In 2011 nearly 650 bank owned homes sold through the MLS system in Kitsap and Jefferson Counties. Several new programs are aimed at helping home owners like those 650 who lost their homes in the last year.

The Washington Foreclosure Fairness Act, which went into effect this last July, is one such program. In a recent article, the Washington Association of Realtors described it as "ambitious legislation aimed at forcing major lenders to engage in conversation and problem solving with borrowers. These conversations and problem-solving efforts should have been occurring all along, but they were not. The result encountered by most borrowers who attempt loan modifications and other negotiations with their institutional lender is frustration and never ending run-around."  This legislation is designed to change all that.

The Washington Association of REALTORS® now has joined forces with Washington state's

Attorney General Rob McKenna, industry attorneys and HUD-approved counseling services to provide comprehensive consumer education through a video that explains consumers' rights and options under the Act.

The video consists of three parts and can be viewed below: