The following editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times:
The Legislature did its part last year to help repair decades of racial discrimination in housing by passing the Covenant Homeownership Act.
With the Covenant Homeownership Program set to launch this summer, potentially hundreds of families could realize the dream denied them, their parents or grandparents because of state-supported restrictive covenants. For decades before the passing of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, Washington had more than 55,000 properties that had restrictive deeds in hundreds of neighborhoods with discriminatory covenants, keeping many Black, Indigenous, Latino and Asian people from becoming homeowners.
Fast forward more than 50 years, and the vestiges of such racism still loom, though the covenants are illegal. In 2022, white homeownership at 69 percent was more than double that of Black residents, the widest disparity among all racialized groups, according to a University of Washington study.
So, now is the time to make sure eligible future homeowners know about the program and can use it to help build generational wealth that has benefited others for centuries.
That will require outreach and marketing to designated populations. Real estate companies should learn about the program and its eligibility rules and parameters. The state should saturate organizations that serve Black, Latino, Indigenous and Asian communities with information about the opportunity and make it available in several languages.
State Rep. Jamila Taylor, D-Federal Way, who shepherded the legislation, said a formal marketing plan will include these things.
“This is about reparative justice, not reparations,” said Taylor, who credited Rep. Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, and housing groups for championing the idea years ago. “This was definitely a group effort.”
The program is funded with a $100 document fee added to real estate transactions. It will assist first-time homebuyers with down payments and other costs. To be eligible, buyers must have lived in Washington before the passing of the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 or be the descendants of someone who lived in the state. They can have incomes at or below 100 percent of the median income in the area where they live. The fund is expected to generate at least $75 million a year.
A recent study found that state institutions “played both active and passive roles in perpetuating housing discrimination against a range of marginalized groups.” It also found that impacts of that discrimination are still felt today.
The study concluded that “without specifically aiming to help the groups that were discriminated against, any other effort would be ineffective in remedying the disparities.”
Washington lawmakers should be commended for leading the nation in addressing past discrimination. Making sure it is actually used to its potential should be their next goal.
