Part 1 – Changes for Communities that Existed Before WUCIOA
Late last month, the Washington Legislature passed SB 5796, which bill is more commonly known as “WUCIOA for All.” Just as the name suggests, this new statute will apply the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act at RCW Chapter 64.90 to all existing community associations. However, the new statute has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2028, so communities have a few years to learn about WUCIOA and come into compliance with its many provisions.
In general, “come into compliance” probably means amending your community’s declaration and probably amending and restating your community’s declaration to ensure that its provisions, which may have complied with the old statutes, will comply with the new statute. It also means that your Boards and Owners have some learning to do! Each community will be impacted differently, depending, in part, on the community’s current applicable statute (HOA Act, Condo Act, HPRA, etc.), but these changes will impact every non-WUCIOA association (those formed prior to July 1, 2018). We are strongly recommending that communities get ahead of the curve and start planning for the application of WUCIOA well in advance of the 2028 effective date, so please contact your community’s attorney asap to find out what your community may need to do to prepare.
Over the next three years and nine months, pre-existing community associations will need to make some tough decisions, but we recommend planning (and budgeting for) those decisions now. While some very recent condominium communities may be able to transition to WUCIOA without restating their documents, most communities will probably require a restatement to ensure that the documents are consistent with the new statute. Since this can be a relatively big project with lots of potential variables, we recommend working with your attorney to discuss timing and costs so that you can budget for such costs in the upcoming years. Especially if your Washington community needs a Declaration amendment in the next three years, however, you may want to consider “opting in” to WUCIOA well before January 2028 to lessen the impact of the transition.
We also recommend doing as much as you can to educate your communities, Boards, and Owners regarding the transition and the impacts it might have on the community. Especially for older HOAs that may not have significant common areas, WUCIOA requirements will probably increase the administrative role the Board and managers may need to take, and the costs of such administration are likely to increase as well.
The worst idea is procrastinating until the winter of 2027 to address the issue. With only so many HOA attorneys in the state, my guess is that we’re all going to be a bit busy that year, so get ahead of the rush!
In addition, some changes to WUCIOA under this bill will impact current WUCIOA communities as well – those will be addressed in our blog next week, so be sure to subscribe to get Part 2 of this Article and other useful articles in the future!
