Washington Moves Toward Equity with New Law
The Covenant Homeownership Account (CHA) acknowledges the impact of Washington’s housing discrimination practices and racially restrictive real estate covenants.
Governor Jay Inslee signed into law this month legislation that aims to repair some of the economic damage caused by generations of racially discriminatory housing policies.
HomeSight Executive Director Darryl Smith participated in the bill’s signing ceremony at the Northwest African American Museum, joining Governor Inslee and representatives from several of HomeSight’s partner organizations, including the Black Home Initiative Network and the Housing Development Consortium.
Smith testified before the Senate Ways and Means Committee in favor of the legislation. “This legislation is the first of its kind nationwide and is an important step toward intentionally creating equity in housing across the state,” said Smith. “Anti-racism begins with acknowledging the harm caused by racist covenant laws and practices and working to reverse the impact of this history.”
HB1474 creates an assessment fee to fund the Covenant Homeownership Program (CHP). This creates the CHA, which the Washington State Housing Finance Commission will use to create a Special Purpose Credit Program for down payment and closing cost assistance for groups identified in a CHP study shown to have experienced economic damage from discriminatory housing practices.
|