Outrage as state launches home loan program of up to $150,000 based on race

Washington state has sparked fury with its new home loan program that offers a whopping $150,000 in assistance - but only if you're the right race.

The Covenant Homeownership Program, launched on July 1, claims to be fighting racial discrimination by helping first-time home buyers snag a 0 percent interest loan for down payments and closing costs.

But there's a catch - you've got to belong to specific minority groups to qualify.

Applicants must be at or below the local median income as well as fit into select minority categories like Black, Hispanic, or Native American — omitting white people and other groups. 

The program also excludes other groups that have faced historical housing discrimination as their website states 'the data is limited when it comes to documenting the lasting impacts of historical discrimination.' 

The Covenant Homeownership Program, launched on July 1, claims to be fighting racial discrimination by helping first-time home buyers snag a 0 percent interest loan for down payments and closing costs

Applicants must be at or below the local median income as well as fit into select minority categories like Black, Hispanic, or Native American — omitting white people

The program, born from the state's 2023 Covenant Homeownership Act, targets individuals with 'deep roots' in Washington.

That means being related to someone who lived there before the 1968 Fair Housing Act.

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'The Covenant program's initial eligibility criteria are intentionally narrowly tailored,' The Covenant Homeownership Program writes on their website. 'While many racial, ethnic and religious groups in Washington were subject to unjust and egregious housing discrimination, the Covenant program considers not only this history but also its current impacts.'

'Some of the groups discriminated against continue to show much lower homeownership rates compared with the general white population. These are named in the initial eligibility criteria. However, for other groups (such as Jewish residents), the data is limited when it comes to documenting the lasting impacts of historical discrimination.' 

The state's Housing Finance Commission, tasked with this racial juggling act, claims they're just trying to reverse 'racial disparities in home ownership.'

But critics call it reverse discrimination.

'WTF? It's affirmative action for housing that most still can't afford,' one user wrote on X.

The state's Housing Finance Commission, tasked with this racial juggling act, claims they're just trying to reverse 'racial disparities in home ownership.' But critics call it reverse discrimination

Another angry user commented: 'New homeownership assistance program for everyone other than white people.'

'Thanks, @WaHouseGOP. You never fail to screw us.'

Defenders of the program argue it's a necessary step to right historical wrongs.

But the site explains the program does not 'represent a formal reparations effort.' 

'The Covenant Homeownership Act is one small effort to remedy past and ongoing discrimination and its impacts on access to credit and homeownership for BIPOC and other historically marginalized communities in Washington state. It does not represent a formal reparations effort.'