Despite a strong economy and low interest rates, the
nearly 20,000 Latinos in southwest Idaho have a hard time finding
affordable housing. According to Wayne Hoffman, a reporter at the
Idaho Press-Tribune, Latinos in Treasure Valley are 2.5 times more
likely to be denied conventional home mortgages and home
improvement loans than whites. Hoffman’s report, written for his
Nampa, Idaho, paper, also reveals that the percentage of loans
denied has been growing since 1992. Lenders say the numbers mean
Latino applicants generally have less credit history and lower
income than their counterparts. Richard Mabbutt of the
Intermountain Fair Housing Council says discrimination can start at
the bank’s front door: “Some banks try to have bilingual people
pretty available, but you’re not generally going to be able to walk
into a lending institution and meet with someone who is culturally
or linguistically similar.” Securing a loan isn’t the only obstacle
for Idaho Latinos. Neither the local housing authority nor the
state’s housing agency, the Idaho Housing and Finance Association,
provide instruction forms in Spanish.
For a copy
of the Press-Tribune report, call Wayne Hoffman at 208/465-8117, or
visit the paper’s Web site at www.idahopress.com. – Ali
Macalady
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Treasure Valley’s housing not so golden.
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