Short-Term Rental & Use Restrictions
Few issues divide a community like short-term rentals and use restrictions. Associations have real authority to limit how units are used and rented, but Washington also limits how far and how retroactively that authority reaches. We draft restrictions that hold up, guide the amendments that adopt them, and litigate when an owner challenges a covenant.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
3
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Rental restriction and use covenant attorneys for Bellevue and Seattle community associations
Oseran Hahn helps HOA and condominium boards write, adopt, and enforce the restrictions that govern how owners use and rent their units, from short-term rental caps to nuisance, occupancy, and commercial-use covenants. WUCIOA gives associations broad authority here, but it also limits new leasing restrictions, and Washington case law restricts how far a board can apply a new rule to owners who bought before it. We draft restrictions that survive a challenge, run the amendment correctly, and try the case when an owner contests it.
Use and rental restrictions are where a board's authority meets the limits the law puts on it, and the drafting decides who wins a challenge. We map the association's authority to restrict rentals and where WUCIOA caps it; we advise on regulating short-term rentals alongside local ordinances; we run the declaration amendments that add new restrictions, with the retroactivity limits in mind; we draft use restrictions and rules within the board's authority; and we enforce and defend the restriction when an owner challenges it.
The authority to restrict rentals, and its limits
An association can adopt leasing and use restrictions, but Washington does not give it a free hand, especially when the restriction is new. WUCIOA sets the board's authority to regulate use and the limits on rental restrictions (RCW 64.90.510), and a restriction that did not exist when an owner bought generally cannot be forced on that owner the way it binds later buyers. The leading Washington case, Wilkinson v. Chiwawa Communities Association, struck down a rental cap as applied to owners who had bought before it, because a fundamentally new use restriction cannot be imposed retroactively through an amendment. We advise boards on what they can restrict, for whom, and how.
Short-term rentals
The growth of Airbnb and similar platforms has pushed short-term rentals to the top of the board agenda in many communities. An association can often regulate or prohibit them, through the declaration's commercial-use and nuisance covenants or a properly adopted restriction, but the analysis has to account for what the governing documents already say and for any local short-term-rental ordinance that also applies. We help boards decide whether to cap, license, or ban short-term rentals, and we draft the restriction so it actually reaches the conduct the board is worried about.
Amending the declaration to add restrictions
Adding a rental cap, a short-term-rental ban, or another significant use restriction usually means amending the declaration, which takes the supermajority owner vote the declaration and the statute require. Getting the vote is only half the work; the harder question is who the amendment binds. Because Washington limits applying a fundamentally new restriction to owners who bought before it, the amendment has to be drafted with that line in mind, often with grandfathering for existing owners or units. We run the amendment process and write the language so the restriction does what the board intends without being struck down.
Use restrictions and rules that hold up
Rentals are only part of it. Communities also restrict nuisance, commercial activity, occupancy limits, parking, pets, and signage, and each restriction has to sit within the board's rulemaking authority and the statutory limits on it (RCW 64.90.510; RCW 64.90.505). A rule the board lacks authority to adopt, or one that contradicts the declaration, is vulnerable the moment an owner pushes back. We draft use restrictions and rules that say what the board means, fit within its authority, and stand up to the owner who reads them looking for a way out.
Enforcement and litigation
A restriction is only as good as the board's willingness and ability to enforce it. We enforce rental and use restrictions through the notice, hearing, and fine process, and when an owner challenges the validity of a covenant or amendment, we defend it. These disputes often turn on whether the restriction was properly adopted and evenly enforced, which is why the drafting and the record matter so much. A prevailing association usually recovers its attorney fees (RCW 64.90.685), and the firm's trial group tries the contested cases.
Two decades drafting and defending use and rental restrictions for Eastside associations, with attorneys who know how far WUCIOA lets a board go, where Washington case law cuts a new restriction off, and how these covenants get attacked. We write the restriction to hold and try it when it's challenged.
We know where the authority stops.
A board can restrict a lot, but not everything, and not always retroactively. We draft to the line Washington actually draws, so the restriction binds who it's meant to and survives the owner who challenges it.
We run the amendment right.
Adding a rental cap or short-term-rental ban means an amendment, a vote, and a hard question about who it binds. We handle the process and the grandfathering so the new rule does what the board wants.
We defend the restriction.
When an owner contests a covenant or amendment, the case usually turns on adoption and enforcement. We build the record to win it, and the firm's litigators try it.
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.
Can our board just ban short-term rentals?
Sometimes through existing covenants, sometimes only by amendment. If the declaration's commercial-use or nuisance provisions already reach short-term rentals, the board may be able to enforce now; otherwise it usually takes a declaration amendment. Either way, a local short-term-rental ordinance may also apply. We tell the board which path fits its documents.
Can you draft a rental restriction for us?
Yes. We draft rental caps, short-term-rental limits, and use restrictions that fit within the board's authority and the declaration, and we advise on how far they can reach. The drafting is what determines whether the restriction holds up, so it's worth getting right before the board adopts it, not after an owner challenges it.
We passed a rental cap, but an owner who already rents says it doesn't apply to them. Are they right?
Possibly. Washington limits applying a new rental restriction to owners who bought before it, under Wilkinson v. Chiwawa Communities Association, so a cap adopted today may not bind an owner who was already renting. The answer depends on the declaration and how the amendment was drafted. We assess whether the restriction reaches that owner.
Does it matter how old our community is?
Yes. Communities created before July 2018 may be under the older HOA or Condominium Act, while newer ones are under WUCIOA, and the 2026 changes pull many older communities into the new rules. The age of the declaration and its existing use covenants shape what the board can restrict. We confirm which law and documents govern yours.
An owner is violating our use restriction and won't stop. What can we do?
Enforce it through notice, a hearing, and fines, and if that fails, through a lawsuit to compel compliance. When an owner challenges the restriction's validity, we defend it, and a prevailing association usually recovers its attorney fees (RCW 64.90.685). The firm's trial group handles the contested cases.
When should we involve a lawyer on a use or rental restriction?
Before adopting one, before amending the declaration, and as soon as an owner challenges a covenant. The validity of a restriction is usually decided by how it was drafted and adopted, so early counsel is far cheaper than defending a restriction the board got wrong.
Rental caps, short-term-rental rules, use-restriction drafting, declaration amendments, and enforcement litigation for Washington community associations.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
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