Alternative homebuyer financing options

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This week, the Minnesota Homeownership Center looks at two alternative homebuyer financing options geared toward whose religious beliefs prohibit the payment of interest (specifically Muslims), and those who don’t qualify for a U.S. social security number.

We’ll look at non-interestbearing financing first. To be clear, this does not mean you can get a traditional mortgage with zero-percent interest. It simply encompasses alternative options determined by Islamic scholars to be free of interest payments.

In Islamic law, the term riba’ is used to mean unwarranted gains, interest or usury. The Qur’an forbids riba’ because it symbolizes profiting at another’s expense or making money from money instead of from tangible assets. The prohibition of riba’ limits the financial transactions in which some Muslims can participate. This has led to the development of financial products that avoid riba’.

Non-interest-bearing financing

There are three models of non-interest-bearing financing products:

1) Murabaha, an installment sale arrangement;

2) Musharaka, a co-ownership arrangement; and 3) Ijara, a partnership, where each partner contributes capital to the home purchase, though not necessarily in equal amounts. The partner with the larger investment has proportionally more control over any products compared to each other or compared to interest-bearing loans may differ. For example, some up-front costs may be more expensive. Further, such products don’t always work with down pay-

Individual Taxpayer ID Number

Loans lease-to-own arrangement.

Murabaha is an installment credit agreement for the sale of tangible goods. In the home purchase transaction, the seller acquires the home, which the buyer then agrees to purchase at some point in the future. The seller is entitled to a profit as long as the exact markup is disclosed in the contract, and buyer payments may be spread out over time.

Musharaka is an equity decisions that are made and absorbs a larger percentage of any potential losses. Profitsharing ratios must be specified in an agreement.

Ijara is a leasing agreement where the owner of the home transfers its use to a lessee in exchange for cash payments. The owner receives a profit as compensation for assuming the majority of the risk in the transaction. The costs associated with non-interest-bearing financing ment assistance programs. Fortunately, buyers can work with a homeownership advisor to evaluate their options.

A full guide to non-interest-bearing financing products in Minnesota, including a cost breakdown comparison between an FHA mortgage and a Murabaha transaction, is available on the Minnesota Homeownership Center website at hocmn.org/NonInterestFinancing.

For

Now let’s turn our attention to Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) loans. There are many reasons why an individual may not qualify for a U.S. social security number, despite living and working in the United States. Green card holders, for example, are non-citizen permanent residents with the right to legally live and work in the U.S. indefinitely. Recent immigrants pursuing citizenship are another group, as are non-immigrants living in the U.S. for a specific period of time. An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number facilitates the collection of taxes on income earned by these individuals.

Anyone may purchase and own property in the United States, regardless of residency or immigration status. For those without a social security number, securing a traditional mortgage is very difficult. In response, some lenders have created ITIN mortgages. ITIN mortgages typically have more flexible underwriting criteria, allowing for alternative income verification and alternate credit history considerations. Down payment requirements tend to be higher, and down payment assistance programs often cannot be utilized.

As with non-interest-bearing financing products, the services of a homeownership advisor can make navigating the ITIN loan process smoother and easier for homebuyers utilizing this financial tool. A full guide to ITIN Mortgages, including providers offering ITIN loans in Minnesota, is available on the Minnesota Homeownership Center website at hocmn.org/ITIN. Homeownership is possible. We can show you how.

For more information on the Minnesota Homeownership Center and its advisor and education services, visit www.HOCMN.org.

Moriarty

Continued from page 1 rewarded. She co-directs the Child Advocacy in Juvenile Justice Clinic, which in recent years has gained attention for its representation of Myon Burrell who was sentenced to life in prison at 16. According to Moriearty, a majority of those who will be impacted by these reforms are Black and Brown.

“Ninety-seven people are currently serving sentences of 15 years or more for juvenile offenses. Of those, 82 percent are Black or Brown. When you look at those serving, when you bump up to 20 years those serving consecutive sentences for multiple victim cases, 92 percent are Black or Brown,” she said.

Avra Anagnostis, the founder of Juvenile Sentencing Reform MN, has also worked alongside others to ensure that legislatures passed these reforms. Anagnostis launched her organization in 2020, as a way to continue her fight for her childhood best friend, Roberto Lopez-Rios, to be released. Lopez-Rios was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 16 in 2001 for being involved in a drive-by shooting, though he was not the gunman.

Three years after launching her organization, Anagnostis is now working with 50 individuals who were incarcerated as juveniles serving life sentences. Many of them have expressed remorse for their crimes and share that they don’t have an accurate memory of the events for which they’ve been sent to prison.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty campaigned on juvenile justice reform and testified at the state capitol in favor of restorative justice practices for juveniles caught in the system. Moriarty said that with these new laws, her office will now have new tools to help examine the cases that come before them.

“It was a very productive session on public safety and particularly people who were juveniles

Crime

Continued from page 1 certain models, but the rash of auto thefts and property vandalism reflects a growing trend in non-violent crimes.

Nevertheless, the MPD is focused on the positive drop in gun-related violent crime.

“I am incredibly thankful for the tireless work by MPD officers to continue removing

Ai Panel

Continued from page 1 could be a valuable tool in education. “The reality is that inside schools you can lean into technology like generative AI to free up space to spend more time on the things that make us more uniquely human,” Mortenson said, [such as] “things that technology can’t do—enable empathy, collaboration, cross-cultural communication, and group work.”

He said diversification of the education system is important, pointing out that more than 50 percent of students are now BIPOC but that teachers are still predominantly White and monolingual.

Although he is confident that AI will not be able to replace teachers, he believes that it will be useful for tutoring stu- at the time,” she said. “We’re still sorting through all of the different new tools we have to make sure that we are implementing them in a transparent way.”

Science of juvenile justice reform

Much of the argument in favor of juvenile justice reform is the science of brain development and the lack of impulse control young people have compared to adults. Some legal and developmental experts state that because of this reality, in most cases, juveniles should not be tried as adults.

Professor Moriearty also believes that juveniles have a better chance of being rehabilitated as well.

“By virtue of their documented neurodevelopmental differences, that they are immature, that their culpability is less than that of an adult, their capacity for change is enhanced by their young age. We should take that into account and sentence them differently than adults,” Moriearty said.

“Our bill gives anyone sentenced to prison as a juvenile eligibility for review and release after 15 years with a few exceptions. I want to reemphasize that review and release does not mean automatic release.”

With this change, juveniles will have the ability to go in front of the Juvenile Review Board made up of the Department of Corrections Commissioner, four appointees from both parties, and two experts in the areas of neurological development. There are a number of factors that go into the decision that will help the review board decide whether or not someone is eligible for release during a life sentence.

Mary Moriarty points to assessments that a psychologist may conduct or a review of an inmate’s time in prison and what they might have accomplished while behind bars.

“Has this person completed some type of degree? Have they reached out and been a mentor to others, maybe young people who come into the prison? It isn’t necessarily a onesize-fits-all. There are certain illegal guns from our streets and ensuring we continue to see fewer families touched by gun violence in our city,” said MPD Chief Brian O’Hara. “Together with our law enforcement and community-based partners, we will remain vigilant and continue to do everything possible to ensure we reduce the number of victims of serious street crime and build trust in our communities.” tests that can be administered and certainly the opinions of psychologists,” she said.

When it comes to prosecuting crime in Hennepin County, Moriarty seeks to have a holistic approach to each case and factor in key aspects of each juvenile’s life and record to best assess what the appropriate sentence could be. She looks at their history, the options available for rehabilitation, and the particular crime that they have committed. Rather than have a one-size-fits-all approach, Moriarty believes she needs to take each case on individually.

McKeever case and plea deal

In recent months, the Hennepin County attorney’s approach to juvenile justice has been in the headlines following Gov. Walz’s appointment of Attorney General Keith Ellison to a murder case involving two juveniles that Moriarty was prosecuting.

The victim, Zaria McKeever, was killed on the night of November 8, after a break-in involving a 15 and 17-year-old, who were instructed by Erick Haynes, the victim’s boyfriend, who drove them to her home and allegedly purchased the murder weapon. Haynes and two other adults are being tried for the murder, and face life in prison, while Moriarty’s office offered a plea deal to the juveniles in exchange for their testimony against the adults.

The victim’s family members objected to the plea deal and felt as though the two years in the juvenile detention center followed by an extended juvenile justice sentence wasn’t right in this case, and the governor, as well as Attorney General Ellison, agreed.

Moriarty stands by her decision to offer the plea deal and the decision to offer two years in juvenile detention followed by an extended juvenile justice sentence, which would serve as a probationary period, where either offender would be sent to an adult prison for 150 months (12 ½ years) if they violate the terms of their probation.

She expressed her empathy for McKeever’s family but stated that she took several factors into consideration in making her decision.

“Something horrific happened to their daughter and loved one and I have nothing but empathy and compassion for them. I’m sure it was difficult for them to be told one thing then I got into office, and I did what I said that I would do during the campaign, which was to look at individual cases and try to see what was in the best interest of public safety,” she said.

For any criticism of her office not certifying certain juveniles as adults, Moriarty points to the case of Avon Semaj Longstreet, a 17-year-old who was charged with murder despite no previous history for his involvement in the Mall of America shooting in December 2022.

“My recollection is that he had no history, but it was appropriate to certify him as an adult,” Moriarty said. “We look at each and every individual case and we looked at all of those factors and decided it simply didn’t serve public safety by keeping him in the juvenile system.”

When it comes to the 15-year-old involved in McKeever’s death, Moriarty wonders what benefit it would bring to the community for him to serve a long sentence and return to the community after a traumatic experience of being held in prison with adults.

Youth crime intervention

Many of the changes in which prosecutors like Moriarty are examining are the preventive initiatives that keep juveniles out of the system before they commit a felony.

“One of the things that I think is really positive about the new legislation is that it does allow us to intervene early on. For instance, there are restorative justice grants there to establish restorative justice practices, which we know are very successful,” she said. “There’s also crime victim services funding. I testified in favor of this, grants established for organizations that provide direct services to crime victims.” dents and assisting in the education process.

Moriarty also mentioned working on diversion programs with the Minneapolis Police Department and housing situations to catch children at risk of incarceration early on and set them on a better path with the right support system put in place.

Many of the cases in which restorative justice practices are used are property crimes and other non-violent offenses. However, there are conversations on what justice looks like for the juvenile offender and the victim when a violent crime is involved.

Going forward, Anagnostis believes that the answer to figuring out how to address the issues around juvenile justice reform can come from the individuals who are currently serving life sentences and have had time to reflect on their situation.

“The majority of them really recognize the harm they’ve caused, and they want to also work to change and prevent those cycles of violence and that pain from continuing for both the victims and for the incarcerated kids themselves,” she said.

This is part of an ongoing MSR series about crime and juvenile justice in Black communities.

Abdi Mohamed welcomes reader comments at amohamed@ spokesman-recorder.com.

Mortenson discussed the importance of an education that prepares students for a future in which, she says, “85 percent of the jobs that will exist when [current students] go out into the world don’t exist today.” She also said it was important to be able to consider programs that can meet diverse needs of students of different backgrounds, noting that both rural and urban classrooms in Minnesota have undergone large demographic shifts in the past couple of decades.

Ella Baker students asked about the disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and questioned what can be done to catch up on the education of any students whose learning was affected by the pandemic.

Mortenson responded on behalf of the panel and was optimistic, saying that the educational disruption caused by COVID could be an opportunity to improve the education system for the future by “leveraging technologies to meet students where they are.”

Mortenson mentioned programs at Ella Baker, such as the community ambassadors’ program, as an example of a model that could be used to build empathy and collaboration in the learning environment.

Cole Miska welcomes reader comments at cmiska@spokesman-recorder.com.

By Tony Kiene

Contributing

Writer

All 7 Years: The Past, Present, and Future of Prince Studies

June 7 | 1-3:30 pm

University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach Center (UROC)

2001 Plymouth Ave. N., Minneapolis

Join local, national and international authors as they explore the impressive volume of research and scholarship around the life, legacy, and indelible impact of Prince Rogers Nelson since his tragic and untimely passing in 2016.

Sponsored by the International Centre 4 Prince Studies, panelists scheduled to participate include Dr. Kirsty Fairclough, De Angela Duff, Dr. Elliot Powell, Andrea Swensson, Kristen Zschomler, and Zaheer Ali. Admission is free, but advance registration is encouraged.

For more info, visit bit.ly/PrinceStudiesPastPresentFuture

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