By Michael J. Vial, VF Law Partner
The Washington Legislature made certain provisions of the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (“WUCIOA”), RCW Chapter 64.90, applicable to all associations in the state, effective January 1, 2026. Associations with governing documents that conflict with these new laws should plan on amending their documents, but may want to consider adopting a resolution to clarify changes to how the association will be managed going forward as a short-term measure.
New Statutory Requirements
Washington associations will be required to comply with WUCIOA in full as of January 1, 2028. In the meantime, all associations are subject to certain provisions of WUCIOA as of January 1, 2026.
Most association documents conflict with at least some of the WUCIOA requirements that apply to all common interest communities as of January 1, 2026. This is especially true for association bylaws, because many of the WUCIOA requirements that took effect at the beginning of this year govern matters such as meeting notices, conduct of meetings, committees, and budget ratification.
Some examples of the WUCIOA requirements that now apply to all associations in Washington include:
- Open meetings. All meetings of the board and committees that act on behalf of the board are required to be open to the members.
- Board meeting notice. Boards must now give 14 days’ notice of all board meetings unless the board meets according to a regular schedule that has been provided to the members. There are some limited exceptions which allow the board to provide less notice, but 14 days will be required in almost all cases.
- The board must set aside 15 minutes at the start of every board meeting for owners to make comments.
- If any materials are provided to the board for their consideration prior to the meeting, the materials must be made available to the owners as well.
- The new WUCIOA requirements for notices and meetings can be found at RCW 64.90.445.
- RCW 64.90.365 provides the full list of the WUCIOA provisions that apply to all associations as of January 1, 2026, including new requirements for the approval of owner-installed heat pumps, reserve studies, budget ratification, electric vehicle charging stations, and the allocation of assessments and capital contributions.
Conflicts With Existing Documents and Practices
Conflicts between the governing documents and WUCIOA have created a great deal of confusion for boards and owners who are used to conducting business according to their declaration and bylaws. This is especially true for condominium associations, most of which were not previously required to give owners notice of board meetings, or make those meetings open to the membership. Non-condominium homeowners associations have always been required to hold open board meetings, but without the strict notice requirements that took effect at the beginning of the year. Sorting out which provisions of the governing documents to follow, and which to ignore because they conflict with new WUCIOA requirements can be a difficult task.
Document Amendments
I always recommend that associations amend their bylaws, and, in some cases their declaration, in order to remove these conflicts. Failing to amend, especially after WUCIOA takes full effect on January 1, 2028, will cause constant confusion for boards and managers who have to navigate multiple sets of inconsistent requirements.
However, amendments are often time-consuming and expensive. Most boards, their managers, and their legal counsel, have not had enough time to fully review the governing documents for conflicts with WUCIOA, let alone adopt amendments to make them consistent with the new statutory requirements. Some associations have also been hesitant to amend their documents now, with the knowledge that they may have to adopt additional amendments to comply with WUCIOA in full as of January 1, 2028.
WUCIOA Compliance Resolutions
Some associations have adopted WUCIOA compliance resolutions as a stop-gap measure to help alleviate confusion in the short-term. Ultimately, these resolutions are no substitute for amendments to the declaration and bylaws, but they can give boards, owners, and managers a quick reference guide for which provisions of the documents should be ignored because they conflict with WUCIOA requirements, and what practices and procedures the Association should follow instead.
A review of the governing documents by the association’s legal counsel is the first step in adopting a WUCIOA compliance resolution. Counsel will need to identify all of the language that conflicts with the provisions of WUCIOA that currently apply to the Association and any glaring omissions in the documents that should be addressed in the resolution. The attorney can then prepare a resolution that provides WUCIOA-compliant processes that should be followed instead of the conflicting language from the governing documents. For example, if the bylaws specify 3 days’ notice for board meetings, the resolution should note the article or section number of that provision and state that notice of board meetings shall be given not less than 14 days prior to the meeting, subject to certain exceptions in the statute.
Conclusion
All associations created prior to January 1, 2018 will need to adopt comprehensive amendments to their governing documents in order for the documents to be WUCIOA-compliant. However, prior to adopting these amendments, boards may be able to avoid some short-term chaos and confusion by adopting a WUCIOA compliance resolution.