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Cowlitz County auditor flags outstanding CDBG liens; reconveyance to be placed on agenda
Summary
Comptroller Kaylee McKay told the Cowlitz County board that several liens remain from a 2016–17 Community Development Block Grant home-repair program and that one property owner has requested a payoff; a reconveyance will be placed on the board agenda for the chair's signature once title company payoff is received.
At a recent Cowlitz County board meeting, Kaylee McKay, comptroller in the Cowlitz County Auditor's Office, told the board that liens remain on properties that received assistance through a 2016–17 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) home-repair program and that one owner has requested a payoff amount.
McKay said the county provided up to $25,000 per household under the program to help low-income residents pay for septic, roof and other home repairs, and that the county filed liens that depreciate evenly over 10 years. “So the $25,000 lien depreciates over 10 years evenly,” McKay said. She said roughly four or five properties have sold or refinanced since the program and that one recent request shows about $10,200 remaining on the lien after depreciation.
Under the program’s repayment structure described by McKay, a homeowner who sells or refinances must request a payoff amount; if the board approves, the county reconveys the lien after the closing and the county returns recovered CDBG funds to eligible programs. “Once that process gets rolling, it goes pretty quick,” McKay said, adding that the reconveyance requires the chair of the board to sign and that she will place the reconveyance on the board agenda for Tuesday morning once the title company provides the payoff statement.
McKay said the county previously worked with CAP to take applications and monitor projects and that the returned funds typically roll into county grant programs run by partner departments such as the health department. She identified Gina James in the health department as a staff contact who receives returned CDBG funds to distribute to qualifying programs.
There was no formal vote during the discussion. Board members asked clarifying questions about the depreciation schedule, and McKay confirmed the lien — not the improvement itself — is the amount that depreciates over 10 years. She also said the county has not had a reconveyance request in about three years until the current inquiry.
Next steps: McKay will obtain the payoff statement from the title company, place the reconveyance on a future agenda for the chair’s signature, and process the returned funds into CDBG-eligible programs per past practice.
