Myth 2
Illegal immigrants don’t live in your apartments. As the number of immigrant renters increases, many owners are all too aware of the risk that some of those renters may be in the country illegally. That’s where resident screening comes in, right? Not necessarily. While owners may ask for social security numbers, work references, even credit histories, there’s no surefire way to know if you have any of the estimated 11.5 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States living in your units.Conventional wisdom would dictate that illegal renters are mainly piling into older complexes because they tend to be more affordable and have a less stringent approval process. “While immigration is an important factor for apartment demand in the next century, I think it’s focused in [Class] B and C rental product,” says Jim Butz, divisional president and managing partner of JPI East, a division of Dallas-based JPI, which manages more than 45,000 units nationwide. “In the luxury product, it has been less of a benefit.”
But not everyone agrees. “I am confident that most big companies have some presence of undocumented immigrants living on their properties,” Vela says. “A lot of big companies have avoided the issue of immigration … by systematically excluding the immigrant renter pool for lack of knowing how to deal with them.”
Most apartment owners believe that if there are illegal immigrants in their units, they aren’t on the lease. The theory: One person rents an apartment and then brings along three or four friends or family members who don’t have papers. Vela thinks some illegal immigrants are sneaking past screening procedures as well. “It’s not only those who are living with somebody on the property,” he says. “There are a lot of false documents out there.”
Despite this, the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that less than a quarter (23 percent) of illegal immigrants have any form of photo ID issued by a U.S. government agency. Various media outlets report that illegal immigrants use stolen social security numbers to get jobs and homes, but the Federal Trade Commission doesn’t know how widespread this practice is.
“We all know that even if a prospective resident presents genuine identification, it may not belong to him or her,” says Elizabeth (Betsy) Feigin Befus, vice president for employment policy and special counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based National Multi Housing Council, the industry’s national trade association.
The problem is that asking too many questions can run the risk of liability. Apartment owners that require documentation to verify legal status have to make sure they ask every potential resident to provide the same papers. “If apartment owners have a different standard for Hispanic people versus whites or blacks, or if they were asking for something from people with only a particular background, that would violate fair housing laws,” says Bryan Greene, deputy assistant secretary for enforcement and programs at the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
Unfortunately, these issues are complicated when legal immigrants don’t have the proper papers. “It’s not uncommon for people to get stuck as one permit expires before they secure a second permit,” Bowdler says. “Folks assume that there is a straight line that says that the immigrant is documented or undocumented. That’s not necessarily the case.” These complications can leave apartment owners in a bind. How much time can one invest in qualifying employment, wonders an apartment owner in Miami who requested anonymity for fear of legal liability. “How deep do I want to chase this guy’s references from John Smith? John is like, ‘Yeah, Jose works with me, but you can’t see a stub because he was paid in cash,” he says.
