This bill amends RCW 61.24.157 to impose an $80 foreclosure prevention fee on each residential mortgage loan related to property in Washington, payable at closing by the escrow or other settlement/closing agent and deposited into the foreclosure fairness account created in RCW 61.24.172. The fee may be financed and paid from loan proceeds, must be disclosed in accordance with federal and state law, and may be excluded from the finance charge calculation. The measure creates procedural requirements and exemptions: reverse mortgage loans made to persons age 60 or older, chattel loans, and retail installment contracts where the dwelling is secured as personal property are exempt. For purchases of residential property up to four units financed in part through specified homeownership programs (chapters 43.185A, 43.181, and 43.180 RCW and programs administered by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission), the fee may only be collected on the first lien mortgage. At or before assessment the escrow/settlement/closing agent must give the borrower a department-created notice that explains the fee and includes toll-free statewide foreclosure hotline numbers recommended by the Housing Finance Commission. The department named in the section (not identified in the provided text) is given authority to administer and interpret the fee, create the notice form, adopt rules, set policies and procedures for implementation, collection, remittance and management, and enter individualized remittance agreements. The extracted text does not include the department’s name, the full definition of "residential mortgage loan" from RCW 31.04.015(24), details of the foreclosure fairness account, the hotline numbers, or an effective date.

If enacted, most residential mortgage closings in Washington will add an $80 foreclosure prevention fee that escrow or closing agents must collect at closing and deposit into the state’s foreclosure fairness account; borrowers will generally see that amount as an added closing cost (it can be paid from loan proceeds and disclosed under federal and state law, and may be excluded from the finance charge calculation). Reverse mortgages made to people 60 or older and chattel/retail installment loans secured as personal property are exempt, and for purchases of up to four units financed through certain state homeownership programs the fee may only be charged on the first lien. The practical burden shifts to escrow and settlement agents, who must provide a notice to borrowers (including hotline numbers recommended by the Housing Finance Commission), collect and remit the fee, and comply with rules the unnamed department will create — producing new administrative tasks and potential compliance costs or risks. The bill channels regular fee revenue into the foreclosure fairness account, but the facts provided do not identify which department will administer the program, do not include details of the account, and give no effective date.