What Percentage of Owners Must Approve a Rental Restriction in a Condominium?

For New Act condo associations (those created July 1, 1990 or later), state law requires that 90% of owners (and every affected owner) vote in in favor of a declaration amendment in order to pass a “restriction on use.” For Old Act condo associations, state law only requires that 60% of owners consent to any change in restrictions on use, including rental restrictions. (Keep in mind that individual declarations may require a greater percentage.) Failure to get the required vote makes the restriction invalid and unenforceable. The Washington State Supreme Court, in Filmore LLLP v. Unit Owners Ass’n of Centre Pointe Condo, classified a rental restriction as a restriction on use. The Washington Supreme Court’s ruling in Filmore was very narrow. The Court specifically stated that its decision did not address the interpretation of “restrictions on use” from the statute; rather, the Court based its decision only on the interpretation of Centre Pointe’s Declaration. That Declaration included its section on rentals/leasing in the “Restriction on Use” portion of the Declaration. If your condominium’s Declaration does not classify leasing as a “use,” it is possible that a could would view the issue differently than it did in Filmore. The Filmore decision left several unanswered questions. The court did not address the language requiring approval of "each unit particularly affected," which could, in effect, require approval of 100% of an association’s unit owners. The court also failed to address whether leasing-related requirements other than pure rental caps constitute use restrictions, and whether rental restrictions adopted more than one year ago, would be void. That second issue was addressed by the court recently, and the Court held that an amendment to a condominium Declaration may not be challenged more than one year after it is recorded. So even if your Association adopted a rental cap with less than the required percentage of owners voting in favor, if the amendment was recorded more than one year ago, it is probably not subject to challenge. If you have questions about the validity of your rental cap or other related issues, please contact us.