• SECTION 506 (RCW 64.90.075): Except as provided otherwise ... this chapter applies to ALL common interest communities.

• DEFINITION (RCW 64.90.010(10)): "Common interest community" means real estate described in a declaration with respect to which a person, by virtue of the person's ownership of a unit, is obligated to pay for a share of real estate taxes, insurance premiums, maintenance, or improvement of, or services or other expenses related to, common elements, other units, or other real estate described in the declaration. 

  • A common interest community may be a part of another common interest community.

  • "Common interest community" does not include an arrangement described in RCW 64.90.110 or 64.90.115.

    1. 64.90.110: Cost-sharing arrangements and lessee obligations do not create a separate CIC.

    2. 64.90.115: Easements and covenants requiring owners of separately owned parcels to share obligations for a party wall, driveway, well or "other similar use" does not create a common interest community.  EXAMPLE: Covenants that Run with the Land.

Community Attributes

• Are there residential units (homes)?  If YES, continue.  Commercial-only condominiums are only subject to portions of WUCIOA.

• Condominium?  If YES, your community IS subject to WUCIOA.

• HOA with more than 12 homes?  If YES, your community IS subject to WUCIOA.

• HOA less than 12 homes assessed > ~$300/year/home excluding insurance?  If YES, your community IS subject to WUCIOA.

• HOA less than 12 homes assessed < ~$300/year/home excluding insurance?  If YES, your community IS NOT subject to WUCIOA.

• Reference Sections 505, 506, 507 and 508 of ESSB5796.  Pay special attention to the recodification of 64.90.075.

Questions?  Please contact us.

In order of potential impact and/or applicability to most homeowners and community associations:

1. Retrofits RCW 64.90 "WUCIOA" to ALL Washington State community associations as of January 1, 2028*

   • Limited exceptions such as commercial-only condominiums and communities with <=12 units with average assessments <= ~$350/unit/year.

2. Less deference to governing documents to vary provisions of the law (see "LESS WIGGLE ROOM")

3. Precise disclosure statement for prospective purchasers

4. Election notice requirements (# of positions, qualifications, process for nominations, etc.)

5. Requirement for secret ballots for many owner votes including the election of directors ^^^

6. Votes without a meeting must include instructions for voting and ballots

7. Reasonable measures to verify members participating by electronic communication and authenticity of proxies and ballots

8. Meetings of members no longer have to be held at a physical location pursuant to specific criteria

9. New and updated schedules of fines must be formally noticed in the same manner as rules pursuant to RCW 64.90.505

10. Precise restrictions related to suspension of privileges

11. Associations cannot unreasonably prohibit storage of compost, garbage and recycling receptacles

12. Records disclosures must be provided within 10 days and at most within 21 days unless a court orders otherwise ^^^

13. Records disclosures will include electronic addresses unless owners opt out ^^^

14. Associations cannot unreasonably prohibit flagpoles within LCEs and Units, nor unreasonably prohibit outdoor political signs ^^^

15. "Emergency" is defined and sweeping emergency powers are explicitly enumerated

16. Common element expenses benefitting fewer than all owners must be specifically listed or categorized to assess exclusively

17. Associations can specially assess owners to recover costs relating to violations of maintenance standards and for ordinary negligence if specific language is incorporated into the declaration; associations must provide an opportunity for a hearing before making assessments related to these circumstances (including for gross negligence)

18. Appointed Board members may not comprise more than 1/3 of the Board (relocated from RCW 64.90.420 to RCW 64.90.410)

19. Express allowance for unit owners to discuss any matter at a special meeting

20. Declaration amendments are no longer required to provide reasonable protection of pre-existing uses

21. Declarations / CC&Rs can specify certain services or utilities are assessed by respective usage (instead of allocated interest)

22. Homeowners can request that the Board evaluate and remove unlawful restrictions in the governing documents

23. Prohibition against adverse possession of common elements and easements

24. Reallocation procedural updates such as a quorum of owners required, EV charging installs do not require reallocations, etc. ^^^

25. Common elements may be reallocated as limited common elements (change to the process to incorporate into units)

26. Votes from multiple unit owners of the same unit are automatically void except as provided by a declaration

27. Agents must provide records to an Association within 5 and 10 days of termination or the Board's demand, respectively ^^^

28. Updates to licensed family child care restrictions

29. Prohibition against unreasonable restrictions for adult family homes

30. Precise procedure for delegation of authority from a sub-association to a master association

31. Board members and their immediate family members and affiliates may not bid to take an interest related to unit foreclosures

32. Additional protections for value determinations related to termination

33. Additional records must be retained by an association

34. A declarant must transfer a reserve study, if one exists, to the unit owners

35. Transfer of special declarant rights

36. Requires disclosure notice in public offering statements ^^^

37. Clarification of new law re: divergence of physical boundaries ^^^

*This is a non-exhaustive list covering 200 pages of legislation.  ^^^ Added by Amendment or Substitute Bill (view more info).

SB5796 SECTION 303 (RCW 64.90.509): Except as provided below, the governing documents may not vary a provision of RCW 64.90 (WUCIOA) that gives a right to or imposes an obligation or liability on a unit owner, declarant, association, or board.

The governing documents may vary the following provisions:

(a) RCW 64.90.020(1), concerning classification of a cooperative unit as real estate or personal property;

(b) RCW 64.90.030 (2)-(3), concerning reallocation of allocated interests and allocation of proceeds after a taking by eminent domain;

(c) RCW 64.90.075(4) (as recodified by this act), 64.90.095 (as recodified  by  this  act),  and  64.90.100,  concerning  elections regarding applicability of this chapter;

(d) RCW 64.90.210, concerning boundaries between units and common elements;

(e) RCW 64.90.240 (2) and (3), concerning reallocation of limited common elements;

(f) RCW 64.90.245(11), concerning horizontal boundaries of units;

(g) RCW 64.90.255, concerning alterations of units and common elements made by unit owners;

(h) RCW 64.90.260  (1)  and  (2),  concerning relocation  of boundaries between units;

(i) RCW 64.90.265  (1)  and  (2),  concerning subdivision  and combination of units;

(j) RCW 64.90.275, concerning sales offices, management offices, models, and signs maintained by a declarant;

(k) RCW 64.90.280 (1) and (3), concerning easements through, and rights to use, common elements;

(l) RCW 64.90.285 (1), (6), and (9), concerning the percentage of votes and consents required to amend the declaration;

(m) RCW 64.90.290 (1) and (8), concerning the percentage of votes required to terminate a common interest community and priority of creditors of a cooperative;

(n) RCW 64.90.405 (2)(p), (4)(c), and (5)(c), concerning an association's assignment of rights to future income, the number of

votes required to reject a proposal to borrow funds, and the right to terminate a lease or evict a tenant;

(o) RCW 64.90.410 (1) and (2), concerning the board acting on behalf of the association and the election of officers by the board;

(p) RCW 64.90.440 (1) and (4), concerning responsibility for maintenance, repair, and replacement of units and common elements and treatment  of  income  or  proceeds  from  real  estate  subject  to development rights;

(q) RCW 64.90.445, concerning meetings;

(r) RCW 64.90.450, concerning quorum requirements for meetings;

(s) RCW 64.90.455, concerning unit owner voting;

(t) RCW 64.90.465 (1), (2), and (7), concerning the percentage of votes required to convey or encumber common elements and the effect of conveyance or encumbrance of common elements;

(u) RCW 64.90.470, concerning insurance for a nonresidential common interest community;

(v) RCW 64.90.475(2), concerning payment of surplus funds of the association;

(w) RCW 64.90.485 (7) and (20), concerning priority and foreclosure of liens held by two or more associations and additional remedies for collection of assessments as permitted by law;

(x) RCW 64.90.520(4), concerning the board's ability to remove an officer elected by the board;

(y) RCW 64.90.545(2), concerning applicability of reserve study requirements to certain types of common interest communities; and

(z) RCW 64.90.525(1), concerning the percentage of votes required to reject a budget.

N.B.  The law does not address every concern or need.  Precise language in the declaration and bylaws is critical!

WHY Restate Your Governing Documents?

1. Developers ("declarants") leave room for substantial improvement

2. Laws change.  Community associations benefit from written material that complies with current law

3. Amendments over years or decades create hanging chads and an unintuitive soup of requirements

4. Codify material changes reflecting best practices and community idiosyncrasies by a vote of the members

ABOUT Restating your Declaration & Bylaws

• Restatements (often called amendments and restatements) create a single, fresh copy of your governing documents

  • Your declaration and bylaws are often restated concurrently due to their inter-dependencies

  • Amendments and restatements to adopt RCW 64.90 (WUCIOA) require a 67% affirmative vote of the members

  • Bylaws amendments may have a lower threshold, but cannot update several fundamental elements

  • Limited amendments may be enacted by the Board without a vote of owners pursuant to RCW 64.90.285(11).

• The steps to restate are similar to the steps to amend, but the volume of content updated is much greater

• You must retain professional AND volunteer assistance!

  • Restatements are not a DIY activity, but they should absolutely involve homeowner volunteers

    • One or more homeowner volunteers must be prepared to review a significant volume of content.

  • Engage a professional who can clearly elucidate a plan, questions, options, and recommendations.

  • Engaging an attorney is best left for the end of the process to dot the "I's" and cross the "T's."

• Carefully review all recommendations!

  • Template-based language is efficient, but may contain restrictions that do not suit your community.

    • There are items you might not catch until you review material more than once.

    • Using a collaborative, web-based content management system helps immensely.

STEPS to Amend and Restate your Declaration & Bylaws

1. Get help! 🛟 Amendments and restatements are not DIY engagements.

2. Write down WHY: list specific goals, provide example language to incorporate, and identify problem areas in existing documents.

3. Make sure your owners are informed early in the process.  Encourage owner comment and participation.

4. Form a governing documents committee.

   • Committees, especially those including 2+ non-Board member volunteers, promote owner-centric processes.

   • Volunteer engagement often has the added benefit of reducing professional assistance, thereby reducing the amount of time and cost required to achieve superlative results. 

   • Putting your owners at the center of the process makes sense when you need a 67% super-majority to approve the changes.

   • Identify one or two committee volunteers to drive the process forward.  Meet regularly, keep minutes and share progress in open Board meetings.   Keep detailed notes as you work through the governing documents (queue content management!)

5. Once your committee work wraps up, engage in Board review and vote to move forward.

6. Engage an attorney only when you're ready.

   • Explain what you've accomplished.

   • If you're going to exchange revisions, ensure you have an easy way to track changes and recommendations.

   • Make time to engage in one or more meetings.  Email threads might limit your progress and lead to errors and omissions.

   • No detail is unimportant!  Your declaration / CC&Rs runs with the land.  Your bylaws manage how you govern.  Get them right!

7. After finalizing revisions, package everything up with an executive summary document.

   • Most owners are not going to read dozens of pages of material.  Create a summary of the most noteworthy changes.

8. Communicate.  Communicate.  Communicate with your owners.  Get out the vote!

   • Schedule a special meeting of members (owners) to review the material.

   • Maximize engagement by using an electronic voting / balloting system.

   • Struggling to reach 67% (or other threshold)?  Ask volunteers to engage owners individually via phone and email.  It works!

   • Aim for a small margin of votes above and beyond the 67% threshold.  N.B.  Certain communities may have a lower threshold.

9. Mission accomplished?!  

   • Meticulously document and retain voting records.

   • Have your declaration and bylaws restatements signed by two directors and notarized.

   • Submit your declaration / CC&Rs for recording by your county government.