Residents may be illegal, but they’re responsible borrowers

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Home loans held by illegal immigrants in California and across the nation generally have had fewer delinquencies than similar loans held by U.S. citizens, in part because of stricter lending requirements, according to banks, insurers and Realtors, reports The Times’ Anna Gorman.

‘Every indication is that their performance is better than the average’ mortgage account, said Tim Sandos, president of the National Assn. of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.

More than 12,000 home loans were issued in recent years through a special program that relies on government-issued taxpayer identification numbers instead of Social Security numbers, according to the association. The identification numbers, known as ITINs, were designed for foreign-born residents living legally in the U.S. but are widely acknowledged to be used primarily by illegal immigrants.

Read the rest of the report on how illegal immigrant homeowners compare to U.S citizen homeowners here.

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-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City