When a unit in a Washington common interest community sells, the association must produce a resale certificate — a comprehensive disclosure document that tells the buyer what they are purchasing into.
This is not a courtesy. It is a statutory requirement with specific content mandates, fee caps, and delivery deadlines.
This guide covers both Washington resale certificate statutes, the full list of required disclosures, and the operational realities that title companies, real estate agents, escrow officers, and boards need to understand.
What a Resale Certificate Is
A resale certificate is a point-in-time disclosure package that provides a prospective buyer with:
- The financial status of the specific unit (outstanding balances, assessments, late fees)
- The financial health of the association (reserves, budget, delinquency, pending special assessments)
- The governance status of the association (insurance, litigation, restrictions, governance policies)
- Required statutory disclosures specific to Washington law
It is typically requested by the listing agent, buyer's agent, or title company during the transaction process, and must be delivered within a statutory deadline.
Washington's Dual-Statute Framework
Washington is unusual in having two active resale certificate statutes that apply to different communities:
| Statute | Applies To | Required Items | Fee Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| RCW 64.34.425 | Condominiums created under the Condominium Act | 20 disclosure items | $275 — RCW 64.34.425(2) |
| RCW 64.90.640 | All WUCIOA communities (condominiums, HOAs, cooperatives, planned communities) | 26 disclosure items | $275 initial / $100 update |
Which statute applies to your community?
- Communities formed after July 1, 2018 are governed by WUCIOA from inception — use RCW 64.90.640
- Communities formed before July 1, 2018 that are condominiums created under RCW 64.34 — may use either statute, but WUCIOA provisions are phasing in (full compliance by January 1, 2028)
- All communities must comply with WUCIOA governance provisions as of January 1, 2026 (ESSB 5129), but the resale certificate transition follows the 2028 timeline
In practice, most boards and title companies should be preparing certificates that satisfy both statutes to avoid gaps.
Required Disclosures: RCW 64.34.425(1) (Condominium Act — (a) Through (t))
The Condominium Act enumerates twenty lettered items. This list follows the statute's own sequence:
- (a) Any right of first refusal or other restraint on the free alienability of the unit
- (b) The monthly common expense assessment, any unpaid common expense or special assessment currently due from the selling owner, and any levied-but-not-yet-due special assessments
- (c) Common expenses or special assessments against any unit that are past due over 30 days, current to within 45 days
- (d) Association obligations past due over 30 days, current to within 45 days
- (e) Any other fees payable by unit owners
- (f) Any anticipated repair or replacement cost in excess of five percent of the annual budget that the board has approved
- (g) The amount of any repair-or-replacement reserves, and any portions designated for specified projects
- (h) The annual financial statement, including the audit report if prepared, for the preceding year
- (i) A balance sheet and revenue and expense statement on an accrual basis, current to within 120 days
- (j) The current operating budget
- (k) Any unsatisfied judgments against the association and the status of pending suits in which it is plaintiff or defendant
- (l) Insurance coverage provided for the benefit of unit owners
- (m) Whether any alterations or improvements to the unit or its limited common elements violate the declaration
- (n) The number of units still owned by the declarant and whether control has transferred, with the date
- (o) Whether there are health or building code violations respecting the unit, its limited common elements, or any other portion of the condominium
- (p) The remaining term of any leasehold estate affecting the condominium
- (q) Copies of the declaration, bylaws, rules, the current reserve study if any, and other information reasonably requested by mortgagees
- (r) Whether units or common elements are covered by a chapter 64.35 RCW qualified warranty, with claim history
- (s) Any requirements related to electric vehicle charging stations in the unit or its limited common elements
- (t) If there is no current reserve study, the statutory no-reserve-study warning, verbatim
Required Disclosures: RCW 64.90.640(1) (WUCIOA — (a) Through (z))
WUCIOA runs the same core sequence through (a)–(p) with updated wording — notably, (g) becomes a statement whether the association has a reserve study prepared under RCW 64.90.545 and 64.90.550 (the Condominium Act's reserve-amounts statement has no WUCIOA twin), (i) asks only for the most recent balance sheet and revenue and expense statement, if any, and (l) adds contact information for the association's insurance broker or agent. The certificate must also state "NONE" or "RECORDS UNAVAILABLE" for every category not provided.
The genuinely WUCIOA-only additions:
- (q) Any declaration restrictions affecting the amount a unit owner may receive on sale of the unit
- (r) In a cooperative, an accountant's statement, if prepared, on the federal deductibility of taxes and interest paid by the association
- (s) Any pending sale or encumbrance of common elements
- (t) The effect of any restriction on use, occupancy, or rental of the unit
- (u) The document package, expanded: declaration, organizational documents, rules, all board policies, procedures, and resolutions currently in effect, twelve months of board and association meeting minutes (less RCW 64.90.495(3) exemptions), and the most current reserve study
- (w) Any age-related occupancy restrictions
- (z) A conspicuous-type statutory notice on association membership, assessment obligations, the statutory lien, and foreclosure risk
Items (v) (qualified-warranty status), (x) (EV charging requirements), and (y) (the no-reserve-study warning) parallel the Condominium Act's (r), (s), and (t) — EV charging appears in both statutes, not only WUCIOA.
Fee Caps and Deadlines
| Requirement | RCW 64.34.425 | RCW 64.90.640 |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation fee cap | $275 — RCW 64.34.425(2) | $275 initial certificate |
| Update fee cap | "Nominal fee" within six months of the owner's request — RCW 64.34.425(2) | $100, within six months of the previous request — RCW 64.90.640(2)(b) |
| Delivery deadline | 10 days from request — RCW 64.34.425(1) | 10 days from request |
| Buyer cancellation | Contract voidable until the certificate is delivered and for five days thereafter, or until conveyance — RCW 64.34.425(3) | 5 business days |
Important for title companies: The 10-day delivery deadline under WUCIOA is a hard statutory requirement. Delays can give the buyer grounds to rescind. Boards that cannot produce certificates within this window create transactional risk for all parties.
Common Errors in Resale Certificate Preparation
Based on patterns observed across Washington associations:
1. Stale financial data
The most frequent error. Boards produce certificates using exported financial data that is days or weeks old. By the time the certificate reaches the buyer, the numbers no longer reflect reality — payments received, late fees assessed, or special assessments posted since the export are missing.
2. Incomplete statutory coverage
Certificates that address 15 of 20 (or 20 of 26) required items. Each omission is a potential buyer challenge. The statute does not distinguish between major and minor disclosure items — every item must be affirmatively addressed.
3. "Unknown" used as a default
When boards do not have information for a disclosure item, they leave it blank or mark it "unknown." Under WUCIOA, the board has an affirmative obligation to investigate and provide accurate information. Blanket "unknown" responses are not compliant — they must be accompanied by an explanation of what steps were taken to obtain the information.
4. Fee miscalculations
Charging more than the statutory cap, or failing to distinguish between initial certificates and updates. Overcharging creates legal exposure.
5. Missing insurance details
Insurance coverage is one of the most scrutinized sections. Certificates that state "insurance on file" without providing coverage types, limits, deductibles, and carrier information do not meet the statutory requirement.
For Title Companies and Escrow Officers
If you are routinely waiting days or weeks for resale certificates from Washington HOAs, the bottleneck is almost always the association's data infrastructure — not the board's willingness.
When financial data lives in spreadsheets, manual reconciliation is required before every certificate. When disclosure items are tracked informally, someone must research each one from scratch.
The associations that deliver certificates within hours (not days) have a system of record that:
- Maintains current owner balances at all times
- Tracks all required disclosure items with board-confirmed defaults
- Generates the certificate from live data with a single action
For Boards
Resale certificate compliance is not optional — it is a statutory obligation that creates legal exposure for the association when done incorrectly.
The checklist:
- Know which statute applies to your community (RCW 64.34.425, RCW 64.90.640, or both)
- Maintain current financial records so certificates reflect reality
- Document board-confirmed answers for non-financial disclosures (litigation, restrictions, insurance)
- Respect fee caps ($275 initial, $100 updates under WUCIOA)
- Deliver within 10 days — delays create transactional risk
For the complete WUCIOA compliance checklist, see WUCIOA 2026 Compliance Checklist. For meeting and governance requirements that affect resale disclosures, see WUCIOA Meeting Requirements: The 15-Minute Rule.
Boards also completing Fannie Mae 1076 questionnaires for condo sales should see Fannie Mae 1076 Condo Questionnaire: Why Manual Completion Fails — the same live-ledger infrastructure that generates resale certificates auto-fills the 1076.
This guide covers Washington resale certificate requirements under RCW 64.34.425 and RCW 64.90.640. For legal advice specific to your community or transaction, consult a Washington real estate attorney.
Scott Vuilleumier · Founder of CommunityPay, Inc.
Data science, investment banking, and financial systems engineering and ledger design.
Last reviewed by Scott Vuilleumier on July 17, 2026 · How we maintain this content