MEETING RULES: WASHINGTON
Washington meeting rules,
between elections.
Washington runs everything through one modern section: 14 to 50 days for an owners meeting, 14 days for a board meeting, 7 days when something could not have been foreseen, and a remote meeting with no physical location at all.
It is also the only one of the eight that puts a number on the comment period: 15 minutes at the start of every board meeting, and at least 90 seconds per owner.
Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice.
Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Reviewed on Sep 1, 2026
NOTICE
Notice for the annual meeting in Washington
Days below are counted back from the meeting date. Where the statute sets a ceiling as well as a floor, the notice has to land inside the window, not simply before it.
Every association
Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, RCW Chapter 64.90
| Notice | The rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Annual or special owners meeting | 14 to 50 days beforeThe association gives owners the time, date and place of each annual and special meeting not less than 14 and not more than 50 days before it. The notice carries the agenda, the text of any proposed amendment, and any proposal to remove a board member or an officer.How it travels: Any means described in RCW 64.90.515. | Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.445(1)(c) |
Worked example: a meeting on Dec 1, 2026
- Annual or special owners meeting: for a meeting on Dec 1, 2026, notice goes out between Oct 12 and Nov 17, 2026.
That is arithmetic on the day counts above, nothing more. Your bylaws may ask for longer, weekends and holidays are not adjusted for, and a date is not a ruling on your meeting.
BOARD MEETINGS
Board meetings in Washington
Open to owners
Board meetings and meetings of committees authorised to act for the board are open to unit owners except during executive session. No final vote or action may be taken in an executive session. A social gathering where no business is done is not a meeting, and the board may not use one to get around the open-meeting rule.
Fifteen minutes, 90 seconds each
The board has to give a reasonable chance to comment at every board meeting, and at least 15 minutes at the start for comment on agenda items before the board votes. Time limits may not go below 90 seconds per owner per unit, except that time may be cut and split equally when more than 10 owners want to speak. Owners get a reasonable chance to comment at any owners meeting too.
Executive session
Five grounds, and no others: consulting the association attorney on legal matters, discussing existing or potential litigation or an arbitration or administrative proceeding, labour or personnel matters, commercial transactions currently being negotiated where early knowledge would put the association at a disadvantage, and preventing public knowledge that would violate someone privacy.
Ninety days to challenge
A board action that did not follow this section is still valid unless a court sets it aside, and a claim has to be brought within 90 days of the later of the minutes being approved or the record of the action reaching owners. A board member may not vote by proxy or absentee ballot.
Every association
Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, RCW Chapter 64.90
| Notice | The rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Board meeting | At least 14 days beforeUnless the meeting is on a schedule already given to owners, notice goes out at least 14 days before it and states the time, date, place and agenda. Materials given to the board beforehand have to be made reasonably available to owners, except unapproved minutes and anything for executive session.How it travels: To each board member and to the unit owners. | Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.445(2)(f), (2)(g) |
| Board meeting, unforeseen event | At least 7 days beforeA meeting to address an event or condition that could not reasonably have been foreseen, where 14 days is impracticable, takes at least 7 days notice by electronic communication.How it travels: By electronic communication to owners whose electronic address or phone number the association knows. | Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.445(2)(f) |
MINUTES AND RECORDS
Minutes and records in Washington
Minutes, and the decision on each matter
Minutes of all owners meetings and board meetings, other than executive sessions, are kept in a record, and the decision on every matter voted on at either has to be recorded in them.
Seven years, and one for ballots
Accounting records, financial statements, tax returns, contracts, and the materials a board relied on to decide an architectural request or an enforcement action all run seven years. Ballots, proxies, absentee ballots and other voting records are kept one year after the election, action or vote they belong to.
Ten days, and never past 21
Records go to an owner on 10 days notice, unless the size of the request or a need to redact reasonably takes longer, and in no event later than 21 days without a court order. Twelve categories have to be redacted first, including executive session records, personnel and medical records, and anything that would compromise the secrecy of a ballot.
What a copy costs
A reasonable fee is allowed for producing copies and for supervising an inspection. Two things are free: one copy of the owner list a year, and the preforeclosure information.
PROXIES AND QUORUM
Proxies and quorum in Washington
Twenty per cent, four ways
Unless the organisational documents say otherwise, a quorum is present if at the start owners entitled to cast 20 per cent of the votes attend in person, by proxy, by the remote means the meetings section allows, or have voted by absentee ballot. A board quorum is a majority of the votes on the board.
Eleven months
Votes may be cast by a directed or undirected proxy the owner executed. The association has to take reasonable steps to verify who the owner and the proxy holder are. A proxy is void if undated or revocable without notice, is revoked only by actual notice to the secretary or whoever is presiding, and ends 11 months after it was issued unless it says otherwise.
Older communities
A community created before 1 July 2018 is reached by the meetings section, RCW 64.90.445, whether or not it opted into WUCIOA. The records and voting sections are not on that list, so an older community reads its own act for those until the older chapters are repealed on 1 January 2028.
REMOTE MEETINGS
Meeting by phone or screen in Washington
No physical location required
Any meeting may be held by telephonic, video or other conferencing if the notice names the process and explains how to join, everyone can hear or perceive the discussion and comment, board votes are taken by roll call or another verbal vote, and anyone entitled to take part is offered a telephone option. An owners meeting does not need a physical location at all when it is run that way.
Or a hybrid
For a meeting that does have a physical location, the board may tell all owners in the notice that they may take part remotely by one of those means.
NEXT
What to do with this.
This page adds what the election page does not: The 14-day board meeting notice and the 7-day emergency notice, the 15-minute comment period, the five executive-session grounds, the 10 to 21 day records clock and the remote-meeting conditions. The ballot rules for Washington stay where they already are, on vote.direct, and that page is linked below.
Reading a statute is not the same as running a meeting. Send us your roster and we set your community up on the phone, in one sitting. Call or text (512) 222-8191.
QUESTIONS
Washington board questions, answered
How much notice does a Washington association have to give for the annual meeting?
The association gives owners the time, date and place of each annual and special meeting not less than 14 and not more than 50 days before it. The notice carries the agenda, the text of any proposed amendment, and any proposal to remove a board member or an officer. For a meeting on Dec 1, 2026, that puts the notice between oct 12 and nov 17, 2026. That is arithmetic on the statute, not a ruling on your meeting. Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.445(1)(c). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Are Washington HOA board meetings open to homeowners?
Board meetings and meetings of committees authorised to act for the board are open to unit owners except during executive session. No final vote or action may be taken in an executive session. A social gathering where no business is done is not a meeting, and the board may not use one to get around the open-meeting rule. Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.445(2)(a), (2)(c). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Can an owner speak at a Washington board meeting?
The board has to give a reasonable chance to comment at every board meeting, and at least 15 minutes at the start for comment on agenda items before the board votes. Time limits may not go below 90 seconds per owner per unit, except that time may be cut and split equally when more than 10 owners want to speak. Owners get a reasonable chance to comment at any owners meeting too. Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.445(1)(d), (2)(e). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
How much notice does a Washington board meeting need?
Unless the meeting is on a schedule already given to owners, notice goes out at least 14 days before it and states the time, date, place and agenda. Materials given to the board beforehand have to be made reasonably available to owners, except unapproved minutes and anything for executive session. Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.445(2)(f), (2)(g). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
How fast does a Washington association have to answer a records request?
Records go to an owner on 10 days notice, unless the size of the request or a need to redact reasonably takes longer, and in no event later than 21 days without a court order. Twelve categories have to be redacted first, including executive session records, personnel and medical records, and anything that would compromise the secrecy of a ballot. Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.495(2)(a), (3). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
How long does a Washington association have to keep its records?
Accounting records, financial statements, tax returns, contracts, and the materials a board relied on to decide an architectural request or an enforcement action all run seven years. Ballots, proxies, absentee ballots and other voting records are kept one year after the election, action or vote they belong to. Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.495(1)(a), (e), (i), (j), (k), (o). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Can a Washington association hold its meeting online?
Any meeting may be held by telephonic, video or other conferencing if the notice names the process and explains how to join, everyone can hear or perceive the discussion and comment, board votes are taken by roll call or another verbal vote, and anyone entitled to take part is offered a telephone option. An owners meeting does not need a physical location at all when it is run that way. Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.445(1)(e), (3). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Do proxies count toward a quorum in Washington?
Unless the organisational documents say otherwise, a quorum is present if at the start owners entitled to cast 20 per cent of the votes attend in person, by proxy, by the remote means the meetings section allows, or have voted by absentee ballot. A board quorum is a majority of the votes on the board. Wash. Rev. Code §64.90.450(1), (2). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Does governance.center tell us our Washington meeting was properly noticed?
No, and it never will. We show you the statute, the date the arithmetic produces and the section it came from, so your board and your attorney can check our work. Your bylaws may set a longer period than the state does, and where they do, the bylaws govern. We never tell a board that it is compliant.
Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice.
Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Your bylaws may ask for a longer period than the state does, and where they do, the bylaws govern. We never tell a board that it is compliant. If something here does not match what your attorney reads, call (512) 222-8191 and tell us. We will correct it.