Which Washington Laws Govern Your HOA?

Washington is mid-transition between an older patchwork of community-association laws and a single modern statute. The first step is figuring out which law — or combination — governs your community. For your specific situation, a licensed Washington attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

The modern statute: WUCIOA (RCW 64.90)

The Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act governs common interest communities — HOAs and condominiums alike — created on or after July 1, 2018. It is a comprehensive UCIOA-based code covering:

• Meetings — open board meetings, owner comment, 14–50 days' notice (RCW 64.90.445)
• Records — broad records on a 10-day clock (RCW 64.90.495)
• Fines — only after notice, a hearing, and a published schedule (RCW 64.90.405(2)(l))
• The assessment lien — with a six-month super-priority ahead of the first mortgage (RCW 64.90.485)

The older laws (pre–July 1, 2018)

Communities created before July 1, 2018 generally keep their original framework:

• Non-condo HOAs — the Homeowners' Associations Act, RCW 64.38.
• Condominiums created 1990–2018 — the Washington Condominium Act, RCW 64.34.
• Condominiums created before July 1, 1990 — the Horizontal Property Regimes Act, RCW 64.32.

How WUCIOA reaches older communities

Even a pre-2018 community is not entirely outside WUCIOA. Under RCW 64.90.365, a defined list of WUCIOA sections — including the open-meeting rule (RCW 64.90.445) — "apply only to events and circumstances occurring on or after July 1, 2018, and do not invalidate existing provisions of the governing documents." So an older community keeps its prior law for most purposes but picks up certain WUCIOA protections for current events. A pre-existing community can also become fully subject to WUCIOA by election, through the process the statute specifies.

The 2028 deadline: WUCIOA for all

This transition has an end date. The 2024 "WUCIOA for All" act (SB 5796, Laws of 2024, ch. 321) repeals the three older chapters — RCW 64.32, 64.34, and 64.38 — and applies WUCIOA to all common interest communities regardless of when they were created, effective January 1, 2028. After that date, WUCIOA is the single governing statute and the creation-date distinctions above largely fall away (subject to limited exemptions the statute spells out). A licensed Washington attorney can explain what the change means for a particular community's governing documents before the deadline.

The Washington Nonprofit Corporation Act

Most Washington associations are incorporated nonprofits under the Washington Nonprofit Corporation Act (RCW 24.03A). That entity law supplies director duties, member-meeting and voting procedures, and recordkeeping rules that work alongside whichever community-association statute applies.

How the layers fit

1. The recorded governing documents — declaration, bylaws, and rules.
2. WUCIOA (RCW 64.90) for communities created on or after July 1, 2018 — or RCW 64.38 / 64.34 / 64.32 for older ones, plus the WUCIOA sections that reach all communities.
3. The Nonprofit Corporation Act (RCW 24.03A) for the incorporated entity.
4. Federal law — the Fair Housing Act, ADA, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, OTARD, and the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act.

From records to fines to the assessment lien, the creation date of your community is where most Washington homeowner questions begin.

Sources

• RCW 64.90.365 — Applicability to common interest communities
• RCW 64.90 — Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act
• RCW 64.38 — Homeowners' Associations
• RCW 64.34 — Washington Condominium Act
• SB 5796 (2024, ch. 321) — "WUCIOA for All"; older chapters repealed Jan. 1, 2028