Before buying, some Latinos face financing hurdles
Confusion and lack of information about home buying are major obstacles for many Latinos who are saving for a house, according to lenders and agents.
Lenders approve home-loan applications on a case-by-case basis. They may ask about an applicant’s residence or immigration status, but a borrower does not have to provide an answer, according to the California Mortgage Bankers Assn.
Most large banks, however, require that borrowers have Social Security numbers. But Citibank, for example, offers a program that allows immigrant borrowers to apply without Social Security numbers if they have an Individual Tax Identification Number, or ITIN, said Citibank’s Shelley Wejbe.
ITINs are issued by the Internal Revenue Service to those who are not eligible for a Social Security number. ITINs are available regardless of immigration status, according to the IRS.
Once the borrower’s tax status is established, the next step is understanding the loan-qualification process. Lenders, agents and nonprofit organizations hold frequent first-time buyers’ workshops to teach the uninitiated about credit scores and help get them pre-approved for loans. One such nonprofit is Neighborhood Housing Services, which has offices in Los Angeles and Orange counties and the Inland Empire.
Qualifying for a loan sometimes takes months, said NHS of Orange County executive director Glenn Hayes. That’s because borrowers often must finesse four layers of lending for one purchase: institutional lenders, such as Bank of America for the first mortgage; private-funding sources, such as Orange County Affordable Housing Trust, for the second; Cal HOME for 24% of the purchase price in deferred loans; and down-payment assistance such as city grants.
“People coming through our programs don’t have established credit, but after we’ve helped them, they come out with the highest credit scores,” Hayes said. “In eight years of this program, we never had a default.”
Maggie Guzman, a medical-clinic supervisor, and her husband, Jose, got $15,000 in down-payment assistance for their $305,000 Santa Ana condo, as well as other help, after completing a popular NHS program.
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Assistance is at your fingertips
A number of programs are available to help Latinos learn more about home buying and getting a loan. Here is a partial list:
* Countrywide Financial Corp: casa.countrywide.com. Or call (888) SUCASA8.
* Bank of America: www.bankofamerica.com/espanol.
* Citibank: www.citibank.com/espanol.
* MSN Latino Personal Finance Center: www.msnlatino.com.
* KB Home: www.kbcasa.com. Or call (888) KBCASAS.
* California Home Financing Authority: provides down-payment assistance
to first-time buyers; www.calhfa.ca.gov.
Or call (916) 324-8088.
* Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County: www.nhsoc.org. Or call (714) 490-1250.
* Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services: www.lanhs.org. Or call (213) 381-2862.
* Neighborhood Housing Services of the Inland Empire: www.nhsie.org. Or call (909) 884-6891.
* NeighborWorks: provides financial help and more; www.nw.org.
* ACORN: home buyers’ assistance; (213) 747-4211,
Ext. 215.
* Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana: Latino home-buyer service; www.hermandadmexicana.com/home/homeowner.pdf.
* Univision.com’s Casa Channel guide to home buying: www.univision.com.
* California Assn. of Realtors: offers Spanish-language buyers’ and sellers’ guides and an English/Spanish glossary of real estate terms. Available at most realty offices.
