An increasing number of homes on the brink of foreclosure are being used to house illegal immigrants near the U.S. border in Arizona, according to a report by the Republic.
Struggling borrowers who are behind on mortgage payments and facing foreclosure are opting to rent out their homes, often hastily without checking out the tenants beforehand.
Unknowingly, many of these at-risk borrowers are taking cash from coyotes, guides who run immigrants across the border from Mexico.
Once illegal immigrants arrive in the United States, they are typically kept in these so-called “drophouses” for weeks until payment is received from friends or relatives.
Unfortunately, many of the homes are damaged in the process, a hefty consequence for one month’s rent, often because owners aren’t doing their due diligence.
Investigators have noticed that the number of drophouses is increasing in the same areas where borrowers tend to be getting overextended and losing their homes.
Since August 2007, the number of rental homes registered in Maricopa County has risen 27 percent to 20,836, and many more probably exist but go unaccounted for.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent told the Republic that the number of drophouses will likely rise, as the delinquent borrowers seem to be almost as desperate as those attempting to cross the border.
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