Prompted by a request from two state lawmakers, the Washington State Auditor’s Office will wade into why a state program designed to turn low-income renters into homeowners failed to do so. The audit will access the promises broken.

With the use of low-income housing tax credits, Washington State Housing Finance Commission’s Eventual Tenant Ownership program was to offer hundreds of renters the chance to own their homes after 15 years of paying rent. During those years, the WSHFC was to make sure homeownership counseling was offered to tenants to keep them on track to become owners, but the agency did not. After 20 years, not one deed has been conveyed to tenants yet they continue to pay rent.

Most of the tenants are members of Washington’s tribal communities, which drew the attention of Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, who helps train law students to serve Indigenous people, and Rep. Chris Stearns, D-Auburn, a lawyer who is also Native American.

A letter from Pollet and Stearns and a Seattle Times editorial asked Auditor Pat McCarthy to look into what went wrong with the program, suggest what needs to be done to rectify any harm done to tenants and offer ways to prevent such a debacle from happening again.

In a statement Thursday, McCarthy’s office said a performance audit would be conducted next year and preliminary areas it intends to review are how the rent-to-own option has affected housing and homeownership for tenants; what the commission could do to improve outcomes for rent-to-own tenants; and whether the commission followed laws and requirements pertaining to the program.

McCarthy’s statement said: “A core part of our performance audit work has been determining the effectiveness of this type of state-level program, and I believe a targeted review of the rent-to-own tax incentive will offer valuable insights to legislators and others.”

Since the audit will take months to complete, this editorial board reiterates its suggestion that the WSHFC should suspend rent payments for those who are currently eligible to own their homes.

One of the goals of the program is to help produce generational wealth for those who, due to centuries of discrimination, have been denied a chance at homeownership. A performance audit will help make this goal attainable for those who are eligible for deeds and those who are in the pipeline to become homeowners.

By The Seattle Times editorial board