West Virginia HOA Governing Statute
Overview — How HOAs are governed in West Virginia
West Virginia governs homeowners associations under a single comprehensive law: the West Virginia Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, known as WVUCIOA, codified at Chapter 36B of the West Virginia Code.1 The legislature enacted the Act in 1986, and it applies to every condominium, planned community, and cooperative the state created on or after July 1 of that year.
The framework isn't uniform in its reach, though. West Virginia layers two significant coverage gaps onto the Act. Communities created before July 1, 1986 are bound only by a defined list of carryover provisions.2 And small planned communities — along with communities whose declarations cap annual common expenses at a relatively low threshold — can opt out of nearly all of the Act's requirements. Most developers have done exactly that.3
What that means in practice: whether a West Virginia community is subject to one page of statutory requirements or a comprehensive governance framework depends almost entirely on when it was created and what the developer wrote into the declaration. There is no state agency overseeing HOAs, no regulatory backstop, and no licensing regime for community managers.4 Disputes land in court.
The Glade Springs Village litigation — decided by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in 2023 and revisited in a 2026 memorandum decision — shows just how much turns on the declaration. In that case, the court confirmed that a qualifying resort community is subject to the entire Act, and that assessment judgments stand or fall on strict statutory compliance with declaration and development-rights requirements.5
The statutory framework
The West Virginia Legislature enacted WVUCIOA through Senate Bill 102 in the 1986 Regular Session, making it effective July 1, 1986.6 The Act is West Virginia's adoption of the Uniform Law Commission's model Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. It applies to condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives under the same statutory umbrella — grouping all of them under the term "common interest community" defined at § 36B-1-103(7).1 Most West Virginia HOAs are planned communities under § 36B-1-103(23).
Chapter 36B is organized into four articles. Article 1 (§§ 36B-1-101 to 36B-1-207) covers general provisions, including definitions, applicability, and the critical rules that determine which communities are fully covered. Article 2 (§§ 36B-2-101 to 36B-2-122) governs how communities are created, altered, and terminated — including declaration contents, plats, allocation of interests, development rights, and amendments. Article 3 (§§ 36B-3-101 to 36B-3-119) addresses management: the association, the board, meetings, voting, assessments, liens, insurance, and records. Article 4 (§§ 36B-4-101 to 36B-4-120) protects purchasers through public offering statements, cancellation rights, resale certificates, escrow, and warranties.1
Section 36B-1-108 provides that common-law and equitable principles supplement the Act except to the extent inconsistent with Chapter 36B. Section 36B-1-104 bars variation by agreement except where the Act expressly permits it, and prohibits a declarant from using a power of attorney or other device to evade its limits.1
The Act replaced and supplemented earlier condominium statutes — principally the West Virginia Unit Property Act (Chapter 36A, enacted 1963) and intervening acts of 1980 and 1984. The legislature amended it in 1998 (updating § 36B-1-103 definitions) and in 2011 (amending § 36B-3-102 through Senate Bill 376 to add express collection-litigation authority).6
Two provisions sharply limit the Act's reach. Section 36B-1-203 exempts small planned communities — those with no more than 12 units and no development rights, or those whose declarations cap the average annual common expense liability of residential units at a threshold amount (originally $300, subject to CPI adjustment under § 36B-1-114) — down to only three sections of the entire Act, unless the declaration opts into the full chapter. The West Virginia Organization of Homeowners Associations states plainly: "Only three sections apply (36B-1-105, 106 and 107). This is the exemption that most developers use to avoid the protections and restrictions of the Act."3 Section 36B-1-204 applies only a carved-out list of provisions to communities created before July 1, 1986.2
For communities the Act does fully cover, § 36B-1-103 supplies the operative definitions. A "common interest community" is real estate where a person, by virtue of owning a unit, is obligated to pay for taxes, insurance, maintenance, or improvement of other real estate described in a declaration. A "condominium" is a community where the undivided interest in the common elements vests in the unit owners. A "cooperative" is one where the association owns the real estate and members hold exclusive possession through their ownership interest. A "planned community" — the category covering most West Virginia HOAs — is any common interest community that is neither a condominium nor a cooperative.7
Nonresidential planned communities are excluded by § 36B-1-207 unless the declaration provides that the chapter applies. West Virginia has not adopted the 2017 Uniform Law Commission amendments to UCIOA — including the rolling superpriority framework — so West Virginia's Act remains in its original uniform-act form, with limited subsequent modifications.1
Compliance obligations created by the statutory framework
Governance obligations
Section 36B-3-101 establishes the association, which the Act authorizes to be either incorporated or unincorporated. Associations organized as nonprofit corporations also operate under W. Va. Code Chapter 31E, the Nonprofit Corporation Act, which supplies additional governance structure for membership, meetings, and corporate records.8
Section 36B-3-102 enumerates association powers — exercisable even by an unincorporated association and "subject to the provisions of the declaration." Those powers include adopting and amending bylaws, rules, and budgets; hiring and discharging managers; instituting and defending litigation; regulating use of common elements; imposing fees for common-element use; imposing late charges; levying reasonable fines for violations "after notice and an opportunity to be heard"; charging for resale certificates and amendment recordings; indemnifying officers; and instituting collection litigation for overdue assessments.9
Section 36B-3-103 governs the board and sets a bifurcated standard of care. Board members and officers the declarant appoints must exercise "the care required of fiduciaries of the unit owners," while those elected by the unit owners must exercise "ordinary and reasonable care."9 The board may fill vacancies but may not amend the declaration, terminate the community, or set its own membership qualifications or terms.
The budget-ratification mechanism in § 36B-3-103(c) is significant. Within 30 days of adopting a proposed budget, the board must deliver a summary to all unit owners and set a ratification meeting 14 to 30 days out. The budget is ratified unless a majority of all unit owners (or a larger number the declaration specifies) rejects it — whether or not a quorum is present. The Glade Springs litigation shows that an unratified budget can void assessment authority entirely.5
Declarant control terminates no later than the earliest of: 60 days after the declarant conveys 75 percent of the units it may create; two years after the declarant stops offering units in the ordinary course; or two years after the last exercise of a right to add new units. Owners must elect at least one board member at 25 percent conveyance and increasing percentages thereafter. After declarant control ends, owners elect a board of at least three members, a majority of whom must be unit owners. Owners may remove any non-declarant board member with or without cause, by a two-thirds vote of those present and entitled to vote at a quorum meeting.9
Section 36B-3-108 requires at least one association meeting each year. Special meetings may be called by the president, a majority of the board, or unit owners holding 20 percent of the votes (or a lower percentage the bylaws specify). Notice — by hand delivery or mail — must go out not less than 10 nor more than 60 days before any meeting, stating the time, place, and agenda items.10
Financial obligations
Section 36B-3-115 requires the board to adopt a budget at least annually and to levy assessments against units per the allocation in the declaration. Past-due assessments bear interest at a rate the association sets, not to exceed 18 percent per year.11
Section 36B-3-116 is the lien engine. The association holds an automatic lien on each unit for any assessment or fine from the time it becomes due. If payable in installments, the full amount becomes a lien from the time the first installment is due. The lien is prior to most other liens except: encumbrances recorded before the declaration; a first security interest recorded before the assessment became delinquent; and tax liens.11
The Act grants a limited "superpriority": the association's lien primes a first security interest to the extent of common expense assessments that would have become due during the six months immediately preceding institution of an action to enforce the lien. West Virginia has not adopted the 2017 ULC amendment that extends this to a rolling annual superpriority. A lien is extinguished unless the association begins enforcement proceedings within three years after the full amount becomes due. The prevailing party in a lien action recovers costs and reasonable attorney's fees — a rule the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals confirmed applies to prevailing homeowners as well as prevailing associations.11,12
Disclosure obligations
Section 36B-3-118 requires the association to keep financial records detailed enough to comply with the resale-certificate requirements of § 36B-4-109, and mandates that "all financial and other records must be made reasonably available for examination by any unit owner and his authorized agents." This provision applies to pre-1986 communities through the § 36B-1-204 carryover list.13
Article 4 governs purchaser disclosures. Section 36B-4-108 gives a purchaser who receives a public offering statement 15 or fewer days before signing the right to cancel within 15 days of first receiving it — without penalty and with a full refund. Section 36B-4-109 governs resales: before conveying a unit, the selling owner must furnish the buyer a copy of the declaration, bylaws, and rules, plus a resale certificate disclosing the monthly common expense assessment, unpaid assessments, other fees, anticipated capital expenditures, reserves, and known violations. The association must provide the certificate to the selling owner within 10 days of request. A purchaser is not liable for unpaid assessments exceeding the certificate amount, and the contract is voidable until the certificate is delivered and for five days thereafter or until conveyance.14
The West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals clarified in 2023 that the resale-certificate duties in § 36B-4-109 run from the seller to the buyer — not from the association to a prospective purchaser. The association's obligation under § 36B-4-109(b) is only to furnish the certificate to the seller within 10 days. The association does not have a separate duty to disclose general construction defects to buyers.15
Dispute resolution obligations
Fine authority is statutory but conditioned. Section 36B-3-102(a)(11) permits the association to levy "reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, rules, and regulations" only "after notice and an opportunity to be heard." Fines and late charges become enforceable as assessments, and therefore as liens, under § 36B-3-116(a). The Act provides no administrative tribunal; due process means the association's own notice-and-hearing process, subject to judicial review.9
West Virginia has no state HOA oversight agency. Enforcement is private — through the association's governing documents and the circuit courts. There is no mandatory mediation or arbitration requirement under the Act. For communities that are fully subject to WVUCIOA, the declaration's language on enforcement governs. For communities that qualify for the § 36B-1-203 exemption, only three statutory sections apply, and enforcement is almost entirely document-driven.4
West Virginia's recent legislative and judicial activity
Recent bills
West Virginia's HOA-related legislative activity has focused on exemptions and coverage rather than comprehensive reform.
HB 3558 · 2023 Regular Session
This bill would have added a new § 36B-1-203a to WVUCIOA, exempting additional categories of planned communities from the Act's full requirements. It was pulled from the House floor before a vote. Its failure prompted the legislature to pass a Senate Concurrent Resolution directing a study of developer concerns about Chapter 36B's requirements.16
| Property managers | The existing § 36B-1-203 exemption stays in place — no additional communities shifted out of full Act coverage by this bill. |
| HOA board members | Boards should confirm whether their community is already in the § 36B-1-203 exemption rather than waiting for new legislative carve-outs that haven't passed. |
| Community association attorneys | The study resolution signals continued developer pressure for broader exemptions — watch for renewed exemption bills in future sessions. |
| Homeowners | The bill's failure means no new categories of communities lost Act protections in 2023. |
SB 188 / SB 208 / HB 5509 · 2024–2026 Regular Sessions
The Mountain Homes Act has reappeared in three consecutive legislative sessions — as SB 188 (2024), SB 208 (2025), and HB 5509 (2026) — without passing. The bill addresses rural and mountain-community HOA governance, reflecting ongoing friction between developers seeking lighter regulation and owners seeking more statutory protections. It has not yet reached the Governor's desk.17
| Property managers | Track this bill's trajectory — if it passes, it could alter governance requirements for mountain and rural communities you manage. |
| HOA board members | Three consecutive failures suggest the bill's scope is contested; don't rely on it passing when planning governance changes. |
| Community association attorneys | Monitor the bill's evolution across sessions — each reintroduction may bring substantive changes to the underlying proposal. |
| Homeowners | If the Mountain Homes Act passes, it could change the rules for your community depending on how it defines its scope. |
SB 694 · 2024 Regular Session
SB 694 would have required land-use associations — a category that includes many HOAs — to register with the West Virginia Secretary of State. No comparable registration requirement currently exists. The bill did not pass, leaving West Virginia as a state with no HOA registration or oversight requirement.18
| Property managers | No state registration is required today — compliance remains document-driven, not agency-driven. |
| HOA board members | Associations incorporated under Chapter 31E file corporate reports with the Secretary of State, but no HOA-specific registration requirement applies. |
| Community association attorneys | The bill's introduction signals legislative interest in greater HOA transparency — similar bills may return in future sessions. |
| Homeowners | There is currently no public HOA registry in West Virginia, so researching your association's status requires obtaining documents directly. |
Recent court rulings
West Virginia's most consequential HOA litigation centers on Glade Springs Village, a golf resort community that has produced two Supreme Court decisions reshaping how WVUCIOA applies to large planned communities.
Justice Holdings, LLC v. Glade Springs Village POA
This is the state's most consequential WVUCIOA decision. Glade Springs Village, a golf resort community near Beckley with 750 private residences, became the battleground when the court considered whether a qualifying resort community is subject to the entire Act. The court said yes — rejecting the developer's argument that the community should be reformed into an exempt limited-expense liability planned community. The court then vacated a $6,073,692.18 assessment judgment covering fiscal years 2010–2021 and remanded for findings on whether the budget was properly ratified, whether expenses were assessed against all units per the declaration, and whether surplus funds were credited. It also construed "without penalty" under § 36B-3-105 to make contract termination prospective only.5
| Property managers | Budget ratification isn't a formality — follow the § 36B-3-103(c) summary-and-meeting procedure precisely, or assessment authority evaporates. |
| HOA board members | Boards of resort or large planned communities cannot assume their community qualifies for the § 36B-1-203 exemption — get a legal opinion before relying on it. |
| Community association attorneys | Audit the declaration for development-rights defects before assessment litigation — a flawed declaration can void the entire assessment judgment. |
| Homeowners | If your association is subject to the full Act, the Act's owner-protection provisions apply — including budget ratification rights and superpriority lien limits. |
State ex rel. Justice Holdings, LLC v. Hon. Todd Kirby
In the follow-on foreclosure phase of the Glade Springs litigation, the court granted extraordinary relief — converting Justice Holdings' request for a writ of prohibition into a writ of mandamus directing the circuit judge to better explain his December 5, 2024 foreclosure order. That order covered hundreds of parcels across Queensglade, Chapelwoods, and Greenbrier Villas, once scheduled for an October 2025 special-commissioner sale. The dispute centers on Justice Holdings' argument that the original 2001 declaration covered only one acre, and that the subsequent addition of 2,800 lots was never properly made under the development-rights requirements of §§ 36B-2-105(a)(8), 36B-2-110, and 36B-2-117 — meaning there were no validly created units to assess. The court did not resolve lien validity, the development-rights question, res judicata, or lien-priority issues. Those merits remain open on remand.19
| Property managers | Verify that every lot your association assesses was properly added to the community through recorded development-rights exercises — not just informally included. |
| HOA board members | A defective original declaration can expose years of assessment history to challenge — even on remand from a prior Supreme Court decision. |
| Community association attorneys | Before foreclosure, conduct a complete chain-of-title review of the declaration, plats, and all recorded development-rights amendments for every parcel at issue. |
| Homeowners | If your community expanded after its original recording, the legal validity of that expansion — and the assessments that followed — may not be settled. |
United Bank v. Stone Gate Homeowners Association
The Supreme Court of Appeals held that § 36B-3-116(f) requires an award of costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party in any action brought under § 36B-3-116 — the lien enforcement section. The court reversed the circuit court's denial of fees to the Stevers, who prevailed as homeowners in the lien dispute. The ruling confirms that the fee-shifting provision runs both ways: associations that lose a lien enforcement action owe fees just as homeowners who lose do.12
| Property managers | Make sure the lien file is clean before referring it to counsel — a procedurally defective lien can shift attorney's fees to the association. |
| HOA board members | Fee-shifting runs both directions. A failed lien enforcement action can cost the association the homeowner's attorney's fees on top of its own. |
| Community association attorneys | Evaluate lien enforcement cases with fee exposure on both sides — a weak lien case is a liability for the association, not just the homeowner. |
| Homeowners | If you prevail against a wrongful lien, you are entitled to costs and attorney's fees under § 36B-3-116(f). |
Active legislative debates
West Virginia's ongoing HOA debates center on the scope of WVUCIOA — specifically, who the Act covers and how much protection owners receive.
The Mountain Homes Act's three consecutive reintroductions signal an unresolved tension between developers seeking lighter regulation and owners seeking more statutory protections. The 2023 Senate Concurrent Resolution study of developer concerns about Chapter 36B reflects the same fault line — and the outcome of that study could inform future bills aimed at expanding the § 36B-1-203 exemption or modifying the Act's coverage rules.16,17
No comprehensive modernization of Chapter 36B has passed despite repeated attempts. SB 502 in 2014 sought to update WVUCIOA based on the Uniform Law Commission's later model amendments but did not pass.20 Until a modernization bill or exemption expansion advances, the statutory text remains as enacted and amended through 2011, and the Glade Springs remand on the circuit court level will continue to shape how courts interpret it.
National positioning and related coverage
West Virginia sits in a distinct category among UCIOA states. It adopted the Uniform Law Commission's Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act in 1986 — making it one of roughly a dozen states to do so — but it has not adopted the ULC's later amendments, including the 2017 rolling superpriority framework that several other UCIOA states now use. That means West Virginia's superpriority protection for lenders is more limited than in states like Connecticut or Vermont, which have updated their acts.1,11
West Virginia's most distinctive feature is the scale of its § 36B-1-203 exemption. The West Virginia Organization of Homeowners Associations has noted that "most developers" use the small-and-limited-expense exemption to avoid the full Act. That puts West Virginia in a different position from states like Florida, Nevada, and Colorado — which have dedicated HOA oversight agencies, mandatory manager licensing, and far fewer coverage gaps — and closer to states that are CC&R-primary in practice despite having a nominal HOA statute on the books.3,4
The absence of a state HOA regulator also sets West Virginia apart from the national trend. Since 2020, a number of states have created or expanded HOA oversight offices, ombudsman programs, or registration requirements. West Virginia's SB 694 (2024) would have moved the state toward registration, but it failed. The practical result: West Virginia enforcement still depends almost entirely on private litigation, and the circuit courts — not an agency — remain the primary accountability mechanism.18
Closing note
HOA Weekly reviews and updates its West Virginia Governing Statute coverage quarterly to reflect new legislation and West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals decisions. Several important caveats apply to this analysis.
Chapter 36B is a uniform act, and West Virginia courts may look to decisions from other UCIOA states and to Uniform Law Commission commentary for guidance. Such authority is persuasive, not binding. The dollar threshold in § 36B-1-203 is subject to annual CPI adjustment under § 36B-1-114 — the operative figure should be confirmed for the relevant year rather than assumed to be the original $300.
The Glade Springs and Justice Holdings litigation is ongoing. The 2026 decision is a memorandum decision issuing a procedural writ — it did not resolve the underlying questions of lien validity, the development-rights defect, or lien priority. The remand could materially change the practical landscape for resort and large planned communities in West Virginia.
Federal frameworks — including the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — also apply to West Virginia associations and are covered separately. This analysis does not exhaustively address overlapping bodies of law, including the Nonprofit Corporation Act (Chapter 31E), the Unit Property Act (Chapter 36A), solar access protections, or debt-collection rules.
Footnotes
- W. Va. Code § 36B-1-101 et seq., West Virginia Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WVUCIOA); organized into Articles 1–4 at §§ 36B-1-101 to 36B-4-120. West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- W. Va. Code § 36B-1-204, Applicability to common interest communities created before effective date; enumerates carryover provisions applicable to pre-July 1, 1986 communities. West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- W. Va. Code § 36B-1-203, Applicability to small and limited-expense communities; exempts qualifying planned communities to only §§ 36B-1-105, -106, and -107; West Virginia Organization of Homeowners Associations (WVOHOA) commentary on developer use of the exemption. West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- West Virginia has no dedicated HOA oversight agency; the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division handles HOA-adjacent consumer complaints. West Virginia Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division. ↩
- Justice Holdings, LLC v. Glade Springs Village POA, 250 W. Va. 563, 906 S.E.2d 216 (2023) (No. 22-0002); held qualifying resort community subject to entire WVUCIOA; vacated $6,073,692.18 assessment judgment; remanded for findings under §§ 36B-3-103(c), 36B-3-115(b), 36B-3-114. West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals; Justia. ↩
- W. Va. Senate Bill 102, 1986 Regular Session (enacting WVUCIOA, effective July 1, 1986); W. Va. Senate Bill 376, 2011 Regular Session (amending § 36B-3-102, adding collection-litigation authority). West Virginia Legislature. ↩
- W. Va. Code § 36B-1-103, Definitions; subsection (7) (common interest community), subsection (8) (condominium), subsection (10) (cooperative), subsection (23) (planned community), subsection (12) (declarant), subsection (13) (declaration), subsection (14) (development rights), subsection (16) (executive board), subsection (31) (special declarant rights). West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- W. Va. Code § 31E-1-101 et seq., West Virginia Nonprofit Corporation Act; supplies corporate-governance structure for incorporated associations organized under Chapter 31E. West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- W. Va. Code § 36B-3-102, Powers of unit owners' association; § 36B-3-103, Executive board members and officers; enumerates association powers (subsections (a)(1)–(17)) and board fiduciary and ordinary-care standards. West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- W. Va. Code §§ 36B-3-108, Meetings; 36B-3-109, Quorums; 36B-3-110, Voting — proxies. West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- W. Va. Code § 36B-3-115, Assessments for common expenses; § 36B-3-116, Lien for assessments; superpriority limited to six months immediately preceding institution of enforcement action (§ 36B-3-116(b)); three-year enforcement deadline (§ 36B-3-116(d)); attorney's fees to prevailing party (§ 36B-3-116(f)). West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- United Bank v. Stone Gate Homeowners Ass'n, No. 33216 (W. Va. 2007); held § 36B-3-116(f) requires award of costs and attorney's fees to prevailing party in § 36B-3-116 actions; reversed circuit court's denial of fees to prevailing homeowners. West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals; Justia. ↩
- W. Va. Code § 36B-3-118, Association records; requires financial records sufficient for § 36B-4-109 compliance and "reasonably available" examination by unit owners and authorized agents; applies to pre-1986 communities via § 36B-1-204 carryover list. West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- W. Va. Code § 36B-4-108, Purchaser's right to cancel; § 36B-4-109, Resales of units; resale certificate contents and 10-day delivery obligation; contract voidable until certificate delivered and for five days thereafter. West Virginia Legislature, Code of West Virginia. ↩
- Maher v. Camp Condominium Ass'n, Inc. (W. Va. Intermediate Court of Appeals, 2023); held § 36B-4-109 resale-certificate duties run from seller to buyer; association has no duty to disclose general construction defects to prospective purchasers; § 36B-4-109(b) requires only that association furnish certificate to seller within 10 days. West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals. ↩
- W. Va. HB 3558, 2023 Regular Session (proposed new § 36B-1-203a exemption; pulled from House floor; prompted Senate Concurrent Resolution for developer-concerns study). West Virginia Legislature. ↩
- W. Va. HB 5509, 2026 Regular Session (Mountain Homes Act); preceded by SB 188 (2024) and SB 208 (2025); not enacted as of June 2026. West Virginia Legislature. ↩
- W. Va. SB 694, 2024 Regular Session (land-use association registration with Secretary of State; did not pass). West Virginia Legislature. ↩
- State ex rel. Justice Holdings, LLC v. Hon. Todd Kirby, No. 25-401 (W. Va. May 22, 2026) (memorandum decision); converted prohibition request to writ of mandamus directing circuit judge to explain Dec. 5, 2024 foreclosure order; development-rights, lien validity, res judicata, and priority questions remain open on remand. West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. ↩
- W. Va. SB 502, 2014 Regular Session (proposed WVUCIOA modernization based on Uniform Law Commission later model amendments; did not pass). West Virginia Legislature. ↩