITIN gained currency in the financial market after banks realized the potential of the immigrant market.
About 70 percent of immigrants from Latin America are "unbanked," said Michael Frias, community affairs officer at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Even the Patriot Act, created to fight terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, acknowledged ITIN is an acceptable form of identification for banks, said Frias, who spearheaded a Midwest task force to extend banking services to immigrants.
Milwaukee's Mitchell Bank was among the first in the nation to have an ITIN loan program. The bank on Mitchell Street served European immigrants in the neighborhood in the early 1900s. As years went by, Hispanics replaced the Germans and Poles, said James P. Maloney, the bank's president and chairman.
"As the neighborhood changed, we ultimately decided we had to change or move," he said.
The bank now hires Hispanic employees, has all documents in Spanish and is authorized to help immigrants obtain ITINs. It created credit history for immigrants who often don't have any by examining their utility bills, rent payments and the money they send home. The ITIN loans performed better than conventional loans, Maloney said.
The home ownership rate on Milwaukee's largely Hispanic South Side is less than 20 percent, and the immigrant market is "more than we could ever handle," Maloney said.
But the bank has limited capacity for ITIN loans, because companies that usually buy mortgage loans from banks refuse to underwrite these loans, saying they are too risky, Maloney said. The WHEDA program fills that void.
"It's very forward thinking on their part," he said. "They couldn't be doing anything better for our neighborhood."
But Acosta said unless the major players enter the market, the WHEDA program will have minimum impact on the industry.
"Unless Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA (Federal Housing Administration) start doing this type of loans, it's only going to have a marginal impact."
How about a W2, you know, PROOF of WAGES to support your ability to repay a loan, PROOF of a FRIGGING JOB? What a bunch of SCREWBALLS! Blackbird.
So these bank loans are guaranteed by the taxpayers...The taxpayers are forced to loan these criminals cash, and pay the loan if the crooks default...
But the bigger crooks are the ones in the gov't that are pushing this illegal scam...
So how are the law inforcement officers supposed to arrest and deport these illegal criminals when they are in debt to the state???
We're being sold out by the gov't at ALL levels...
What should we come to expect, our mantra has been economic growth or die, and this is what we get not what we wanted.
Americans are afraid to ask, "What next?"
The Mexican government now publishes a book instructing its nationals on how to be an illegal.
Ironically, one of the big selling points of the NAFTA deal was that it would greatly alleviate illegal Mexican border-jumping......but since that time it has skyrocketed.
Adding insult to injury American taxpayers are subsidizing foreign aid transfers to Mexico.
The government of Mexico---with all of its oil revenue potential ----needs to be taking care of its own people, not "outsourcing' them as wards of American taxpayers.
Mexico can well-afford it. Mexico has more "Forbes" billionaires, 11, than all but eight other nations. It has more billionaires than Saudi Arabia, Switzerland or Taiwan. It also has more than 85,000 millionaires.
According to a CNN report, Mexico sits on oil reserves worth about $400 billion, but Mexico's state-owned oil company, Pemex, doesn't have the investment funds to tap those reserves, and Mexico's Congress refuses to allow foreign investment in Pemex.
American money sent South of the Border by illegals constitutes $38 BILLION this year alone constituting Mexico's second largest most profitable industry.
America needs to seal our borders and let Vincente Fox know that we will cut off every penny in aid he gets from the United States.
America should demand proof for all cash transfers out of the US and/or force all transferring agencies -- banks, credit unions, Amex, Western Union to collect a substantial withholding tax -- 50%, say -- on every unexplained foreign remittance.
Wheda or not the taxpayers approve.
"Some say the Wisconsin program is an example of how groups and companies are starting to recognize the potential market of [ILLEGAL] immigrants"
God help us. We live in a nation of money whores. And they own us all. So, NOW we know why the housing market is up!!
This is beyond disgusting.
Yeah, screw all those lower income American citizens that would make good on the loan, but don't qualify. Know what? I'm very angry about this. What is the point of even having a border patrol?
Yes,we have to boycott and contact these illegal supporters.
Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. I've been boycotting and contacting many of them.
Hayworth: Omission of Vital Border Security Provisions In Intel Reform 'Scandalous, Unacceptable'
WASHINGTON- U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth of Arizona will vote against the intelligence reform bill intended to implement recommendations of the 9-11 Commission when the measure comes before the House for final approval later today.
In announcing his intention to oppose the bill, Rep. Hayworth issued the following statement:
"I asked supporters of this bill to explain why, in view of haunting evidence that America's porous border security system enabled 19 murderous Islamofascists to move around the country and get in position to kill nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11, were provisions stripped out of the final version of the intelligence reform bill that were specifically written to prevent that from happening again?
"The only response was that those concerns could be addressed next year.
"The potentially deadly absence of vital border security provisions in the intel reform legislation is scandalous and unacceptable and it is why I could not in good conscience support the bill."
http://hayworth.house.gov/
It's insane. Our property taxes are sky high to pay for the schools for the illegals. Emergency rooms and hospitals are closing because the illegals bring their relatives up here to get free care and they don't pay their medical bills. Our automobile insurance costs us more because they drive cars without licenses and without insurance.
WHY are the politicians refusing to do anything about it? WHY?
Politicians do nothing but count votes and donations............. and size up hyphenated-voting blocs.
Bookmarked. Thanks for posting these facts.
Why, how HEARTLESS of you!
These Illegal Infiltrators "are only getting the loans Americans don't want!"
Just WHERE do I sign to be like those scumbag ant-war types who get away with not paying taxes for Military spending...maybe WE can adopt their "conscious objector" status toward the ILLEGAL INFILTRATION of America!
Follow the money. All they care about is money. All they understand is money.
If they were fined enough, perhaps they wouldn't enter contracts with criminals.
I think the govt. ought to start a program for families/individuals making under $50k where they can take out a 40 year mortgage at 5% fixed rate. No questions asked, just verify job and income. Regardless of credit.
Geesh, I wonder if they will have special Arab plans, Indian plans, Canadian plans......................
Makes me ill!!!
What taxes do they pay?
If they are working illegally, the only tax they might pay is sales tax, but with sending $38 billion per year back over the border, probably not much of that.
The following Teddy Roosevelt quotes can be found in Edmund Morris, The Rise Of Theodore Roosevelt Modern Library 2001)
"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism...The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin...would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities."
(Speech, New York, 1915)
http://www.presidentlincoln.com/Quote4.html
So how does the President's ILLEGAL immigrant-cum-"guest worker" plan accommodate home owners?
A Michelle Malkin column (Aug., 2003, I believe) stated that her sources told her that there could be as many as 40,000 ILLEGAL alien homeowners in the Denver area.
You should google for the reasons the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 ("IIRAIRA") and the 1996 Welfare Bill were passed. Then check out how IIRAIRA has been gutted somewhat restoring many of the pre-1996 abuses. These are legal immigrants. SSI, housing subsidies, health care, etc. etc. for aged parents and relatives of legal immigrant sponsors were the reasons for IIRAIRA. Many of IIRAIRA's restrictions have been repealed.
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