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Comment by polski-g | Hacker News Reader

This is only for FHA loans, in which you can put down less than 20%. They can still get traditional mortgages.

People on a temporary visa should not be given mortgages anyway. Are the banks dumb? If they leave you're never going to recoup the balance.

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It’s secured by an asset - the house - and if you put 20% down, the bank should be able to get its money back assuming there isn’t a housing crash

Why would an H-1B holder even be eligible for a program like that? Makes no sense.

It sounds like if you put down less than 20% that part is insured by somebody else so the government doesn't need to re-coup the full 100% to be even as they can get 10+% from somebody else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FHA_insured_loan#Mortgage_insu...

it's collateralized debt. Definitionally they will recoup the balance.

House prices in Austin have dropped 20%.

> People on a temporary visa should not be given mortgages anyway.

Uh did you think that through?

> Are the banks dumb? If they leave you're never going to recoup the balance.

Maybe you believe someone will pack a house into a suitcase when they leave or that foreclosure isn't a thing.

From a capitalist perspective, encouraging guest workers to take on fixed collateralized debt is an excellent anchor to reduce turnover, in addition to holding their workers' visas hostage and nudging them to start families. The result is cheaper, compliant workers who won't unionize, strike, or complain about abuse. As long as it's kept secret and doesn't make it to social media or the legacy news. It's similar to students loans and personal debt in that way because it keeps people tethered to a job they might hate.

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