Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to updating the King County Code that governs the foreclosure process for C-PACER to comply with changes in state law; amending Ordinance 19360, Section 3, and K.C.C. 18.19.020; and declaring an emergency.
Body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. In 2020, the Washington Legislature adopted the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resilience ("C-PACER") program in Washington, which allowed counties to implement their own county C-PACER programs in accordance with chapter 36.165 RCW. The C-PACER program is intended to improve access for commercial properties to financing for qualifying energy efficiency, renewable energy and resiliency improvements.
B. The county exercised this statutory authority to create its own C-PACER program with the adoption of Ordinance 19360, codified at K.C.C. chapter 18.19. As required by chapter 36.165 RCW, a county program had to follow certain requirements contained in the state law, including the provisions of how a C-PACER lien must be foreclosed.
C. As originally adopted, RCW 35.165.060 created an ambiguity as to the extent a lender could rely on a county to foreclose a C-PACER lien. Recognizing this ambiguity, and in keeping with the intent that a county should not be responsible for foreclosing a C-PACER lien, the Washington legislature passed Substitute Senate Bill 5862, which went into effect on March 17, 2022, as Chapter 101, Laws of Washington 2022. By changing the processes by which a C-PACER lien may be foreclosed from the procedures in chapter 84.64 RCW, which governs how a county may foreclose its own tax liens, to chapter 61.12 RCW, how a lender may foreclose a mortgage, the legislature eliminated the confusion as to whether a C-PACER lender could require a county to foreclose a lien on the lender's behalf.
D. Currently both K.C.C. chapter 18.19 and the C-PACER Program Guidebook contain the outdated provisions regarding foreclosure.
E...

Click here for full text