This year, the Young Democrats of Washington are holding the annual convention in Olympia. The theme: Resist and Persist. The vendor for buying tickets: PayPal. The same PayPal that gives us Peter Thiel, big booster for Donald Trump. One would think that a convention designed to fight against the Donald Trump administration could have found a different vendor to accept payment. It'd be like doing an event for #NoDAPL, and paying Wells Fargo to manage the cash.
But that has nothing to do with where we are in the #HALA series, which is (thankfully) coming to a close. Today, starting on page 35, will be the second-to-last of the main series! And then I can get back to ignoring this website for weeks at a time.
Promote Sustainable Homeownership
H.1 - Support Permanently Affordable Homeownership and Stewardship
By exploring more models, and expanding existing ones (like land trusts), this proposal suggests the city do more to preserve and expand affordable homeownership opportunities in Seattle that are permanently affordable opportunities into the future.
H.2 - Explore the Development of a Sharia-compliant Financing Product
For Sharia complaint Muslims, payment of interest or fees on a loan is a no-go. HALA recommends working to identify other ways that the city and lenders might be able to provide Sharia-compliant financing options, so more members of our community can access home ownership.
H.3 - Seek to Remove Barriers to Condo Development
Condo development is not exactly easy thanks to the implied warranty for construction in the State Condominium Act. Because of shoddy construction, this has led to numerous (successful) lawsuits against condo developers, increasing the cost of insurance policies and exposing assets, leading to condo developers to just not develop condos. The suggestion here is to work to make condo development - a more affordable homeownership option - kick back up on the moderate-price level through changes to regulations and additional measures to reduce risk in condo development.
H.4 - Increase Impact of the Down Payment Assistance Program
Seattle has a program where folks at 80% or below AMI may qualify for down-payment assistance from the City. This recommends identifying ways to ensure more families who qualify can actually find a place to purchase, and that the total amount will ensure they qualify for the remaining loan.
H.5 - Enhance Programs to Preserve Homeownership for Low-income Homeowners
One of the risks that low-income homeowners face is major repairs. This proposal recommends expanding the funding for repair loans for low-income households that would be consider higher risk for major lenders, and additional resources for low-income seniors at risk of displacement.
H.6 - Support Coordinated, Culturally Appropriate Homebuyer Education
Recognizing that the process of purchasing a home is not exactly simple, this recommendation would expand the existing program, providing counseling and support to ensure folks don't end up in a shit situation on their entry into homeownership.
And that's that. Some controversial business right there. There are just nine sections left! Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll be covering the review processes, efficiencies in construction, and my personal favorite - On-Street Parking Regulations. Until then, I have paid work to do (fun fact: I am not paid to shill for HALA).