Microlending for housing in the United States. A case study in colonias in Texas

Rethinking Microfinance for Developed Countries

“…In 2012, the European Commission (European Union, ) stated that 7 per cent of the European population (35 million) was estimated to be under‐banked with limited access to financial services, whereas in the USA this situation involved 14 per cent of the total population (45 million people) (Giusti & Estevez, ).…”

Protecting Homebuyers in Low‐Income Communities: Evaluating the Success of Texas Legislative Reforms in the Informal Homeownership Market

“…It is important to recognize that colonia land and housing markets, by virtue of their informal, “off the radar” nature, and reliance almost exclusively on seller financing, are less vulnerable to external “shocks” and housing market conditions than are formal residential markets with their heavy reliance on bank financing (Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs 2000, 111–13; Ward, Giusti, and de Souza 2004; Giusti and Estévez 2011). Until legislation was adopted in the 1990s, colonia developers in Texas sold land largely off the radar screen of public officials and throughout the history of colonias, only a small fraction of buyers have used formal lending services of banks and mortgage providers to acquire their lots.…”

The rise of renters and renting in Texas colonias

“…For this reason, even in these reports the data on renting are limited to a few key variables. In a ten-year -snapshot‖ study of colonia 7 Notable examples are the State of Texas' Bootstrap Loan Program administered by Colonia Self-Help Centers (see http://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/oci/bootstrap.jsp) and micro-loans provided by non-profits such as the Community Resource Group (Giusti and Estevez, 2011). 8 According to 2007 households, Durst et al (2012) found that the proportion of renters and sharers had risen from 6% in 2002 to 12% in 2011.…”

“…owner-occupied nature of colonia housing markets, highlighting the socio-political antecedents that led to their growth; the different housing types and conditions; the use of exploitative land sale procedures and informal titling mechanisms, and the subsequent prevalence of -clouded‖ 4 titles; the dynamics of the colonia land and owner-occupied housing market; and the nature and extent of the self-help home improvement process and how such improvements are financed (Giusti and Estevez 2011;Larson 1995;Ward 1999;Ward and Carew 2000;Ward et al 2011;Ward et al 2012). However, we know far less about the nature and extent of non-owner populations living in colonias and…”