Is it Getting Tougher for Latinos to Own Homes?

Stricter home ownership regulations are hitting the Latino community particularly hard.

By Von Diaz Nov 14, 2013

Black and Latino families have been hardest hit by "housing income segregation," which is shrinking middle income neighborhoods across the country. And now it seems Latinos are also having a harder time qualifying for home loans than before the Great Recession, experts say. In a recent interview, Gary Acosta, CEO and co-founder of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals told VOXXI that Latinos are particularly affected by new, stricter rules. 

"Latinos are one of those sectors mostly affected by these new regulations because of their non-traditional ways of earning income and lack of credit history in many cases," said Gary Acosta, CEO and co-founder of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).

Some of the new rules could require as much as a 30 percent down payment for those "risky candidates," which Acosta also says is difficult for Latino families whose non-traditional, often inconsistent income earnings make it hard to accumulate the money needed for such a large payment. And these same informal labor jobs also make it harder for Latinos to establish good credit. 

(h/t VOXXI