Condominium Development
A condominium is a legal structure before it's a building: a declaration, a survey map, and a set of governing documents that divide a project into units and common elements and bind every future owner. We draft that structure for the developer, so the regime holds up through sales, financing, and the eventual handoff to the owners.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
4
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Condominium development attorneys for Bellevue and Seattle developers
Oseran Hahn represents developers and declarants creating condominiums, from the decision to submit a project to the Washington condominium statutes through the declaration, the survey map and plans, the public offering statement, and the transition of control to the unit owners. We structure the regime, draft the governing documents, and manage the presale and disclosure rules that govern how units can be sold. We draft the declaration the developer records on day one knowing it has to satisfy a lender, a first buyer, and an owner-controlled board years later.
Creating a condominium is a drafting project with a long tail: the documents recorded at the start govern the project for as long as it stands. We choose the statute the project falls under and draft the declaration that creates the units and common elements. We prepare the survey map and plans that fix unit boundaries. We write the public offering statement the developer has to give every first buyer. We form the owners' association and its governing documents. And we manage the warranties and the transition of control that come due as the project sells out.
Structuring the condominium and the declaration
A condominium exists only because a declaration creates it, and the statute the project falls under sets the rules. Condominiums created in Washington on or after July 1, 2018 are governed by the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WUCIOA), RCW 64.90; those created between 1990 and mid-2018 fall under the Washington Condominium Act, RCW 64.34. We draft the declaration that submits the land to the chosen act, divides the project into units and common elements, allocates the ownership interests, votes, and common-expense liability among the units (RCW 64.90.215), and reserves the developer's rights to phase, expand, or withdraw portions of the project. Because the declaration runs with the land and binds every future owner, we draft it for the lender financing construction and the board that will inherit it, not just for the sale that closes next month.
The survey map, plans, and unit boundaries
The declaration says what the project is; the survey map and plans show it. Washington requires a recorded condominium survey map and set of plans (RCW 64.90.225) that locate the building on the land and fix the boundaries of each unit and the limited common elements assigned to it, such as a deck, a parking stall, or storage. We coordinate the surveyor and the architect so the recorded plans match the declaration's unit definitions and allocated interests, because a discrepancy between the map and the declaration is the kind of error that surfaces years later when a unit is sold or a boundary is disputed. For phased projects, we structure the plans so later phases record cleanly against the original.
Public offering statement and presale disclosure
Before a developer can sell or even take a binding contract on a unit, Washington requires a public offering statement (RCW 64.90.610) that discloses the project to the buyer: the declaration and governing documents, the budget and assessments, the warranties, and any declarant rights or unusual restrictions. Under WUCIOA, a purchaser of a new unit has a statutory right to cancel within a set period after receiving the statement (RCW 64.90.640), so the disclosure has to be complete and current or the cancellation clock doesn't start. We prepare the public offering statement and the resale certificate, structure the presale reservation and purchase agreements, and set up the deposit escrow the statute requires (RCW 64.90.620), so the developer can pre-sell units to support construction financing without tripping the disclosure rules.
Governing documents and association formation
Every condominium needs an owners' association to run it, and we form it alongside the declaration. We draft the articles and bylaws, organize the association as a Washington nonprofit corporation under RCW 24.03A, and set up the initial budget, the assessment structure, and the reserve account the statute expects a project to fund (RCW 64.90.550). We define the period of declarant control (RCW 64.90.405), the window in which the developer appoints the board while units are still being sold, and the conditions that end it, and we write the rules and architectural standards the association will administer. The goal is a governance package the developer can operate during sell-out and an owner-elected board can take over without rewriting it.
Declarant warranties, transition, and defect risk
A condominium developer owes statutory warranties on what it builds, and they can't be quietly disclaimed. WUCIOA and the older Condominium Act impose warranties of quality on the units and common elements, including a warranty against structural defects (RCW 64.90.670; RCW 64.34.445), and they set the period in which an association or owner can bring a claim. We counsel developers on the scope of those warranties, the reserve study and the funding the association should have at turnover, and the transition itself: the meeting where control passes to an owner-elected board and the documents, financial records, and warranties the developer has to hand over. Construction-defect claims are the most common condominium dispute, subject to Washington's six-year statute of repose under RCW 4.16.310, so we draft the construction contracts and the declaration with that exposure in view. When a defect or transition dispute turns adversarial, the firm's litigators are in the same office.
Sixty years of Pacific Northwest real estate work, plus a practice that represents condominium associations from the other side of the transition, means we draft a developer's documents knowing exactly how they read once owners control the board. That perspective is rare on the declarant side.
We've seen the transition from both sides.
We represent condominium associations, not just developers, so we know which declaration and budget decisions cause friction at turnover. We draft the developer's documents to survive the moment owners take control, not just to close the first sales.
The declaration is written for year ten.
A declaration that's convenient during sell-out can become the association's problem, and the developer's liability, years later. We draft the allocations, reserves, and warranty terms to hold up when the project is full and the board is independent.
Development and disputes under one roof.
Condominium projects generate construction-defect and transition claims more than almost any real estate work. The litigators who handle those are down the hall, so we draft the declaration and the construction contracts knowing what gets fought over.
The attorneys behindthe work.
Our business and corporate attorneys handle this work alongside our litigation team, so you have coverage whether your matter stays transactional or becomes something more.
What clientsask us first.
Which statute governs my condominium, WUCIOA or the older Condominium Act?
It depends on when the condominium is created. Condominiums created in Washington on or after July 1, 2018 are governed by WUCIOA (RCW 64.90); those created between July 1, 1990 and June 30, 2018 fall under the Washington Condominium Act (RCW 64.34); and a few older projects sit under the Horizontal Property Regimes Act. The act sets the declaration, disclosure, and warranty rules, so we confirm which one applies before drafting.
Do I need a public offering statement before I can sell units?
Yes. Washington requires the developer to give every first purchaser a public offering statement that discloses the declaration, budget, assessments, warranties, and declarant rights. Until the statement is delivered, the buyer generally has a right to cancel, and that clock doesn't start on an incomplete statement. We prepare it so you can take binding presale contracts without a disclosure defect hanging over them.
Can I pre-sell units before construction is finished?
Yes, and most projects do, because presales support construction financing. Washington lets a developer take reservations and then binding purchase agreements once the public offering statement is delivered, with buyer deposits held in escrow as the statute requires. We structure the reservation and purchase documents and the escrow so the presales are enforceable and the deposits are protected.
What warranties do I owe unit buyers as the developer?
More than you can disclaim. The condominium statutes impose warranties of quality on the units and common elements, including a warranty against structural defects, and you can't waive them away in the purchase agreement. We advise on the scope and duration of those warranties, the construction contracts that let you pass risk to the builder, and the reserve and turnover practices that reduce the chance a warranty claim becomes a lawsuit.
What is declarant transition, and how do I prepare for it?
Transition, or turnover, is when control of the association passes from the developer to an owner-elected board, usually triggered by the percentage of units sold or a deadline in the statute. The developer has to hand over the governing documents, financial records, reserve account, and warranty information. We plan the transition from the start, so the documents, the reserves, and the records are in order when control changes hands rather than assembled under pressure.
When should I bring in a condominium attorney on a development?
Before you record the declaration, ideally before the project is even structured. The declaration, the survey map, and the public offering statement set rules that bind the project for as long as it stands, and they're far cheaper to get right than to amend once units are sold and owners have to vote. Bringing counsel in after the documents are recorded means working inside a structure that's already fixed.
We'll draft the declaration and disclosures to hold up from the first sale through turnover.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
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