On March 6, 2018, the Washington State Legislature passed the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WUCIOA). It will take effect on July 1, 2018 unless Governor Jay Inslee vetoes the bill. The WUCIOA is comprehensive legislation which will apply to many types of common interest communities, including condominiums, homeowner associations, and real estate cooperatives. The WUCIOA is intended to create uniformity in the laws governing common interest communities. Common interest communities created after June 30, 2018, will be governed exclusively by the provisions of the WUCIOA. Common interest communities created before July 1, 2018 will be governed by existing laws unless those communities amend their governing documents to bring their community entirely under the authority of the WUCIOA. Regardless of what statute a condominium or homeowner association was created under, two provisions of the WUCIOA will apply to all such associations. One pertains to a community’s ability to adopt the WUCIOA will apply to that community regardless of when it was formed and under which statute. The second section creates an affirmative obligation that all community associations comply with a budget ratification process. We will follow-up with a blog article describing the new budget ratification process soon. If you have questions about amending your documents to bring your community under the authority of the WUCIOA, please let us know. You may also have questions about how your community will operate if you choose not to amend your governing documents, and we are happy to answer any such questions as we are able. Please leave general comments and questions below, and direct questions seeking legal advice to our office. We will continue to dig into the WUCIOA and will be posting future articles about the act, in addition to keeping you updated on its adoption.