Washington HOA Open Meeting Rules: What WUCIOA Actually Requires

As of January 1, 2026, every community association in Washington State must follow new open meeting requirements under WUCIOA (RCW 64.90.445). That includes your HOA — regardless of when it was formed, regardless of what your bylaws say. Here's what the statute requires, explained in plain terms your whole board can understand.

Every board meeting must be open to owners

This is the big one. All board meetings and committee meetings must be open to unit owners. Not "open when the board feels like it." Not "open except for the meetings where we discuss the hard stuff." All of them, every time.

This applies to every Washington common interest community — condominiums, HOAs, cooperatives — as of the Phase 1 provisions that took effect January 1, 2026. If your board has been holding closed meetings or making decisions via private group texts, that needs to stop immediately.

What does 14-day notice actually mean?

Your board must provide at least 14 days' advance notice to all owners and board members before any board meeting. That notice must include the time, date, place, and — this is the part many boards miss — a specific agenda of the items to be discussed.

A vague notice that says "Board Meeting, Tuesday at 7pm" doesn't cut it anymore. The agenda requirement exists so owners can decide whether to attend and prepare comments. If a topic isn't on the agenda, the board shouldn't be voting on it at that meeting.

The one exception: if your association publishes a regular meeting schedule in advance, individual meetings on that schedule may not need separate 14-day notice. But the agenda still needs to go out. Talk to a licensed community association attorney about how to structure this for your specific governing documents.

The 15-minute owner comment period is mandatory

At the beginning of every board meeting, your board must provide at least 15 minutes for owners to comment before any votes happen. Each owner gets a minimum of 90 seconds per unit they own.

This isn't optional, and it can't be moved to the end of the meeting after decisions have already been made. The comment period comes first so the board can hear from owners before taking action. If no owners show up to comment, the board can move on — but the time must be offered.

Email voting is dead — what replaces it?

Here's the change that catches the most boards off guard: email voting is prohibited as of January 1, 2026. Your board can no longer circulate a motion via email and collect "yes" replies.

If your board wants to use electronic voting, it must go through an approved electronic voting system — not email, not group texts, not a reply-all chain. The system must include reasonable measures to verify voter identity and prevent duplicate votes.

For board meetings held remotely (which are still permitted), all participants must be able to hear each other, the notice must describe the conferencing process and how to participate, and board members must cast votes by roll call or verbal vote. No silent "thumbs up" reactions. No muted votes.

What about executive sessions?

Executive sessions — the closed portions of meetings — are still allowed, but the rules are strict. An executive session can only occur during an otherwise open meeting, and only for these specific topics:

• Legal advice from the association's attorney
• Existing or potential litigation
• Personnel matters
• Contract negotiations
• Privacy-sensitive matters

The critical restriction: no votes may be taken during executive session. If the board needs to approve a legal settlement or a contract, the vote must happen in the open portion of the meeting, on the record.

No more decisions between meetings

WUCIOA also addresses a common practice in smaller HOAs: board members having side conversations — in the parking lot, over coffee, via text — and arriving at decisions outside of formal meetings. The statute is clear that incidental conversations between board members cannot be used to take action on association business.

This doesn't mean board members can't talk to each other. It means those conversations can't substitute for proper meetings with notice, agendas, and owner access.

Board materials must be shared with owners

Any materials distributed to the board before a meeting must be made reasonably available to owners upon request. The only exceptions are unapproved draft minutes and executive session materials. Everything else — financial reports, bids, proposals, correspondence — should be accessible.

This is one of the reasons a community website with document access is becoming essential for Washington HOAs. Posting board packets online before meetings is the simplest way to meet this requirement.

What happens if your board isn't following these rules?

WUCIOA has no state enforcement agency — there's no ombudsman to call. But it does have bilateral fee-shifting, meaning if an owner sues and wins, your association pays their attorney fees on top of your own. With the January 2028 deadline approaching for full WUCIOA applicability, boards that aren't following these meeting rules are creating real legal exposure.

The good news: these changes aren't hard to implement. They just require awareness and a commitment to doing things properly. Most volunteer boards are already trying to be transparent — WUCIOA simply makes that transparency a legal requirement with specific minimums.

This article is educational information, not legal advice. For guidance specific to your community's governing documents and situation, consult a licensed Washington community association attorney.