(The Center Square) – It’s been two months since the launch of a Washington state home loan program aimed at countering racial discrimination in housing policies of the past.
The Covenant Homeownership Program is a product of the state’s 2023 Covenant Homeownership Act , which directed the Washington State Housing Finance Commission to conduct a study on ways to reverse “racial disparities in home ownership.”
Margret Graham, Communications Manager for the Washington House Financing Commission told The Center Square via email, “Nineteen households have closed on their homes using this program.”
Graham said, “An additional 20 or so loans are reserved, meaning the homebuyers are moving forward toward hopefully closing.”
The Covenant Homeownership Program provides downpayment and closing cost assistance for first-time homebuyers in the form of a loan, secondary to the primary mortgage loan. The loan has a 0% interest rate. It is paid back on the sale or refinancing of the home.
Individuals are encouraged to use the program if they have “deep roots” in the state, defined as being related to someone who lived in Washington prior to the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act .