Can New Americans Achieve the American Dream? Promoting Homeownership in Immigrant Communities
![handle is hein.journals/hcrcl39 and id is 175 raw text is: Can New Americans Achieve the
American Dream?
Promoting Homeownership in
Immigrant Communities
Charu A. Chandrasekhar*
INTRODUCTION
Homeownership represents the attainment of the American Dream
for many immigrants to the United States.1 Immigrants in America typi-
cally pursue homeownership for its vast economic, cultural and psycho-
logical advantages.' The significant benefits of homeownership in Amer-
ica are well-established.
* B.A., Yale University, 1998; J.D. Candidate, Harvard Law School Class of 2004. An
internship with Relman & Associates, a plaintiffs' firm specializing in civil rights litiga-
tion, sparked my interest in this topic. I am grateful to John Relman for providing me with
several opportunities to work on matters relating to mortgage finance discrimination.
Meera Trehan's enthusiastic support motivated me to examine this topic in depth. Meera's
insightful legal and social science contributions also strengthened my analysis. Angelo
Ancheta supplied helpful direction and input at early stages of my research. The staff of
the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review provided thoughtful and constructive
editorial guidance. Please direct questions or comments to charu@aya.yale.edu.
ISee, e.g., RACHEL BOGARDUS DREW, JOINT CTR. FOR Hous. STUDIES, HARVARD
UNIV., NEW AMERICANS, NEW HOMEOWNERS: THE ROLE AND RELEVANCE OF FOREIGN-
BORN FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS IN THE U.S. HOUSING MARKET 4 (2002), available at
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/homeownership/drew-N02-2.pdf; OFFICE OF
POLICY DEV. & RESEARCH, U.S. DEP'T. OF HoUs. & URBAN DEV., Introduction to WHAT
WE KNOW ABOUT MORTGAGE LENDING DISCRIMINATION IN AMERICA (1999), available at
http://www.hud.govlibrarylbookshelfl8/pressrel/newsconf/menu.html [hereinafter WHAT
WE KNOW]; Nicolas P. Retsinas & Eric S. Belsky, Examining the Unexamined Goal, in
LOW-INCOME HOMEOWNERSHIP: EXAMINING THE UNEXAMINED GOAL 1, 3 (Nicolas P.
Retsinas & Eric S. Belsky eds., 2002) (noting that the concept of homeownership is oft
equated with the American dream and that homeownership is not far behind motherhood
and apple pie as an American symbol); WILLIAM M. ROHE ET AL., THE SOCIAL BENEFITS
AND COSTS OF HOMEOWNERSHIP: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE RESEARCH I (Joint Ctr.
for Hous. Studies of Harvard Univ., Working Paper No. LIHO-01.12, 2001), available at
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/homeownership/lihoO1-12.pdf [hereinafter ROHE
ET AL., SOCIAL BENEFITS].
Housing market literature also enshrines homeownership as the American Dream for
immigrants. See, e.g., FANNIE MAE, 2001 ANNUAL REPORT 1-18 (2002), available at
http://www.fanniemae.com/global/pdf/ir/annualreport200 l/fullreport.pdf; John Buckley,
From Dream to Reality, MORTGAGE BANKING, Sept. 1, 1995, at 12 (Immigrants to the
United States are almost three times as likely as all adults to rank buying a home as their
'number-one' priority.) (citing Fannie Mae survey).
2See, e.g., GEORGE J. BORJAS, HOMEOWNERSHIP IN THE IMMIGRANT POPULATION 6
(Research Inst. for Hous. Am., Working Paper No. 02-01, 2002), available at http://www.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/hcrcl39&div=9&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Can New Americans Achieve the American Dream? Promoting Homeownership in Immigrant Communities
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