Bill would expand covenant home ownership, forgive outstanding loans
In the 1930s, homes in this Soap Lake neighborhood carried a covenant that they could “never be sold to or occupied by a person not of the Caucasian race,” according to the homes’ deeds. More than 40,000 homes carried such covenants at one time, making it difficult for minorities to build wealth through homeownership. A bill to expand programs to rectify that imbalance is being discussed in the Washington State Legislature this year.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Covenants like this that restricted ownership of a home in Soap Lake are part of the reason for the Covenant Homeownership Act, which gives home buying assistance to people who would have been shut out of such neighborhoods. A bill before the state Legislature seeks to expand eligibility for the program.
OLYMPIA — The move toward rectifying Washington’s history of racial segregation in housing could expand, under a bill filed in this year’s legislative session by Rep. Jamilla Taylor, D-Federal Way.
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