Five Million Illegal Aliens With Mortgages?

Five Million Illegal Aliens With Mortgages?

Neal Boortz linked to Newsbusters, which linked to this KFYI news story:

One illegal alien was arrested this year in Tucson after allegedly using a stolen social security number to buy two homes and rack up over $780,000 in bad debt.

Some five million fraudulent home mortgages are in the hands of illegal aliens, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It's not known how many of those have contributed to the subprime housing mortgage meltdown, but it has affected every state, including Arizona.The problem began years ago when banks were forced to give mortgages without confirming social security numbers or borrower identification. As a result, illegal immigrants were able to obtain home mortgages which they could not afford.

Even if you are one of those who think that our government is "unfair" in discriminating against illegal aliens, think about this: why would it make sense to make a house loan to someone who stands a chance of being arrested and deported? How likely is it that someone who has been deported is going to be able and willing to continue making payments?

Neal Boortz links to this Fresno TV station story about the role that ACORN (the group that Obama helped to get funding in the 1990s) played in this:

David seems like your typical first-time homeowner. The house is small, money's tight. But his family is happy. "It was our dream." he said. "So it was like our dream became true, finally."
But getting a loan from the bank almost didn't happen. An employee from the bank called and said it seemed they had a problem.
The problem was David's social security number ... it's a fake.
He is undocumented, an illegal immigrant. David thought it was a dead end, but not in California. It's among a few states where banks are offering mortgages to people who they know are illegal.
"He gave us good news, saying, 'oh, you have good credit, you've been good on your payments. Sure, we can help you out!,'" he recalls.
David got a 30-year, $135,000 loan. He pays $950 a month for his house in the South Valley.
The Valley non-profit group Acorn is helping people like David. They set him up with Citibank in Fresno, where a social security number is not required.
Instead, it asks for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or I-TIN. It proves they pay taxes to the IRS. Applicants also have to have a bank account, proof of US residency for two years, and two years of credit references.
"The banks wanna get bigger, wanna give mortgages to people and they see this is a tremendous money making opportunity," says Diana Hull, an illegal immigrant opponent.

Now, I am not going to say that the banks who made such loans are completely free and clear of responsibility--but they were under enormous pressure to make loans like this from the federal government and activist groups such as ACORN. And because neither Democrats nor many left-leaning Republicans (like McCain and Bush) were willing to do much about illegal immigration, this was inevitable. I'm sure that illegal aliens were only a part of this crisis--but every little bit hurts!