Tell Your Representatives: Regulate Home Equity Sharing Agreements!

Home Equity “Sharing” Agreements (HESA) go by many names, like “shared appreciation agreements” or “home equity investment options.” Unlike traditional mortgages, HESAs are unregulated, deceptive, and predatory contracts that are not secured by the protections homeowners expect to come with their mortgage. 

These agreements mislead consumers into thinking they are taking out a loan, rather than selling their home equity. Homeowners count on using their home equity to buy a new house, pay for end-of-life care, or fund retirement, but find themselves trapped in a downward spiral that often results in bankruptcy, foreclosure and eviction.

These predatory contracts prevent homeowners from refinancing and making home improvements while balloon payments leave homeowners owing far more than they originally received. This is a rapidly-expanding, Wall Street-backed, multi-billion dollar industry very similar to the subprime mortgage crisis. 

ESSB 5968 is common-sense legislation that will protect Washington homeowners by bringing HESA contracts under the definition of a mortgage loan to ensure the same protections as traditional mortgages. This bill doesn't change our understanding of what a mortgage loan is, but simply brings products that walk, talk, and act like mortgages under the protection we already extend to homeowners in our state.

This bill has a hearing tomorrow, February 20, and has to pass out of committee by the end of the day on Wednesday, February 21. Tell your representatives to support this common-sense legislation to protect consumers in our state from abusive lending practices!

Contact Your Representatives: [link removed]

Sign in PRO for Hearings This Week!

Another way to show support for issues you care about is to sign in PRO for committee hearings. Next week, lawmakers are hearing SHB 2007 , which would reinstate time limit exemptions for families on TANF with children under 2, and ESSB 5968, which would regulate Home Equity Sharing Agreements like traditional mortgages.

Sign in PRO to show your support for bills that expand equitable access to cash assistance and protect consumers from predatory lending products!

Sign in PRO for TANF time limit exemptions: [link removed]
Sign in PRO for regulating Home Equity Sharing Agreements: [link removed]

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Statewide Poverty Action Network
1501 N 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98103
United States
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