ITIN Loans in Florida: how to buy a home without a Social Security number

What an ITIN is, and is not

The IRS issues an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to people who need a U.S. taxpayer identification number for federal tax purposes but are not eligible for a Social Security number. It is a nine-digit number, applied for on Form W-7, and the IRS asks you to allow about seven weeks for a decision, longer in tax season or from abroad.

The IRS is equally clear about the limits. An ITIN does not provide or change immigration status, does not authorize work, does not qualify you for Social Security benefits or the Earned Income Tax Credit, and does not serve as identification outside the federal tax system.

For a home purchase that means one thing: the ITIN is what lets you file the tax returns a lender will read. It is not, by itself, a loan program.

Four ways ITIN holders buy in Florida

ITIN portfolio loans

A number of banks, credit unions and non-bank lenders write mortgages to borrowers whose only tax ID is an ITIN and keep those loans on their own books. Because no government agency insures the loan and no agency buys it, the lender sets its own terms. Expect a larger down payment than a conventional loan, a rate above the agency market, and underwriting that leans on filed tax returns and documented payment history rather than a credit score alone. Where a traditional credit file is thin, lenders often accept alternative history such as rent, utilities, insurance and phone accounts paid on time.

Conventional loans through Fannie Mae’s rules

Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide requires that each borrower have a valid Social Security number or an ITIN, in addition to meeting its legal residency and documentation requirements. Its separate section on non-U.S. citizen borrowers says Fannie Mae buys mortgages made to lawful permanent and non-permanent residents on the same terms as citizens, and that the lender determines legal presence using documentation it deems appropriate. In practice, the residency documentation, not the ITIN, decides whether a conventional loan is on the table. A lender who works these files regularly will tell you in one conversation.

FHA: not available

HUD’s Single Family Housing Policy Handbook states that each borrower must provide evidence of a valid Social Security number. Mortgagee Letter 2025-09 then removed non-permanent residents from FHA eligibility for case numbers assigned on or after May 25, 2025, leaving citizens and lawful permanent residents. An ITIN-only borrower should not plan around FHA’s low down payment.

Cash

Many ITIN purchases in Miami-Dade close in cash. The lender disappears; the rest of the process does not. You sign the same AS IS contract, keep the inspection period, deliver verified funds to the closing agent, and buy title insurance. Without a mortgage there is no documentary stamp tax on a note; the deed stamps, which the standard contract assigns to the seller, and the recording fees still apply.

DSCR loans for investors

If the property will be rented rather than lived in, a Debt Service Coverage Ratio loan qualifies the property instead of the borrower. The lender compares the expected rent to the proposed payment and lends when the rent covers it by the margin the lender sets. Personal income documentation is lighter, tax returns often are not required, and several lenders in this space accept ITIN borrowers and foreign-national borrowers.

The trade-offs are real: down payments run higher than owner-occupied loans, rates are higher, prepayment penalties are common, and the loan cannot be used for the home you live in. Investors also carry the FIRPTA question into their exit, covered below.

The documents lenders ask for

Lenders differ, but ITIN files tend to include the same core:

• The IRS letter assigning your ITIN, and an unexpired passport or other government photo ID.
• Federal tax returns filed under the ITIN for recent years, with W-2s or 1099s where they exist.
• Proof of current income: pay stubs, employer letters, or for the self-employed, business records and bank statements.
• Bank statements showing the down payment and closing funds, seasoned in the account, with a gift letter for any gifted portion.
• Alternative credit references if your credit file is thin: landlord, utility, insurance and phone accounts.
• Evidence of residency status when the program requires it.

Assemble the file before you shop. In a market where sellers compare offers by certainty, a complete file behind a pre-approval is your leverage.

Title, the closing affidavit, and homestead

Title. Nothing in the deed or the title insurance policy turns on your tax ID number. The closing agent needs government-issued identification, verified funds and the executed contract. Florida also requires every buyer, at the time of purchase, to sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury attesting that the buyer is not a foreign principal restricted by Chapter 692, Part III of the Florida Statutes. The title company prepares it; you sign it at closing.

Homestead exemption. This is where an ITIN falls short. Florida law requires the exemption application to include the Social Security number of the applicant and of the applicant’s spouse. The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser adds that the applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident as of January 1 of the tax year. The Florida Supreme Court, in Garcia v. Andonie (2012), allowed the tax exemption where the owner maintains the home as the permanent residence of a dependent who qualifies, but no decision extends that route to homestead’s protection from forced sale. Treat homestead as a question for a Florida attorney, with your specific facts on the table, before you count the savings.

Property taxes without homestead. Budget the full, uncapped tax bill from your purchase price. Our closing costs calculator and the tax section of the affordability tool assume no exemption unless you tell them otherwise.

FIRPTA when you sell later

The Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act requires the buyer of U.S. real property from a foreign person to withhold 15 percent of the amount realized and send it to the IRS, generally by the twentieth day after the sale. The IRS lists exceptions: no withholding when the amount realized is $300,000 or less and the buyer will use the property as a residence, and a reduced rate between $300,000 and $1 million under the same residence condition. The seller may apply for a withholding certificate on Form 8288-B to reduce or eliminate the amount; the buyer reports on Forms 8288 and 8288-A.

Florida’s standard contract builds this in. Standard V has the seller certify whether they are a foreign person, and if they are, the buyer withholds the applicable percentage at closing or escrows it while a withholding certificate application is pending.

Two points for ITIN holders:

• Foreign person is a tax-status test, resting on residency rules the IRS applies, not on whether you have an SSN. A CPA can tell you where you stand years before you list.
• The withholding is a deposit against tax, not the tax itself. The seller files a return and claims the difference. Keeping clean records of purchase price, improvements and closing costs from day one makes that return simple.

This guide is general information about how purchases work in Florida, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Lender programs, IRS rules and Florida statutes change; confirm the current rules with a licensed lender, a Florida attorney and a tax professional before relying on them.