Monthly Archives: January 2014

Widening inaccessibility to affordable homes and an increase in homeless young people across the state means these issues have become a huge priority for communities across the state.

Washington homeowners facing foreclosure can now access brochures about homeownership counseling and mediation services in 11 languages. The Washington State Legislature established the Foreclosure Fairness Act and the Mediation Program in 2011. The program, overseen by the Department of Commerce, is designed to help homeowners and their lenders explore possible alternatives to foreclosure and reach a resolution when possible.

Doug Lasher, Clark County Treasurer, announced that new this year, the annual Property Tax Foreclosure Auction will be held online via an Internet-based foreclosure auction provider called “bid4assets” .

The City of Tacoma Planning Commission is seeking public comment on proposed land use regulations concerning a Temporary Homeless Camps Permitting Process. The proposal would amend the Tacoma Municipal Code, Chapter 13.05 Land Use Permit Procedures and Chapter 13.06 Zoning, to add regulations for a permit review process for temporary homeless camps run by religious organizations.

Today, in a letter to Acting Assistant Secretary George Sheldon, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Housing Subcommittee, urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to strongly consider a new federal grant application from YouthCare’s James W. Ray Orion Center in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Officials at the Orion Center learned in October of 2013 that the facility’s existing federal grant – totaling nearly $1 million – would not be renewed for 2014, meaning the center, one of only two in King County tailored for youth and young adults, would be forced to turn away those without a place to sleep and cut outreach services beginning next month

State Rep. Sherry Appleton (D-23rd, Poulsbo) has been tapped by her colleagues to chair the House committee on Community Development, Housing & Tribal Affairs. The panel is charged with considering issues relating to, among other things, community development, veteran-related legislation, tourism and the government-to-government relationship of the state and Indian tribes. The committee also considers bills relating to housing, including the accessibility and affordability of housing, state assistance to low-income housing, housing authorities, and the Housing Finance Commission.