{"id":1587,"date":"2021-08-09T10:00:23","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T14:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=1587"},"modified":"2024-04-25T23:19:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T03:19:28","slug":"washington-state-deed-recording-fees-just-went-up-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/washington-state-deed-recording-fees-just-went-up-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington State Deed Recording Fees Just Went Up. Here\u2019s Why."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On Jul. 25, 2021, recording fees in Seattle, Spokane, and\nthroughout Washington State went up significantly. Records of loans and liens,\ncommunity property agreements, surveys and plats are all $100 pricier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this Q&A, we\u2019ll flesh out why Washington State upped\nits recording prices, and the related impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What Does a<\/strong>\n$100 Recording Fee Hike Mean for a Washington Home Buyer?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Buyers who take out home loans in Washington state usually\nrecord the deed and a deed of trust<\/a><\/em>\nto represent the home loan debt. The buyer may not be watching the fee\nstatements. Title companies submit recording fees out of the buyer\u2019s escrow\naccount. An added $100 in office fees could be just be a drop in the bucket for\nsomeone buying a Washington home. And yet, for borrowers who hope to just\nsqueak by on their loan approvals, fees of this size make it that much harder\nto buy a home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buyers can expect to pay more than $200, now, for the first page of a document recording. Additional pages cost $1 per page to record. (When recording multiple documents in one transaction, additional page fees won\u2019t apply, according to the King County<\/a> recorder\u2019s office, which covers the Seattle area.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Did the Fees Go Up?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Washington raised recording fees to fund housing affordability and homelessness relief<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington\u2019s new budget allocates $650 million over the next\ntwo years for prevention of homelessness, relying on rental vouchers. An\neviction prevention initiative will be funded starting in January 2022. Emphasis\nwill be placed on people in minority communities who face higher rates of homelessness.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To pay for the initiatives, state lawmakers approved the\n$100 hike in county recording fees through House Bill 1277. That measure alone\nshould bring in $300 million over two years. But according to the state\u2019s\nDepartment of Commerce, there\u2019s a need for $100 million monthly<\/em> in\nrental funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Isn\u2019t This an\nUnusually Steep Increase for County-Level Fees?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is. And it\u2019s going to be tough for first-time homebuyers\nto factor it into their transaction expenses \u2014 whether or not they are paying\nattention to each withdrawal from their escrow accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington keeps increasing recording fees to pay for public services. It now has the highest recording fees in the country<\/a>. For context, a home buyer in 1985 paid just $5 to record a document\u2019s first page with a county in Washington, and $1 per additional page. Today, documentation for a first loan, refinancing, or purchase can top $300, depending on the number of pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic played a role in the newest fee hike, no doubt.\nBankruptcy filings and mortgage defaults are expected to flow from pandemic-related\nincome losses. With this expectation, Washington has already put funds into\nrental assistance this year. And the state is also trying to help investor-owners\nwho have suffered lost rent income during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before Covid-19 struck, many Washington households lived\nwith the looming fear of eviction. A full-time worker needs to make $29.31\nhourly to pay for a two-bedroom apartment in Washington, according to the\nWashington Low Income Housing Alliance. Yet the minimum wage in the state is\njust $13.69. So, Covid has broadened and deepened pre-existing issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What About Seniors?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Seniors can be vulnerable to inflation and asset depletion. The legislature has stated<\/a> its interest in protecting \u201cretired persons residing in the state of Washington from collection of income taxes imposed by other states.\u201d Ah, an explanation for Washington\u2019s hefty recording fees!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

States that have homestead exemptions have made a policy\ndecision to shield people\u2019s homes from creditors. Washington is one such state.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington passed Senate Bill 5408 this year to expand\nWashington\u2019s homestead exemption. Retirees on fixed incomes, especially in\nworking-class and minority communities, gain protections through this change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, Washington\u2019s homestead exemption<\/a> went from covering just $125,000 of a person\u2019s home value to shielding the equivalent of \u201cthe county median sale price of a single-family home in the preceding calendar year.\u201c That\u2019s coverage of an average of $460,000 (statewide<\/em> median home price for 2020). In the city of Seattle, the median home sale fetched $747,000 last year. The prices for 2021 will be quite a bit higher. Clearly, with this change in state law, more Washingtonians will be able to hold onto their homes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u261b<\/em><\/strong> For generations,\nreal estate has earned wealth for home buyers. Today\u2019s homeowner relies on a home as a major investment, and a core part of a\nsecure retirement<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the United States, homeownership is a key to\nwealth-building, and that\u2019s true for most Washington residents. The state\u2019s new\nhomestead protections will help shield generational wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Will Washington Avert Its Looming Eviction Crisis?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In legislation passed in 2021, the state of Washington is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n