Washington HOA Law Changes 2026: What Every Board Must Know About SB 5129 and WUCIOA Compliance

Effective January 1, 2026, significant amendments to Washington state common-interest community law took effect, reshaping governance, transparency, and financial operations for every homeowners association (HOA), condominium, and planned community in the state.

These changes stem from the Legislature's adoption of Senate Bill 5129 (SB 5129), which accelerates and expands key provisions of the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act ("WUCIOA," codified at RCW 64.90) to all common interest communities — well ahead of the originally scheduled 2028 phase-in.

For boards, this is not optional. The provisions are in force now, and associations that have not updated their governance practices, financial systems, and disclosure processes are operating outside the law.

What the 2026 WUCIOA Changes Actually Do

WUCIOA was enacted in 2018 to unify and modernize community association law in Washington. Until now, only newer communities formed after July 1, 2018 were fully subject to it, leaving a patchwork of statutes governing older HOAs.

SB 5129 changes that by:

1. Applying core WUCIOA provisions statewide effective January 1, 2026

Communities not previously subject to WUCIOA must now comply with new governance and meeting standards, among other requirements.

2. Standardizing meeting and governance procedures

Boards must follow structured meeting notice rules, open meetings with advance homeowner notification, and extended owner comment periods.

3. Requiring access to board meeting materials for owners

Any written materials provided to board members before a meeting must be made available to owners.

4. Expanding transparency and financial practice expectations

HOAs must implement consistent processes for payment acceptance (including at least one no-fee option) and adopt transparent voting, ballot, and record-keeping practices.

5. Phasing in full WUCIOA compliance by January 1, 2028

By that date, legacy HOA statutes (including RCW 64.38) will be superseded entirely by WUCIOA, making compliance with the unified law non-optional.

Specific Statutory Requirements Taking Effect in 2026

For boards seeking to understand exactly what the law mandates, here are the key provisions:

• 15-minute owner comment requirement under RCW 64.90.445 — Boards must provide at least 15 minutes for owner comments at the start of each board meeting before voting on agenda items

• Open meeting and notice standards under WUCIOA (SB 5129) — All board and committee meetings must be open to unit owners, except properly conducted executive sessions. Standard notice is 14 days, with a 7-day exception for urgent matters

• Fee-free assessment payment method requirement — Associations must offer at least one payment method that does not charge owners a convenience fee

• Owner access to board materials mandated by new statute — Written materials provided to board members before meetings must be available to owners upon request (excluding executive session materials)

• Remote participation requirements permitted under WUCIOA — Remote meeting participation must be allowed even if governing documents did not previously authorize it

Why This Matters for Boards Today

These changes are more than statutory housekeeping. They redefine expectations for how community governance, transparency, and financial operations are carried out in Washington.

Boards that wait risk:

Noncompliance exposure — If governance practices conflict with the new WUCIOA provisions, routine actions like budget approvals, assessments, or architectural decisions could be legally challenged.

Operational chaos — The "day one" application of new rules without standardized processes could lead to meeting confusion, disputes over notice procedures, and inconsistent owner access.

Higher administrative burden — Manual tracking of meeting materials, owner comments, ballots, and financial records under new transparency standards will be far more time-intensive without automated support.

How CommunityPay Addresses 2026 WUCIOA Requirements

Each statutory requirement maps to a specific platform capability. This is not a feature list — it is a compliance matrix.

Financial Processing and Audit Trail

CommunityPay's double-entry JournalEngine enforces fund segregation (Operating, Reserve, Capital) at the system level. Every journal entry passes through 13 enforcement guards — balance verification, closed period checks, fund boundary enforcement — before posting. The result is an audit trail that satisfies not just WUCIOA transparency requirements, but the expectations of CPAs, escrow officers, and institutional auditors.

Owner Access and Meeting Support

Boards can distribute meeting materials to owners securely, collect owner comments with timestamped records, and generate board packets that automatically include required financial reports. Participation is tracked. The system creates the documentation that WUCIOA now requires — without manual effort from the board.

Explore CommunityPay's free board meeting tools →

Payment Compliance

WUCIOA requires at least one fee-free assessment payment method. CommunityPay includes no-fee ACH by default. Convenience fees for credit card payments are disclosed transparently, with the free option always available.

Resale Certificate Compliance

This is where the 2026 changes create the most operational risk for boards preparing certificates manually.

WUCIOA expands the mandatory disclosure sections to 26 items under RCW 64.90.640 — including EV charging provisions, sale proceeds restrictions, rental/occupancy limitations, and age-related restrictions — on top of the existing financial, reserve, insurance, litigation, and governance disclosures.

CommunityPay generates resale certificates directly from the system of record:

• Financial data pulled from the general ledger at the moment of generation — balance sheets, assessment status, delinquency, and reserve balances are never stale
• Every required statutory section presented in a guided disclosure modal with the exact statute reference (RCW 64.90.640 or RCW 64.34.425)
• Board-confirmed answers stored as defaults, so future certificates pre-fill automatically
• Each certificate is content-hashed (SHA-256) and preserved as an immutable institutional packet with version chain

Manual preparation across 26 disclosure sections reliably produces omissions and errors. A system that maps every statutory requirement to a data source and flags incomplete sections eliminates that risk.

Preparing for a sale?

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Learn how Washington resale certificates work | See the resale certificate feature

Documented Governance Workflow

Vendor approvals, budget votes, and financial authorizations are logged with full governance context — who approved, when, what information was available, and what enforcement guards were evaluated. This creates the defensible record that WUCIOA's meeting and decision-making provisions demand.

Learn more about CommunityPay's audit trail capabilities

WUCIOA 2026 Compliance Checklist

Use this as a starting point. Every Washington HOA should be able to confirm each item.

Governance and Meetings

• Board meetings open to all unit owners (executive sessions properly limited)
• 14-day advance notice for regular meetings (7-day for urgent)
• Minimum 15-minute owner comment period at start of each board meeting
• Written materials provided to board members made available to owners upon request
• Remote participation permitted for all meetings
• Ballots and voting records documented and preserved

Financial Operations

• At least one fee-free assessment payment method offered to owners
• Fund segregation enforced (Operating, Reserve, Capital)
• Financial records available for owner inspection under WUCIOA transparency provisions
• Assessment and special assessment processes documented with audit trails

Resale Certificates

• Preparation process covers all 26 WUCIOA disclosure sections (RCW 64.90.640)
• EV charging provisions, rental restrictions, and age restrictions addressed
• Financial data sourced from current records (not stale spreadsheets)
• 10-day delivery deadline met consistently
• Fee structure compliant ($275 initial, $100 updates)

2028 Preparation

• Governing documents reviewed for conflicts with WUCIOA
• Legacy statute references (RCW 64.38, RCW 64.34) identified for replacement
• Board and management aware of full WUCIOA compliance deadline (January 1, 2028)

Boards that can confirm every item on this list are compliant. Boards that cannot should prioritize closing the gaps — the statutory requirements are already in effect.

The Standard Has Changed

Washington's 2026 WUCIOA provisions are not aspirational guidelines. They are binding statutory requirements that apply to every common interest community in the state.

The law demands transparent governance, accessible financial records, fee-free payment options, and comprehensive resale disclosures. Manual processes and informal practices that were tolerable under the older statutes are now compliance liabilities.

CommunityPay was built to meet this standard — fund-segregated accounting, enforcement guardrails, statute-mapped resale certificates, and immutable audit trails. The infrastructure exists. The question is whether your association is using it.

This article covers Washington HOA law changes effective January 1, 2026 under SB 5129 (WUCIOA acceleration). For questions about how specific provisions apply to your community, consult a Washington real estate attorney. For a walkthrough of CommunityPay's compliance capabilities, request access.