Renzi: BIA to blame for lack of home ownership
Congressman: Red tape hinders Natives from buying homes

By Pamela G. Dempsey
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Lack of funding is not the only obstacle facing Native American home ownership.

Congressmen Rick Renzi indicated during a joint hearing last week between Congress' Financial Services and Resources Committee that the Bureau of Indian Affairs' red-tape processes blocks, rather than pushes, home ownership in Indian Country.

"Home ownership is a vital part of safe and healthy communities," Renzi stated in a press release. "But for many Native Americans working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the home ownership process is an unnecessarily complicated and frustrating experience."

These processes add to the problem.

While legislation was passed to offer a 95 percent guarantee for some federal loans, federal funds are taken away because these guarantee programs are not being used, Renzi said.

In addition, because the Bureau of Indian Affairs has a large backlog of title transfers, Native American families are still waiting to move into new homes.

"So, we have a huge need for housing in Indian Country while new, safe and clean houses sit empty," Renzi said.

Bureau processes also tie up recording mortgage documents and title status and will not release owner information to private organizations unless the organization receives permission from the owner.

Renzi called this the bureau's version of "Catch-22."

"It might even seem comical if it weren't for the fact that absurd policies like this contribute to the terrible conditions many Native families find themselves in," Renzi said.

According to Renzi's office, Native Americans suffer a 27 percent poverty rate, more than twice the national average and overcrowded reservation homes are six times the national average as well, standing at 33 percent.

Renzi said during last week's hearing that Native Americans suffer not only from overcrowded, substandard housing conditions, but also from lack of infrastructure as well. Sixteen percent of reservation homes lack indoor plumbing.