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SB 5929

Exempting assignments or substitutions of previously recorded deeds of trust from the document recording fee and the covenant homeownership program assessment.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Chris Gildon and 1 co-sponsor

Exempts assignments or substitutions of deeds of trust from the $100 covenant homeownership assessment; adds them to surcharge exemptions; funds go to housing programs.

Prefiled for introduction.
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Bill Summary · SB 5929

SB 5929 Summary — Exemption of assignments or substitutions of deeds of trust from recording fees and covenant homeownership assessment

Overview
- What it does: Proposes to exempt assignments or substitutions of previously recorded deeds of trust from the document recording fee and from the covenant homeownership program assessment. This includes modifying how the related recording surcharge is collected and allocated.
- Legislation family: Part of the 2024-2026 Washington legislative package referencing real estate recording fees and the covenant homeownership program.

Purpose and intent
- Align recording costs with transactions involving existing deeds of trust by removing certain transfers from the financial charges that accompany document recording.
- Support housing and homeownership program administration by clarifying exemptions and fund distribution related to the covenant homeownership program.

Key provisions (highlights)
- Sec. 1 (Exemption from covenant homeownership assessment)
- Beginning January 1, 2024, most documents recorded at the county level incur a covenant homeownership program assessment of $100 (in addition to other charges).
- Exemption: Assignments or substitutions of previously recorded deeds of trust are exempt from this $100 covenant homeownership assessment.
- This section clarifies that the exemption applies specifically to assignments/substitutions of deeds of trust, among other exemptions listed in statute.

  • Sec. 2 (Surcharge and fund allocations; reenactment and amendments)
    • The existing surcharge of $183 per instrument (for document recording) remains, with a set of exemptions that include:
    • Birth, marriage, divorce, or death records
    • Documents exempt from recording fees or other surcharges
    • Marriage licenses
    • Documents recording federal, state, county, city, or water/sewer district liens or wage lien/satisfaction of lien
    • Specifically, the exemption for assignments or substitutions of previously recorded deeds of trust is added.
    • Distribution and use of surcharge funds:
    • A small portion (1%) retained by the county auditor for collection costs.
    • A designated share of funds distributed to county programs, state accounts (home security fund; affordable housing; and related accounts), and other specified programs (landlord mitigation, etc.), with percentages laid out for allocation.
    • County use requirements:
    • Funds used for county administration and local homeless housing plans, with subrules if cities in the county operate their own programs.
    • Minimum allocations to extremely low- and very low-income housing activities, including housing acquisition/construction/rehabilitation, operating costs for shelters, and rental assistance vouchers.

Effective dates and timeline
- Prefiled: December 29, 2023
- First reading: January 8, 2024
- Referred to: Law & Justice (as part of initial processing)
- The intended update to January 1, 2024 for the covenant homeownership assessment (and related carve-outs) is reflected in the bill’s text.

Who is affected
- County auditors (administering recording fees and assessments)
- Document preparers and recorders (real estate transactions involving deeds of trust)
- Lenders and borrowers (deeds of trust and their assignments/substitutions)
- Counties and cities (fund administration for homelessness/housing programs)
- Department of Commerce and related housing programs (funding and grant distributions)

Notes
- The bill text references amendments to RCW 36.22.185 and RCW 36.22.250, with a broader framework for how recording charges fund statewide housing initiatives.
- Status indicates it is in the prefiled/early committee stage, with formal action and potential amendments to follow in the 2026-regular-session version (as indicated by later-prefile entries).

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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