Sudanese refugees 'offered unaffordable home loans'
ABC NEWS
Posted Fri Apr 4, 2008 11:01am AEDT
Map: Newcastle 2300
There are claims some Sudanese refugees living in Newcastle have been offered $500,000 home loans without the income to make the repayments.
A recent survey found nearly 60 per cent of bank and finance workers felt pressured to lend money to people who could not afford the repayments.
Earlier this week, the ABC's Four Corners program raised particular concerns about Sudanese refugees being easy targets.
Michael Adderley from Newcastle-based Northern Settlement Services says he is astounded by the experience of one local man.
“He says 'the broker said to me even if I find a house for $300,000, I should borrow the whole $500,000 and use it for other things or use it as a buffer or whatever',” he said.
“It's some fairly poor advice and unfortunately for our refugee communities, they've gone without for so long that when they come to a place like Australia they are tempted to get things that other people have.”
Tags: banking, community-and-society, immigration, welfare, refugees, australia, nsw, newcastle-2300
