How the Covenant Homeownership Program Works in Washington State

If you’ve spent any time looking into down payment assistance in Washington, you’ve probably come across the Covenant Homeownership Program. And you’ve probably also noticed something:

It’s genuinely confusing to figure out how it actually works.

Between terms like pre-reservation, first-time homebuyer, and the Covenant Homeownership Act, plus a list of eligibility requirements that don’t get explained clearly in one place, it’s easy to come away with more questions than answers.

The good news is that once you break it down step by step, the process is pretty straightforward.

I work with the Covenant program regularly, and most of the questions I get are the same:

• Am I actually eligible?
• How much money can I get?
• How long does it take?
• What happens once I’m approved?

Let’s walk through it.

What Is the Covenant Homeownership Program?

The Covenant Homeownership Program (CHP) is a Washington state program that provides down payment and closing cost assistance to eligible first-time homebuyers. It’s administered by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) through its Here to Home platform, and it works alongside a primary mortgage — it’s not a stand-alone loan.

The assistance comes in the form of a second loan, layered on top of your main mortgage, used specifically to help cover your down payment and closing costs.

Where the Program Came From

This isn’t a new type of assistance program dressed up with a new name — it exists because of a specific piece of legislation.

In 2023, the Washington State Legislature passed the Covenant Homeownership Act. The name refers to racially restrictive covenants: clauses that were commonly written into property deeds and neighborhood agreements throughout Washington between the 1920s and 1960s, explicitly prohibiting non-white or non-Christian buyers from purchasing or living in a home. Nearly 50,000 of these covenants have been documented across the state by the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project at the University of Washington and Eastern Washington University.

The Act required a research study before any program could be built. That study — the Covenant Homeownership Program Study — was conducted by the National Fair Housing Alliance along with Abt Associates and released in March 2024. It’s a genuinely thorough piece of research: nearly 200 pages documenting the state’s history of housing discrimination and, importantly, tracking how the effects of that discrimination still show up in homeownership rates today. The program’s eligibility criteria come directly out of that study’s findings.

In 2025, the legislature amended the Act through House Bill 1696, which raised the program’s income limits and added loan forgiveness for some participants — more on both below.

Who Is Eligible

This is usually the first question I get, and it has more moving parts than people expect. At minimum, you need to meet all of the following:

• Income: Your household income must be at or below 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for the county where you’re buying. This varies significantly by county — as one example, the 2026 limit is around $197,300 in King and Snohomish counties, and closer to $116,400 in many rural counties. The full county-by-county table is on the Here to Home Covenant page.
• First-time homebuyer status: Both you and your spouse (if applicable) generally can’t have owned a home in the past three years, with some additional exceptions built into the program’s definition.
• Family history in Washington before April 1968: You, or a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent, must have lived in Washington state before April 1968 — the month the federal Fair Housing Act made racial discrimination in housing illegal.
• Race or ethnicity of that family member: The person who lived in Washington before April 1968 must be Black, Hispanic, Native American or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Korean, or Asian Indian.

That last requirement is the one that raises the most questions, so it’s worth explaining why it’s written this way. The eligibility criteria weren’t chosen at random — according to WSHFC, the study looked at two things for each group: whether they experienced state-sanctioned housing discrimination in Washington, and whether that group still shows a measurably lower homeownership rate than white households today. Groups that met both criteria were included. Other groups that experienced historical discrimination, but where the data didn’t show a continued disparity, weren’t included in this first version of the program.

How Much Assistance You Can Get

The Covenant program can provide up to 20% of your home’s purchase price, or $150,000 — whichever is less — plus closing costs if you need help with those too.

This comes as a 0% interest loan, secondary to your primary mortgage. You don’t make payments on it. It gets repaid when you sell the home or refinance. Since the 2025 amendment, some eligible households may also qualify for loan forgiveness after 5 years — the specifics depend on your situation (mostly income), so this is worth discussing directly with your lender.

A note on all of these numbers: program terms, income limits, and forgiveness rules can and do change. Always confirm current figures with your lender before making plans around them.

How the Pre-Reservation Process Works

Here’s where a lot of the confusion comes in, and it’s also where the process changed recently. Because demand for Covenant funds now regularly outpaces the monthly supply, WSHFC put a new pre-reservation process in place. It has three steps:

1. Documentation submission. Your lender submits your eligibility documentation — family history records, your loan pre-approval, and your homebuyer education certificate — to the Commission for review.
2. Pre-reservation list. Once the Commission accepts your documents, you’re placed on the pre-reservation list. This is effectively a queue. Wait times move depending on funding, and right now they’re running around three months, though that number shifts month to month.
3. Authorization to shop. When funds become available and it’s your turn, the Commission authorizes you in writing to start house-hunting and go under contract. You cannot reserve Covenant funds for a specific home before this authorization.

The big shift from how this used to work: you now have to complete the documentation and underwriting steps before you start shopping for a home, not after you’ve found one.

The 30-Day Window

Once you’re authorized to shop, you have 30 days to find a home and go under contract — not 30 days to close, just 30 days to get a signed purchase agreement in place.

If you don’t get under contract within that window, you go back into the pre-reservation queue and wait again. This is the part I’d encourage every buyer to take seriously: have your search criteria, your agent, and your financing all lined up before your authorization comes through, so you’re not scrambling once the clock starts.

Documentation You’ll Need

Because eligibility depends on family history, you’ll need to document both residency and race/ethnicity for the family member who lived in Washington before April 1968. WSHFC has said they intend to be flexible here, and accepts a fairly wide range of records, including:

• Birth, death, or marriage certificates
• School, church, or employer records
• Military records or draft cards
• Census data or genealogical records
• Tribal membership records
• Newspaper clippings or obituaries
• Historical society records

Your lender and a housing counselor can help you track these down — resources like the state’s Vital Records Department, Legacy Washington, and FamilySearch.org are common starting points.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I combine the Covenant program with other down payment assistance?

Yes. Layering multiple down payment assistance programs together is common practice in Washington, and the Covenant program can be combined with your own savings, gifts, or other assistance programs you qualify for.

Does the Covenant program work with FHA, VA, or USDA loans?

Yes. It’s designed to work alongside a primary mortgage, whether that’s conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, or a HUD 184 loan for tribal land.

What if I’m not eligible for the Covenant program?

There are other down payment assistance programs available to low- and moderate-income homebuyers throughout Washington, regardless of Covenant eligibility. The Washington State Homeownership Hotline (1-877-894-4663) can connect you with options based on your income and location.

Can the Covenant program be used to build or remodel a home?

No. It can only be used to purchase an existing home, not for new construction or remodeling.

Is there a separate application for the Covenant program?

No. There’s no standalone application — you establish eligibility through a Commission-trained lender as part of your mortgage pre-qualification process.

Final Thoughts

Every buyer’s family history documentation looks a little different. Every county has its own income limit. Every month’s funding queue moves at its own pace. And every buyer’s timeline depends on being ready before their authorization comes through, not after.

The Covenant program can make homeownership possible for buyers who might not otherwise get there — but it rewards preparation. Getting your documentation, your pre-approval, and your homebuyer education class done early is genuinely the difference between a smooth process and a frustrating one.

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Have Questions About the Covenant Program?

If you think you might qualify, or you’re just trying to figure out where to start, I’d be glad to walk through it with you. Between gathering the right documentation and timing the pre-reservation process, having someone who works with this program regularly can save you a lot of guesswork.

Jowed Hadeed Home Loan Officer | NMLS #1746530 Columbia Bank Home Lending

Cell: 509-851-7967 Email: JowedHadeed@ColumbiaBank.com Website: TheGoodLender.com Apply Online: Start Your Application