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BY MELISSA SANTOS / CROSSCUT Originally published May 18, 2021, on Crosscut.com When Carol Porter filed for bankruptcy in 2015, she didn’t expect she would lose her Issaquah home in the process. That’s because, for more than a century, Washington law has contained language to protect people’s homes from being sold to pay off their debts. But the law hasn’t kept up with the state’s rising home prices. As a result, only $125,000 of the equity of Porter’s home was off-limits from her creditors an amount far shy of what the property was worth. After Porter’s home was sold as part of her bankruptcy case, she ended up moving out of King County and resettling in Walla Walla, where she now rents an apartment. ....
New laws aim to keep people from losing their homes in Washington Help for renters and homeowners is on the way as the state’s eviction moratorium is set to expire June 30. By Melissa Santos, Crosscut Share: Carol Porter outside of her former home that she lived in for 25 years in Issaquah on May 17, 2021. Porter lost her home when she filed for bankruptcy in 2015 because the Washington Law that was meant to prevent this from happening had not kept up with rising home prices. A new law aims to keep people in their homes if they file for bankruptcy, raising the protected amount to better match King County’s medium home price. (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut) ....