IMMIGRANT

ENCOURAGING IMMIGRANT HOME OWNERSHIPMore common programs that local economic development efforts might target in developing a localhomeownership program for immigrants and refugees can be found among numerous community developmentand social service organizations that offer homeownership, credit counseling, and financial literacy training andassistance. Mission Economic Development Agency in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco provides oneon-onecounseling sessions and group workshop curriculum in English and Spanish, as well as a free First-TimeHome Buyers program that provides low- and- moderate-income first-time home buyers with relevant financialeducation, credit counseling, and information on mortgage assistance programs. 11The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is one of the nation’s premier housing counseling agencies, assistinglocal homeownership organizations across the country, many of whom provide these services in language-accessibleand a culturally-competent manner. NCLR has amassed more than two decades of research on the unique barriersthat Latino and other communities of color face in becoming homeowners. Through 43 affiliated nonprofit partnersin 20 states NCLR provides homeownership services to more than 50,000 persons annually, including helping morethan 30,000 first-time homeowners. 12 NCLR’s Homeownership Network (NHN) provides technical assistance andfunding to community-based nonprofits that successfully apply to be part of the NHN Network.Microlending Programs andBuilding Credit for HomeownershipLack of a U.S. credit history can act as a barrier to traditional borrowing, entrepreneurship, and homeownership.Many immigrants and refugees find it difficult to secure meaningful employment in the formal economy andwork through informal or “underground” economies based on subsistence incomes, cash payments, and higherrates of self-employment. This experience can prevent immigrantsand refugees, as well as other informal economic participants, fromaccumulating the necessary documentation (contracts, pay stubs)required for building formal credit, especially the two years or moreof work documentation often requested to qualify for mortgages. 13Even highly skilled immigrants sometimes continue to use financialinstitutions from their native countries when they first arrive in theU.S., an action that prevents them from establishing much, if any, ofa U.S. credit score. There are significant unmet needs for access tonon-traditional funds that help immigrants to purchase homes.These innovative programs providesocial and microloans to immigrantswho typically cannot access creditor report loan repayments to creditbureaus to help applicants build acredit history.Cooperative Latino Credit Union in North Carolina and theMission Asset Fund in San Francisco have each created productsthat are flexible and meet community needs, including microloan programs, financial literacy, and financialcoaching initiatives. These innovative programs provide social and microloans to immigrants who typically cannotaccess credit or report loan repayments to credit bureaus to help applicants build a credit history.Created in 2000, the Latino Credit Union in Durham, North Carolina has brought 51,000 people into thefinancial mainstream by providing affordable, full-service financial products and services. 14 With its innovative andcomprehensive bilingual financial education program, the Credit Union has reached more than 9,755 low-incomeand unbanked immigrants hampered by language barriers, limited education, or cultural distrust of financialinstitutions, and has assisted 2,000 first-time homebuyers. 1511 See Mission Economic Development Agency, http://medasf.org/programs/homeownership/.12 See National Council of La Raza, http://www.nclr.org/index.php/about_us/news/blog/nclr_examines_how_innovative_loan_programs_help_immigrants_become_citizens/.13 Barbara Listokin and David Listokin, “Asian Americans for Equality: A Case Study of Strategies for Expanding Immigrant Homeownership,”Housing Policy Debate 12, no. 1 (2001): 53.14 See Migration Policy Institute, Integration Awards 2009, http://integrationawards.migrationpolicy.org/finalists-2009.cfm.15 See Cooperativa Latina Credit Union, Impact Statement, http://latinoccu.org/about-us/impact-statement/.WELCOMING AMERICA | GUIDE TO IMMIGRANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | CHAPTER 1278