The Wells Fargo Bank is the first major California lender to offer home loans to illegal immigrants.
"We're not required to ask the immigration status of any of our customers. That is the responsibility of the federal government," Wells Fargo bank representative Jerry Ruiz said. Applicants do need a tax identification number issued by the Internal Revenue Service for people who do not have Social Security numbers. putz!
Critics say even though the program is legal, it sends the wrong message. "Any time you have a bank institution lending money to help people buy homes when they're not even allowed to be in the country, it is something that runs contrary to the law. It aids and abets people who are breaking the law," said Ira Melman of the Federation of Immigration Reform.
How the heck can you do business with a bank without a social security number?! I would've been warned about the door hitting my furry butt on the way out of the bank. But, I guess the rules are different for those folks that break into this country.
Another issue used to be an absolute deal breaker when undocumented people applied for home loans: Until recently, people had to have a Social Security number to qualify for a mortgage.
Now, a handful of banks, including some major institutions (citibank & wells fargo, et al.), have begun offering home-mortgage loans to people who don't have Social Security accounts. Instead, borrowers can use individual taxpayer identification numbers, or ITINs, which are used to file income tax returns. These lending programs also allow borrowers to use unconventional ways to demonstrate their creditworthiness.
The Internal Revenue Service issues taxpayer IDs to both resident and nonresident aliens so they can pay taxes. A significant number of the 8.6 million holders of individual taxpayer IDs are illegal immigrants, according to the Government Accounting Office.
Opponents of illegal immigration deplore mortgages for undocumented people. Some say the banks making taxpayer ID loans are guilty of aiding and abetting criminals. Ya think?
U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, a Republican from Roseville (Placer County), has introduced a bill that would ban issuing residential mortgages to illegal immigrants.
"The government should not be in the business of creating incentives to encourage illegal behavior. Nor should companies be permitted to reward those individuals in clear violation of our laws," Doolittle said in a statement when he introduced the bill in October.
The bill, which also would require expedited deportation of people caught entering the United States illegally, is pending in the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims.