America’s tribal lands, home to more than a million people, are often credit deserts, lacking the access to capital necessary to make homeownership a reality for the Native Americans who desire to live on them, the Wall Street Journal reported. Traditional mortgages in the U.S. are secured by two valuable pieces of collateral: the home itself and the land on which it sits. But in Indian Country, swaths of land are held in trust, preventing lenders from staking a claim if the homeowner stops paying. There is a workaround, but it is complicated. Obtaining the necessary approvals can take years, even for borrowers working with experienced lenders like Mr. Burnette. It is one reason Native Americans are less likely to be homeowners: Some 57% of Native Americans owned homes in 2019, versus 72% of whites, according to the Minneapolis Fed’s Center for Indian Country Development. Still, there is some optimism in Indian Country that change is afoot. Deb Haaland this year became the first Native American to lead the U.S. Department of Interior, which oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Marcia Fudge, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, spoke about mortgage access on reservations during her confirmation hearing. Two senators introduced legislation in June to expand mortgage credit on reservations through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Getting credit flowing is a tall task. Last year, lenders packaged up and sold less than $900 million of loans through the federal program that supports American Indian home buyers, a tiny fraction of the $4-trillion-plus U.S. mortgage market, according to industry research firm Inside Mortgage Finance.
