WUCIOA vs RCW 64.38: Does Washington's New HOA Law Apply to Your Association?

Four Washington statutes govern HOAs and condominiums. The one that applies to your association depends on two facts — the recording date of your declaration and the type of community. That is the basic test. The 2026 and 2028 transition rules add nuance to the simple answer.

This guide walks through both questions, the four-statute map, the 2026 and 2028 transition rules that override the simple answer, and what changes when WUCIOA replaces an older statute.

Scope note. This guide focuses on residential Washington HOAs, condominium associations, and cooperatives. WUCIOA includes partial-application rules for certain plat, small, nonresidential, and mixed-use communities — boards in those categories should consult Washington association counsel.

The two-question test

Question 1: When was your declaration recorded?

Look at the first page of your CC&Rs. The county auditor's recording stamp tells you the date.

• On or after July 1, 2018 → WUCIOA (RCW 64.90).
• Before July 1, 2018 → continue to Question 2.

Question 2: What type of community is yours?

The declaration also identifies whether you are a condominium or a planned-community HOA.

• Condominium, declaration recorded before July 1, 1990 → RCW 64.32 (Horizontal Property Regimes Act).
• Condominium, declaration recorded July 1, 1990 to June 30, 2018 → RCW 64.34 (Washington Condominium Act).
• Planned community / HOA, declaration recorded before July 1, 2018 → RCW 64.38 (Homeowners' Associations Act), unless the community has elected into WUCIOA.

That is the structural answer. The 2026 and 2028 transition rules add nuance, covered below.

The four-statute map

Step 1: Find your declaration date

The recording date is stamped on the first page of the declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions. The declaration is a public record filed with the county auditor.

Three ways to find it:

1. Your association's own document file. The management company or board secretary typically has a copy.
2. The county auditor's online recorded documents portal. Search by parcel number or grantor name.
3. The title company. Any escrow officer who has closed a unit in the community has a copy.

If your community has been amended over time, look for the original declaration, not the most recent amendment. The original recording date controls.

Step 2: Identify your community type

The declaration identifies the structure. Three operative distinctions:

Condominium. Owners hold a fee interest in a defined unit (typically airspace inside the unit boundaries) plus an undivided interest in common elements. The declaration uses terms like "unit," "common elements," and "limited common elements."

Planned community (HOA). Owners hold fee title to a lot and the building on it. The association owns or maintains common areas like roads, recreation facilities, and shared landscaping. The declaration uses terms like "lot," "common area," and "association."

Cooperative. Owners hold shares in a corporation that owns the building. Rare in Washington outside Seattle. Pre-2018 cooperatives had no dedicated Washington common-interest-community statute comparable to the condominium and HOA acts. They were generally governed by their organizational documents plus Washington's general cooperative-corporation statute (Chapter 23.86 RCW). WUCIOA now brings cooperatives into the common-interest-community framework.

If your declaration is ambiguous — and pre-1990 declarations sometimes are — consult your association's attorney. The classification matters because the predecessor statutes differ on lien priority, board authority, and disclosure rules.

The "WUCIOA for all" twist

Even if your structural answer points to RCW 64.32, 64.34, or 64.38, parts of WUCIOA already apply to your community as of January 1, 2026.

ESSB 5129 (Chapter 119, Laws of 2025) accelerated several high-impact WUCIOA provisions to every Washington common interest community, regardless of formation date. The most visible:

• No-charge payment method (RCW 64.90.480(10)). Associations must provide at least one method of accepting payment of assessments from unit owners "at no charge or as a common expense." The statute does not mandate a specific payment rail — only that the no-charge option exist.
• 15-minute owner comment period. Boards must reserve a comment window at the start of every board meeting.
• Expanded open-meeting protections. Notice and access requirements broader than under RCW 64.34 or 64.38.

This is why boards started hearing about "WUCIOA for all" in early 2026. The phrase is informal but accurate. For a growing list of provisions, WUCIOA applies to every association — regardless of original statute.

So today: a 2010 planned-community HOA is still governed by RCW 64.38 for most operations, but the ESSB 5129 provisions of WUCIOA already apply.

The 2028 full transition

ESSB 5796 (Chapter 321, Laws of 2024) extends WUCIOA to every Washington common interest community by January 1, 2028, regardless of formation date. For HOA and condominium operations, the relevant older acts — RCW 64.32, RCW 64.34, and RCW 64.38 — are repealed effective January 1, 2028 (ESSB 5796 also repeals the Land Development Act, chapter 58.19 RCW).

After that date:

• WUCIOA controls the core statutory rules for governance, financial operations, disclosures, and enforcement for Washington common interest communities.
• The three predecessor HOA and condominium acts no longer govern ongoing operations.
• Governing documents that conflict with WUCIOA will not survive.

Boards need a compliance plan now. Provisions most at risk in pre-2018 governing documents:

• Caps on owner voting that fall below WUCIOA minimums.
• Resale certificate procedures inconsistent with RCW 64.90.640.
• Late fees, lien notices, or foreclosure procedures inconsistent with WUCIOA.
• Restrictions on meeting participation, secret ballots, or remote attendance inconsistent with RCW 64.90.445.
• Disclosure standards weaker than WUCIOA.

Opt-in: electing WUCIOA early

Pre-2018 communities can elect into WUCIOA before the 2028 deadline by amending the declaration. RCW 64.90.370 provides two paths.

Path 1 — follow the existing governing documents. Amend in conformity with the declaration's own amendment procedures, plus the amendment procedures in WUCIOA itself.

Path 2 — statutory election notwithstanding governing documents. RCW 64.90.370(3) provides a statutory amendment procedure that overrides the declaration's amendment vote threshold. The board proposes the amendment (on its own, or upon request of owners holding 20% of votes), gives owners at least 30 days' notice of a discussion meeting, then provides a ballot. The amendment is approved if:

• Owners holding at least 30% of association votes participate in the voting process, and
• At least 67% of votes cast by participating owners are in favor.

That can be a meaningfully lower threshold than the typical "67% of all owners" amendment standard in many pre-2018 declarations. Once the amendment is recorded, the community operates fully under WUCIOA — the original statute (RCW 64.32, 64.34, or 64.38) no longer governs.

Most boards do not need to opt in early. The 2028 transition is automatic, and key WUCIOA provisions already apply under ESSB 5129. The reasons some boards still elect in:

• They want one unified statute to point to for governance training, attorney work, and operational policies.
• They want the WUCIOA resale certificate framework (26 items, $275 cap, five-business-day cancellation right) to apply to all unit sales immediately.
• They want the corporate fiduciary standard of care for directors clarified ahead of the transition.

What changes when WUCIOA applies instead of RCW 64.38

For boards currently under RCW 64.38, the biggest substantive changes when WUCIOA takes over:

The RCW 64.34 to WUCIOA transition is similar but starts from a stronger baseline — the Washington Condominium Act already required resale certificates and corporate fiduciary duties.

What this means for your board

If your community is post-July 1, 2018: WUCIOA already governs you fully. Verify compliance with the 26-item resale certificate, the no-charge payment-method requirement (RCW 64.90.480(10)), the 15-minute owner comment period, the executive session limits, and the reserve study funding rules.

If your community is pre-July 1, 2018: RCW 64.32, 64.34, or 64.38 still governs most operations. The ESSB 5129 provisions of WUCIOA apply as of January 1, 2026. The full WUCIOA framework applies January 1, 2028. Begin the declaration and bylaw audit now. Identify conflicts with WUCIOA. Plan the amendment process for any provisions that need to change.

If your community is pre-July 1, 1990: RCW 64.32 still governs. The 2028 transition is the steepest. Many pre-1990 condominiums were formed before modern reserve study, lien priority, and resale certificate standards. The compliance lift is real. Start now.

Resources

• RCW 64.90 — WUCIOA full text: app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.90
• RCW 64.34 — Washington Condominium Act: app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.34
• RCW 64.38 — Homeowners' Associations Act: app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.38
• RCW 64.32 — Horizontal Property Regimes Act: app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.32
• ESSB 5796 (2024) — Chapter 321, Laws of 2024: 2028 universal transition; repeals RCW 64.32, 64.34, 64.38, and chapter 58.19 (Land Development Act) — bill page: app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5796&Year=2023
• ESSB 5129 (2025) — Chapter 119, Laws of 2025: key WUCIOA provisions accelerated to 2026 — bill page: app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5129&Year=2025

Classifying your association?

CommunityPay's compliance tooling tracks which Washington statute governs your operations today, which WUCIOA sections apply under ESSB 5129 as of January 1, 2026, and what changes on January 1, 2028 under ESSB 5796. See the audit trail feature →