Washington HOA fine rules

For a homeowners' association created before July 1, 2018 that has not elected into WUCIOA, Wash. Rev. Code § 64.38.020 opens "Unless otherwise provided in the governing documents, an association may" and then lists, at subdivision (11), the power to "Impose and collect charges for late payments of assessments and, after notice and an opportunity to be heard by the board of directors or by the representative designated by the board of directors and in accordance with the procedures as provided in the bylaws or rules and regulations adopted by the board of directors, levy reasonable fines in accordance with a previously established schedule adopted by the board of directors and furnished to the owners for violation of the bylaws, rules, and regulations of the association" (Wash. Rev. Code § 64.38.020). For a common interest community subject to WUCIOA, the association may "Enforce the governing documents and, after notice and opportunity to be heard, impose and collect reasonable fines for violations of the governing documents in accordance with a previously established schedule of fines adopted by the board of directors and furnished to the owners pursuant to the requirements for notice in RCW 64.90.505" (Wash. Rev. Code § 64.90.405(2)(l)). Neither section prescribes a delivery method for the violation notice itself. Under WUCIOA the general notice rules apply: "Notice to the association, board, or any owner or occupant of a unit under this chapter must be provided in the form of a record" (§ 64.90.515(1)); "Notice provided in a tangible medium may be transmitted by mail, private carrier, or personal delivery; telegraph or teletype; or telephone, wire, or wireless equipment that transmits a facsimile of the notice" (§ 64.90.515(2)); and "Notice in a tangible medium to a unit owner or occupant must be addressed to the unit address unless the unit owner or occupant has requested, in a record delivered to the association, that notices be sent to an alternate address or by other method allowed by this section and the governing documents" (§ 64.90.515(2)(b)).

Neither Washington chapter gives a lot or unit owner a statutory period to cure before the association may fine. RCW 64.38.020(11) and RCW 64.90.405(2)(l) condition a fine only on "notice and an opportunity to be heard" and on a previously established fine schedule; any cure period comes from the association's own bylaws, rules or governing documents. The one fixed cure count in these sections concerns tenant violations under WUCIOA: after describing the association's rights against a tenant, RCW 64.90.405(5)(c) provides that "The rights referred to in this subsection (5)(c) may be exercised only if the tenant or unit owner fails to cure the violation within 10 days after the association notifies the tenant and unit owner of that violation."

Wash. Rev. Code § 64.38.020(11) — a pre-July 1, 2018 association may "levy reasonable fines" only "after notice and an opportunity to be heard by the board of directors or by the representative designated by the board of directors and in accordance with the procedures as provided in the bylaws or rules and regulations adopted by the board of directors"; the procedures, including any deadline for requesting or holding the hearing, come from the association's own bylaws or rules rather than the statute, and the entire grant of powers is prefaced by "Unless otherwise provided in the governing documents, an association may". Wash. Rev. Code § 64.90.405(2)(l) — a WUCIOA association may impose fines "after notice and opportunity to be heard," and likewise fixes no day count. The fixed day counts in RCW 64.90.405 relate to other matters: the 10 days within which a tenant or unit owner must cure a tenant violation (§ 64.90.405(5)(c)) and the requirement that a meeting to ratify association borrowing "must not be less than 14 and no more than 50 days after mailing of the notice" (§ 64.90.405(4)(b)). Under § 64.90.405(7)-(9) the board decides whether to take enforcement action at all, "but the board may not be arbitrary or capricious in taking enforcement action."

Neither Washington chapter sets a dollar cap on an association fine; both require only that fines be "reasonable." For a homeowners' association created before July 1, 2018 that has not elected into WUCIOA, the association may "levy reasonable fines in accordance with a previously established schedule adopted by the board of directors and furnished to the owners for violation of the bylaws, rules, and regulations of the association" (Wash. Rev. Code § 64.38.020(11)), and the entire grant of powers is prefaced by "Unless otherwise provided in the governing documents, an association may" (§ 64.38.020). For a common interest community subject to WUCIOA, the association may "impose and collect reasonable fines for violations of the governing documents in accordance with a previously established schedule of fines adopted by the board of directors and furnished to the owners pursuant to the requirements for notice in RCW 64.90.505" (Wash. Rev. Code § 64.90.405(2)(l)). Under both chapters the schedule of fines, and so the amount, is adopted by the board rather than fixed by the statute.

For a common interest community subject to WUCIOA: "all records required to be retained by an association must be made available for examination and copying by all unit owners, holders of mortgages on the units, and their respective authorized agents as follows, unless agreed otherwise: (i) During reasonable business hours and at the offices of the association or its managing agent, or at a mutually convenient time and location; and (ii) Upon 10 days' notice unless the size of the request or need to redact information reasonably requires a longer time, but in no event later than 21 days without a court order allowing a longer time" (Wash. Rev. Code § 64.90.495(2)(a)). Retained records expressly include "Materials relied upon by the board or any committee concerning a decision to enforce the governing documents for a period of seven years after the decision is made" (§ 64.90.495(1)(k)). For a pre-July 1, 2018 homeowners' association, the parallel provision is RCW 64.38.045, which requires the same enforcement materials to be retained (§ 64.38.045(4)(j)) and requires records to be made available "(i) During reasonable business hours or at a mutually convenient time and location; and (ii) At the offices of the association or its managing agent" (§ 64.38.045(5)(a)) — without WUCIOA's 10-day and 21-day deadlines. Both sections require named categories such as attorney-client communications and executive-session records to be redacted or removed before disclosure, including "Individual lot files other than those of the requesting owner" under chapter 64.38 (§ 64.38.045(6)(h)) and "Individual unit files other than those of the requesting unit owner" under WUCIOA (§ 64.90.495(3)(h)).