For most Washington community-association boards, the spring of 2026 is the first time in a long while that the underlying law has meaningfully moved. The 2026 amendments to the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WUCIOA) clean up several issues that boards have been navigating informally for years, and they introduce three new requirements that every board governed by the act will need to address before the end of the calendar year.
This piece walks through what changed, who's affected, and the short list of practical actions we're recommending to our HOA and condominium clients in the next ninety days.
Summary, in one paragraph
Effective July 1, 2026, three areas of WUCIOA change in ways that affect day-to-day board work: reserve studies and disclosure, electronic and hybrid meetings, and pre-foreclosure collection notices. The substantive duties of a board don't change. You still owe owners a duty of care and loyalty, and you still need budgets, audits, and reserves. What changes is the procedural envelope around those duties.
Who's affected
The amendments apply to common-interest communities formed under WUCIOA, the act that governs condominiums and most homeowners associations formed in Washington after 2018. Older condominiums governed by the 1990 Condo Act and older HOAs under the Homeowners Associations Act remain on their own tracks for now, although several provisions in the 2026 amendments reach back to those older statutes.
Reserves & disclosure
The reserve-study requirements have not changed dramatically. Communities subject to WUCIOA still need a current reserve study and an updated study every three years. What's new is the disclosure regime around the study. Beginning July 1, 2026, boards must:
- Include a one-page reserves summary in the annual budget package sent to owners.
- Provide the most recent reserve study to any owner who requests it within ten business days, in electronic form, at no cost.
- Disclose, in any resale certificate, whether the contribution is at or below the recommended level, and whether the board has formally adopted a written variance.
The board's job hasn't changed. What's changed is that the documentation has to keep up.
Electronic & hybrid meetings
WUCIOA's emergency provisions allowing electronic meetings during the pandemic were extended, then made permanent in stages. The 2026 amendments finish the job. Boards may hold any open meeting, executive session, or membership meeting electronically or in hybrid form, provided:
- Notice of the meeting identifies the electronic platform and how owners may access it.
- Owners may submit questions and comments in real time through the platform or by other reasonable means identified in the notice.
- The board maintains a recording or a written record sufficient to verify the meeting's conduct for at least three years.
Collections & enforcement
The 2026 amendments lengthen the pre-litigation cure window before an association can begin judicial foreclosure of an assessment lien. The lien itself, and the priority of the lien against other recorded interests, are unchanged. What changes is the procedural timeline.
