These neighborhoods still have racially restrictive covenants. Here’s how to fix them
Hundreds of Thurston County landowners can expect a letter in the mail informing them their properties contain discriminatory covenants.
The county Auditor’s Office is sending out the notices to encourage landowners to strike these covenants from their titles. Such restrictive covenants have been invalid and unenforceable for decades, yet at least 300 properties still have them, said auditor Mary Hall.
As of January 2018, an amended state law has allowed residents to strike these restrictive covenants from their titles free of charge through their county Auditor’s Office. However, no residents have taken advantage of the option since it became available, Hall said.
“We are reaching out now because in the two years since we’ve had this no-cost option, we haven’t had a single correction filed in Thurston County,” Hall said in a news release. “We are assuming most people don’t know about the history of these invalid racial restrictions in Thurston County or that they can eliminate them.”
The Thurston County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution on Jan. 26 affirming the illegality of such language and encouraging the residents to fix them. The board also passed a resolution declaring racism a crisis on March 9.
Though the notices come after the board’s action, Hall said plans for the notices had already been in the works. At the same time, the Washington state legislature also is considering HB 1335, which may require all counties to identify discriminatory language and notify landowners in a similar manner.
A matter of historical record
The Auditor’s Office has so far identified six subdivisions with racially restrictive covenants including Beachcrest, Lake St. Clair Summer Home Tracts, Scotts, Stratford Park, Stratford Place Annex and Stratford Place Annex No. 2.
Most of these were recorded in the first half of the 20th century, prior to the May 3, 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision that found racially restrictive covenants unenforceable.
The 1948 Fair Housing Act invalidated discriminatory covenants and Washington state followed suit with its own law in 1969. Despite all this, such covenants have remained on titles.
Notably, two subdivisions with racially restrictive covenants were recorded about three years after the 1948 decision. Both the Scotts and the Stratford Park subdivisions were recorded in 1951, perhaps in defiance of the decision.
Notably, the Beachcrest subdivision plat map was recorded on May 5, 1948.
“What historians believe is this was not a mistake, that they actually did it to send a message,” Hall said. “I think that’s why recording these modification forms are important because that way we can send a message back.”
These modifications do not erase the language of the original document, but rather ensure such language is not passed on.
“Our goal is to break that chain of title, so they don’t keep moving on to the next owner of the property,” Hall said. “Somebody could always go back to research and find the original document.”
Hall said she thinks any small action county residents can do to end racism sends a strong message. She said this process has opened her eyes to a strange quality of Washington state.
“I moved here in 1984, I grew up in the Chicago area,” Hall said. “So, I grew up in a very integrated community. It was so strange when I got to Washington state because it was just so white. Now I understand why. It’s really a sad piece of history for Washington state.”
How it works
Landowners who wish to modify their titles must fill out a modification document and sign it in the presence of a licensed notary before submitting it to the Auditor’s Office. Detailed directions can be found on the Auditor’s Office website.
To ensure the entire process is free, the Auditor’s Office has partnered with Olympia Federal Savings, which will offer free notary services for this document.
Lori Drummond, president and chief executive officer of OlyFed, said her company joined this effort out of a commitment to self-improvement, inclusivity and compassionate care towards neighbors who have been discriminated against.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to partner with the Auditor’s Office on this very important project to correct and remove these broken and incredibly disheartening covenants from our county’s legal records,” Drummond said in a news release.
Hall said they also are working with the Thurston County Bar Association to recruit attorneys who can provide free legal services for people who may have questions about the process.
Hall said there may be many more parcels with racially restrictive covenants that her office has not identified. If a landowner is not notified, they are encouraged to review their title records in the Auditor’s Office online records index, or their owner’s title insurance policy. Hall said her office plans to continue notifying landowners of racially restrictive covenants as they learn of them.
“We’re going to do everything we can to locate what we can and reach out to these homeowners,” Hall said.
