WUCIOA For All—A Proactive Approach to a Massive Change in Community Association Law
By Tony Rafel and Tim Feth
In 2018, the Washington legislature took a major step toward standardizing the law that applies to condominium associations, homeowners’ associations, and other common interest communities. The Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (“WUCIOA”) became effective on July 1, 2018, and applied in full to all common interest communities created on or after that date. In 2028, the journey toward standardization will be complete when WUCIOA becomes applicable to all communities, regardless of when they were formed. That change may cause significant upheaval in communities unless they take action before the deadline.
The current statutory landscape for community associations is, to put it lightly, complex. Condominiums can take the form of downtown high-rises, apartment-style mid-rises, or townhouses. But regardless of the type of structure, the owners of condominium units co-own the community’s common elements (which can include roofs, exterior walls, lobbies, shared amenities, etc.), which are administered by the condominium’s nonprofit association. Condominiums created before July 1, 1990, are governed by the Horizontal Property Regimes Act (Chapter 64.32 RCW, the “Old Act”), while those created between July 1, 1990, and June 30, 2018, are governed by the Washington Condominium Act (Chapter 64.34 RCW, the “Condo Act”).
Homeowners’ associations are typically (but not always) made up of single-
family homes subject to shared covenants in which a nonprofit association owns and operates the common areas. HOAs created before July 1, 2018, are governed by the Homeowners’ Associations Act (RCW 64.38 “HOA Act”).
Condominiums, HOAs, and other “common interest communities” created on or after July 1, 2018, are all governed by Chapter 64.90, WUCIOA.
The different statutes have different procedural and substantive requirements for how an association is supposed to conduct its business. To complicate matters further, portions of the statutes may be retroactively applicable to communities that are governed by the earlier statutes. For example, a condominium created in 1985 will be governed primarily by the Old Act, but also by portions of both the Condo Act and WUCIOA.
Community associations are largely run by volunteer homeowners who live in the community and who often, understandably, find it difficult to sort through the different statutory schemes to know which law applies to a given transaction.
One of the major goals of WUCIOA is to bring all common interest communities under a single statutory scheme to avoid some of those difficulties. For communities formed on or after July 1, 2018, it accomplished precisely that.
WUCIOA is based on the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, while the Condo Act was based on the uniform Condominium Act. WUCIOA includes and supplements many of the same concepts found in the Condo Act. For example, when a unit in a Condo Act condo is sold, the Board is required to provide the seller with a resale certificate providing basic information about the condominium, the subject unit, and the obligations of the unit owner. Under the HOA Act, no such requirement is applicable to HOAs. Under WUCIOA, all types of communities must provide resale certificates.
Similarly, there are requirements in WUCIOA that are analogous to those under the HOA Act that did not previously apply to condominiums. For example, the HOA Act has an open meeting requirement, meaning that owners must be allowed to attend meetings of the association’s board of directors. There is no open meeting requirement under the Condo Act. Both HOAs and condominium associations created on or after July 1, 2018, are required to hold open meetings under WUCIOA.
And, of course, WUCIOA has a whole host of provisions that go beyond the requirements of any of the earlier statutes.
The 2018 adoption of WUCIOA did not ultimately simplify the legal landscape for community associations, but it laid the groundwork for doing so. In 2024, the legislature adopted SB 5796, nicknamed “WUCIOA For All.” SB 5796 will repeal the Old Act, Condo Act, and HOA Act and make WUCIOA applicable to all common interest communities, effective January 1, 2028.
WUCIOA For All solves the problem of having disparate laws applying arbitrarily to similar communities. But the benefit of this standardization will come at a cost. If community associations that are now subject to the earlier acts do not act before 2028, the practices and governing documents that are compliant with the legacy laws on December 31, 2027, become unlawful the following day. If that happens, Board actions such as adopting budgets, levying assessments, approving projects, and taking enforcement action against homeowner violations may be subject to challenge and invalidation.
Associations need to take action before then to avoid protracted noncompliance and the legal disputes sure to follow. Luckily, there is a process by which community associations may prepare for the 2028 changeover well in advance. Associations may utilize a statutorily authorized “opt in” procedure to amend their governing documents and make the change to WUCIOA in advance of the deadline. The process involves obtaining a vote of the owners to authorize opting in and amending the governing documents to remove provisions that are inconsistent with WUCIOA. This process takes time and effort, but it provides the association, its volunteer directors, and its members with time to become acquainted with the new standards—and to adopt WUCIOA on the association’s own terms.
Tony Rafel is an of counsel attorney at VF Law. He may be reached at Tony.Rafel@vf-law.com. Tim Feth is an attorney at VF Law. He may be reached at Tim.Feth@vf-law.com.
