The Guide to Washington HOA Laws

An association meeting must be held at least once annually, and homeowners must be notified at least 14 and no more than 50 days in advance. The board must take minutes of all owner and board meetings, excluding executive sessions, and keep them in the association’s records. All HOA meetings, except executive sessions, must be open to owners, though the board has the right to expel or prohibit the attendance of any disruptive person, provided they’ve been given a warning. Executive sessions may be held only during a regular or special meeting of the board or a committee, and final votes cannot be taken during an executive session.

As of January 1, 2026, RCW 64.90.445’s open-meeting requirements now apply to all common interest communities, including HOAs established before 2018. Board meetings must now set aside at least 15 minutes at the start for owners to comment on agenda items before the board votes.

What it means for HOAs: A board cannot make major decisions for the HOA behind closed doors. Owners have the right to adequate notice about upcoming meetings and to speak during those meetings if they wish. HOA mass communication tools allow boards to automate those notices.

HOAs cannot prohibit units from displaying the U.S. flag in a manner that’s consistent with federal flag display law (4 U.S.C. Sec. 1 et seq.). Owners also cannot be prevented from displaying political signs outdoors before any primary or general election. In both cases, the board can set reasonable, consistent rules on size and placement.

What it means for HOAs: An association can regulate how flags and political signs are displayed (size, placement, mounting), but it cannot prohibit them entirely.

The association or its managing agent is required to keep financial and other records detailed enough to declare the HOA’s true financial condition. These records are property of the association, not the managing agent. Washington HOA laws mandate that all association records are available for review by owners, mortgage holders, or their authorized agents during reasonable business hours or at a mutually convenient time and location. (The association must redact the addresses of any owners enrolled in Washington state’s address confidentiality program.) Boards may charge a reasonable fee for copies and for supervising an inspection, but all owners are entitled to a free annual copy of the HOA owner list and any preforeclosure information that concerns them.

The board must prepare a financial statement for the HOA at least annually, and which rules apply depends on which law governs the association. WUCIOA (RCW 64.90) governs associations formed on or after July 1, 2018 (plus any earlier association that has opted in), while associations formed before that date remain under the Homeowners’ Associations Act (RCW 64.38) until it is repealed on January 1, 2028, after which WUCIOA reaches every Washington HOA. Under WUCIOA, these statements must use accrual-based accounting rather than cash-basis (RCW 64.90.530(1)) and be audited annually by an independent CPA when annual assessments reach $100,000 or more (raised from $50,000 in 2026 and adjusted periodically for inflation); below that threshold an audit is still required but may be waived by a majority of all votes allocated in the association, excluding the declarant’s units (RCW 64.90.530(2)). Associations still under the older Homeowners’ Associations Act follow the prior rule: the annual audit applies at $50,000 or more in assessments unless 67% of the votes cast waive it that year (RCW 64.38.045(2)), and accrual accounting is not required.

WUCIOA also sets the standard for records retention and access (RCW 64.90.495). Associations have 10 days to produce records — extended only by the size of the request or the need to redact reasonably required information, and never past 21 days without a court order. When a management contract ends, or the board requests it, the managing agent must return all of the association’s original books and records: electronic records within five business days, physical records within 10.

What it means for HOAs: Boards are responsible for keeping comprehensive, accurate records and making them available to owners and their authorized agents on time. Software with HOA document storage capabilities makes retaining and retrieving those records easy.

Washington law encourages HOAs to establish a reserve account in the association’s name, administered by the board, to fund major maintenance, repair, and replacement of common elements expected to need improvements within 30 years. An HOA with “significant assets” (defined as major reserve components whose current replacement value is 75 percent or more of the association’s gross budget, excluding reserve funds) is required to have a reserve study professional prepare an initial reserve study based on a visual site inspection and update it annually. At least every third year, that update has to rest on a new visual site inspection rather than a paper refresh. Under RCW 64.38, this requirement does not apply if the study would cost more than five percent of the HOA’s annual budget, the HOA lacks significant assets, or the HOA has 10 or fewer homes.

To be compliant, an association’s reserve study must list every component whose maintenance or replacement is expected to cost more than one percent of the annual budget, present a recommended contribution rate, a plan to fully fund the reserve by year 30, a baseline plan to ensure the balance never falls below zero, and a 30-year projected balance of the reserve.

WUCIOA’s RCW 64.90.545 now governs reserve studies for nearly every Washington association, and it’s stricter than RCW 64.38 in several respects. In 2026, HB 2354 added a narrow exception: certain middle-housing communities (duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, and similar smaller multi-unit housing) that meet specific conditions no longer have to complete one. Very small middle-housing communities can also fall outside most WUCIOA requirements. If your community is small or made up of middle housing, check whether it qualifies before assuming the reserve-study rule applies.

A reserve study is required unless the association qualifies for an exemption, so the “significant assets” trigger no longer determines who needs one. The cost exemption rises from five percent of the annual budget to 10 percent. The exemption for associations with 10 or fewer homes is gone, replaced by exemptions covering nominal reserve costs, nonresidential communities, and middle housing. Where the two statutes differ, WUCIOA controls, so boards should plan to the RCW 64.90.545 standard.

What it means for HOAs: Associations of a certain size are required to have a plan for long-term repairs and replacement of common elements. PayHOA’s HOA bookkeeping service provides boards with expert advice on funding reserves.

Within 30 days of adopting a proposed regular or special budget, the board has to set a date for an owners’ meeting to consider ratifying it. RCW 64.38.025 puts that meeting between 14 and 60 days after the budget summary is mailed, but WUCIOA’s RCW 64.90.525 now governs budgets and assessments for every Washington association and sets the window at 14 to 50 days. Where the two differ, WUCIOA controls, so schedule to the 50-day outside date. Unless a majority of the association’s votes (or any larger percentage specified by the governing documents) reject it, in person or by proxy, the budget is ratified. If the proposed budget is rejected by a majority of owners or the required notice period is not met, the previously ratified budget remains in effect until a new one is ratified.

What it means for HOAs: Under Washington HOA laws, boards cannot enact a new regular or special budget unless the owners ratify it. If the new budget doesn’t pass, the existing budget stays in effect.

Washington HOAs can impose late charges and reasonable fines when owners violate the governing documents, as long as the board follows a previously established fine schedule that’s been distributed to owners. Associations are also mandated to provide notice and an opportunity for the homeowner to address the violation.

If anyone violates this statute, the aggrieved party may seek any remedy available at law or in equity, and the court may award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party in some cases.

What it means for HOAs: The board can’t issue fees or fines that don’t align with a fine schedule already provided to owners, without adequate notice, or without allowing the owner in question the opportunity to be heard. If it does, the owner can legally challenge the charge. HOA violation tracking tools assist boards in complying with their own regulations and state laws.

If the association’s governing documents allow a lien for unpaid assessments, the association must notify the owner of the delinquency by first-class mail no later than 30 days after the assessment becomes past due. The notice must be written in English and in any other language the owner has listed as a preference, and sent to the unit address and any other address the owner has provided, as well as by email if an email address has been provided. The first notice must include a statutory first preforeclosure notice directing the owner to contact a housing counselor or an attorney licensed in Washington, and alerting the owner that the process initiated by the notice could result in the loss of the home. A second preforeclosure notice follows, but it cannot be mailed any sooner than 60 days after the first one went out.

The HOA cannot begin a foreclosure action unless the owner owes at least the greater of three months of assessments or $2,000 (in either case not counting fines, late charges, interest, attorney’s fees, or collection costs), at least 90 days have passed since that amount accrued, any required mediation referral has concluded, and the board has specifically approved foreclosure against that lot. Every aspect of a collection, foreclosure, sale, or conveyance process must be commercially reasonable.

What it means for HOAs: Foreclosing on an HOA lien in Washington is a process that, by design, requires several months and several notices, and skipping any mandated part of that process can effectively end it. HOA financial tools can reduce the amount of work required to remain compliant with the law.

Homeowners have the right to install a solar energy panel as long as it meets applicable health and safety standards (RCW 64.90.510). Associations also cannot prohibit owners from installing drought-resistant or wildfire-ignition-resistant landscaping, though they can enforce reasonable placement and aesthetic rules (RCW 64.90.512). That protection now extends to fire-hardened building materials. An association’s governing documents can’t prohibit an owner from installing, using, or maintaining fire-hardened materials that meet state and local permitting standards. Boards can still set reasonable rules on design, dimensions, placement, and appearance, as long as those rules don’t make the materials impractical or raise their cost by more than 10 percent (RCW 64.90.582).

Additionally, the governing documents cannot include any restriction that effectively prohibits the installation of an electric vehicle charging station for an owner’s personal, non-commercial use in their designated parking space, though architectural standards may apply. Owners have the same protection for installing a heat pump for personal use, subject to reasonable architectural standards (RCW 64.90.580).

What it means for HOAs: Boards can’t dictate whether owners use solar energy panels, specialized landscaping, or electric vehicle charging stations, though they can have a say on how and where those elements are installed. HOA architectural review tools enable owners to submit requests, and board members to review requests, online.

Washington HOA laws mandate that a resale certificate must be furnished to a buyer before the purchase contract is signed, and it must include a list of any assessments, reserves, finances, insurance, or pending litigation that concerns the property. This certificate must be delivered within 10 days of a written request, and the buyer is allowed five business days to cancel the purchase after receiving it. However, if the certificate is delivered more than five business days before signing, that cancellation right does not apply. The preparation fee is capped at $275 for the initial certificate and at $100 for an update within six months. As of 2026, an association can’t make an owner set up an account or contract with a third party just to pay for or receive a resale certificate (RCW 64.90.640). If an association overcharges, misses the delivery deadline, or mishandles the certificate, the owner can act to enforce the rules, and the prevailing party can recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. The certificate also now has to include the association’s most recent financial audit report and any electric vehicle charging station requirements.

The resale requirements instituted by WUCIOA apply to communities already governed by WUCIOA that were created on or after July 1, 2018, or that have opted in. HOAs established prior to 2018 will become subject to these laws on January 1, 2028, or earlier if they have opted in.

What it means for HOAs: Soon, all boards must follow a standardized disclosure process for resale certificates. HOA resale documents automate the process to align with WUCIOA.

An owner vote is not required for the board to remove unlawful or discriminatory provisions from the HOA’s governing documents. Under WUCIOA, once the board receives a request, it has 90 days to determine whether the provision is unlawful and, if it is, another 90 days to amend the governing document to remove it.

What it means for HOAs: Boards are empowered to remove or amend discriminatory provisions (such as racially insensitive policies) from the CC&Rs without holding a member vote.

As of 2026, owners have a formal channel to ask their association about governance or operations. When an owner sends a written inquiry by certified mail, the association has 30 days to respond in writing. If the board needs a legal or professional opinion first, it can say so within those 30 days and then has 60 days total to give a full answer. Associations can set reasonable rules for how often and how owners submit these inquiries. This applies to every Washington association now, and it folds into WUCIOA for all communities on January 1, 2028.

What it means for HOAs: Boards now have a response deadline they can’t afford to miss, and a missed one can turn a routine question into a dispute. The practical fix is a simple system for logging each inquiry, tracking its due date, and saving a written record of the reply. PayHOA’s communication and request tools give boards one place to receive owner questions, respond on time, and keep the paper trail that shows they did.