QUESTION: Are all Habitat homeowners legal residents?

As the debate on what to do about illegal immigrants continues in Congress and in the news media, we’re getting questions from our supporters and comments from our detractors concerning the legal status of our Hispanic homeowners.

First, maybe we need to state for the record that we willingly comply with the letter and spirit of U.S. laws and policy for fair housing. This means we treat all applicants the same, regardless of their race, national origin, religious faith, physical capability, marital status, and any number of other factors that can be used to categorize people.

We build the houses, sell the houses, and hold the mortgages so even though we’re a nonprofit, charitable organization, we’re required by law to comply with the same fair housing laws and policies as commercial builders, Realtors, and mortgage lending companies.

It’s the law, but as Christians, we also know it’s the right thing to do—to treat everyone fairly and equally.

So as part of the screening process, we screen all our applicants to be sure they’re legal residents of Loudon County for at least one year. You read that correctly. Even if an applicant is a legal resident of a neighboring county, they’re not eligible for a Habitat home in Loudon County.

The basic application contains a list of documents that must be submitted to prove residency, as well as to help us evaluate whether the applicants meet our criteria and have potential to become successful homeowners.

As part of the screening process, each applicant—regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin—is required to produce identification in the form of a Tennessee driver’s license, a voter registration card, or an updated visa.

A variety of documents help us establish residency and also help us evaluate financial responsibility and personal reliability. Applicants must submit copies of two years’ Federal tax returns and produce Social Security cards for each member of the family. We do verify the Social Security numbers.

We also require copies of pay stubs and other proof of steady income (such as Social Security, disability, or child support) which helps us evaluate the applicant’s ability to make house payments both now and over the 25-year term of the zero-interest mortgage. Almost all of our applicants are currently employed full time, and we do contact their employer for verification.

We review bank statements and utility bills, and we do a credit check on each family. While a bad credit score doesn’t necessarily eliminate the applicant from consideration, it does give us an idea of their financial history and their ability to manage family finances.

Of the record 43 applications we received in March 2007, we eliminated 20 through the initial interview and review of their documents.

To be even more certain that we’re fair to everyone, we form a committee of board members and community volunteers who screen the applications and discuss each situation. Our Family Selection Committee, headed by our affiliate vice president Jeanne Darnell, reviews and discusses each case individually. Teams of two people visit each applicant family in their current home to get to know them better and to take a look at their current “inadequate housing.”

After four months of screening and evaulations, our Family Selection Committee recommended 12 new families for our housing ministry. We have invited these families to partner with us in working their way to homeownership.

The selected families include seven couples with children, two single fathers, and three single mothers. Nine families are Caucasian, two families are Hispanic, and one family is Black. Ages range from 21 to 54 years.

And all are legal residents of Loudon County who are willing to partner with us to build a simple, decent home that their family can afford.

Posted 12/18/07