Washington low-income home buying program underused, auditor says

A Washington program intended to help people with low income buy their homes has not been used, despite available purchase options, according to a recently released performance audit by the Office of the State Auditor.

The state’s Housing Finance Commission manages the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and is meant to encourage development of affordable rental housing, but some of the projects give low-income tenants the option to purchase their homes after the home has been available to rent for 15 years or more.

According to a news release from the state auditor Tuesday, while 1,300 program projects are available in Washington, only 18 of those offer the option to purchase. All but one of the 18 purchasing programs are managed by Tribal governments in Washington. Of the 18 projects, only six had homes old enough to qualify for tenant purchase in 2023, for a total of 135 homes, but project owners have not transferred any properties to tenants, the audit showed.

Auditors found that both tenants and project owners had confusion about the program. Some tenants did not know about the option to purchase, and other tenants had varied understanding of how the program works. According to auditors, most tenants who were interviewed wanted more information about how the program worked. Project owners also faced challenges like limited guidance from the state for how to properly transfer property to tenants.

https://www.cascadepbs.org/briefs/2024/11/washington-low-income-home-buying-program-underused-auditor-says