Certified Inquiry Response Requirements
The Washington State legislature continues to phase in the WUCIOA (Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act – RCW 64.90), which was enacted in 2018 in furtherance of its objective of replacing older, existing HOA and COA statutory acts over a ten-year period.
Accordingly, commencing January 1, 2028, the WUCIOA will become applicable in its entirety to all HOA’s/COAs, no matter when they were formed or which statutory act currently would apply to them.[1]
In the meantime, the Washington legislature has decided to start moving older HOAs/COAs toward WUCIOA by periodically enacting individual statutory provisions applicable to all existing HOAs/COAs. One such provision went into effect June 11, 2026.
This new law applies when a unit owner or their agent sends an inquiry by certified mail regarding the Association’s governance, operations, or both. It is important to be aware that there is now a 30-day time limit from the time the Association receives the inquiry for the Association to respond in one of two ways:
- By a “substantive response” or
- By giving notice that additional time is “reasonably necessary”.
A “substantive response” generally means answering the question(s) posed or referring the unit owner to available Association documents that answer their question(s). Some responses may require consultation with a third-party professional such as a lawyer or accountant, but this is not a necessity to satisfy the requirement that the Association’s response be considered “substantive”.
“Reasonably necessary” extensions to the 30-day limit are available under the new statute:
- When the inquiry needs to be reviewed by the Board AND the Board has regularly scheduled monthly meetings;
- When it is an especially complex issue requiring up to an additional 30 days; OR
- When the board needs to seek legal or other professional advice to be able to answer adequately.
Under this new statute, Associations CAN and CANNOT do the following things regarding certified inquiries:
- An Association CAN create rules regarding how inquiries are to be submitted.
- An Association CAN limit the number of responses available for each unit owner to no more than one a month.
- An Association CAN be awarded legal fees if a dispute arises around this rule and the Association prevails in the dispute.
- An Association CANNOT limit the number of individual questions in each inquiry to only one.
- An Association CANNOT ignore this new requirement.
As of June 11, 2026, every HOA, COA, or other type of common interest community subject to any of the relevant statutory acts (see footnote 1) must follow these new rules whenever a unit owner or agent of a unit owner sends an inquiry of the sort described above by certified mail.
If you have questions or would like professional assistance regarding these new laws (or regarding other HOA or COA legal issues), we can help.
[1] This includes Associations under RCW 64.32 (pre-1990 Condos), RCW 64.34 (post-1990 Condos), RCW 64.38 (pre-2018 HOAs), and RCW 64.90 (the WUCIOA – post-2018 Condos and HOAs).
