Donald Trump states that illegal immigrants will be banned from renting apartments or getting mortgages
9/13/2024
Donald Trump states that illegal immigrants will be banned from renting apartments or getting mortgages.
Trump suggested that the proposed measure would help alleviate housing affordability issues, arguing that a “flood” of illegal immigrants is driving up housing costs. However, undocumented immigrants account for only a small fraction of the mortgage market.
In 2023, only 5,000 to 6,000 mortgages were issued to individuals with Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITINs), according to a recent Urban Institute report. ITINs are used by those who are not legally authorized to work in the US for tax purposes, as they cannot obtain Social Security numbers. Most ITINs are issued to individuals from Latin American countries.
In contrast, approximately 4.3 million first mortgages were originated in 2023, according to Equifax.
Undocumented immigrants often face significant challenges in securing home loans, despite the USA Patriot Act of 2021 allowing banks to accept ITINs for identification purposes.
The Urban Institute report notes, “A small yet growing number of lenders offer mortgage products to ITIN holders, usually at higher interest rates and with stricter lending criteria, even though anecdotal evidence suggests that this type of lending does not present additional risk to the housing finance system.”
Trump has proposed making housing more affordable by eliminating regulations that increase costs and by making federal land available for large-scale housing projects in low-tax, low-regulation areas.
He also claimed that falling interest rates would drive mortgage rates down to 3% or even lower, making home financing more affordable.
However, Trump's broader stance on undocumented immigrants—especially his promise to deport millions—could complicate efforts to reduce home prices. The residential construction industry, grappling with a labor shortage, has long advocated for increasing the number of legally permitted immigrants to strengthen the workforce and boost housing construction. The scarcity of housing supply has been a key factor in rising prices, particularly as demand has surged in recent years.
