Vista Title helps buyers modify racial restrictions in title reports.

Vista Title and Escrow is pleased to announce the opportunity we are now providing property buyers to have a Restrictive Covenant Modification filed with the County Auditor’s office at no additional cost. This filing will allow the property owner to formerly declare the discriminatory covenants specifying racial restrictions that are written in a property’s title report as void and unenforceable.


In the early twentieth century, it was not unheard of for certain discriminatory restrictions to be included in the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions portion of a property title. These discriminatory provisions would limit the property from being owned or occupied by people of certain races and religious
affiliations. This unacceptable act of discrimination was first ruled as unenforceable by the US Supreme Court in 1948, and later banned as a part of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Washington state soon followed suit by passing a state law that would declare these discriminatory covenants void. In 2018, the state provided revision to the previous law that now allows property owners the right to affirmatively declare these restrictions as void through the filing of a Restrictive Covenant Modification.


With Washington state law now providing property owners the opportunity to file these affirmative declarations, there is a bit of homework for those wishing to record these modifications. It can prove to be a cumbersome task but Vista Title & Escrow and our affiliate, Stevens County Title & Escrow, intend to make this as easy as possible for those buyers closing escrow or getting title insurance within our family of companies.


When our title experts are examining title and find these racial restrictions written in the CCRs, our team will trigger a notification inviting you to opt in for the Restrictive Covenant Modification. If a buyer selects this option, we will then ensure that your form is filled out properly, we will add it to the closing paperwork to collect your signature at closing, and then we will file this modification with the rest of the recording packet at no additional cost.


“Our goal is to make the communities we serve better, one transaction at a time,” says Vista’s CEO, Anthony Carollo. This is a move the company is proud to include in our title and escrow process for all the Washington counties we serve as a part of our ongoing effort to provide an unparalleled customer experience.