Condominium associations homeowners need to be aware of Washington’s carbon monoxide alarm law! Although the law was passed in 2009, it requires that all buildings classified as residential occupancies (which includes condominiums) be equipped with carbon monoxide detectors by January 1, 2013. See RCW 19.27.530 for the full text of the law. A carbon monoxide…
What’s in Your Governing Documents?
Washington law contains numerous provisions containing restrictions and requirements on COAs and HOAs. In many cases, however, the law contains a minimum requirement only and defers to the more specific provisions of the governing documents. For a primer on governing documents and their interplay with the law, please read our Governing Documents post. The law…
When Board Members Go Rogue
Sometimes, board members don’t follow the rules. A board member might speak out of turn at meetings or dominate the floor; might take actions without consulting other board members or in direct conflict with a board decision; or might even hide or steal association records or funds. Sometimes a board member puts his or her…
Board of Directors Resignation
Imagine this scenario: your association’s entire board of directors decides they are fed up with being board members, and all resign at the same time, leaving your association with no board at all. Or, imagine that, one by one, each board member resigned over time and was never replaced, so that when the last board…
Resale Certificates
A resale certificate is a document that a unit owner must provide to the purchaser before they can sell their condominium unit. Any unit owner who wishes to sell his or her unit needs to be aware of the resale certificate requirements. These requirements apply to all Washington condominiums. The resale certificate must contain certain…
Adopting a Budget
Many condominium and homeowners’ associations are preparing their annual budgets this time of year. Association members, as well as the association’s board of directors, need to be aware of the laws applicable to community association budgets. A budget is an estimate of the future financial needs of the association. A budget needs to provide for…
Bank of America Foreclosures in Washington State
For many months, we’ve seen that Bank of America foreclosures have been completely stalled. There are a number of reasons for this, not the least of which is the fact that BOA took over a multitude of sub-prime loans when Countrywide went belly-up. More recently, however, the company BOA used (Recontrust) to conduct its foreclosure…
Recording Fee Increase!
You may have already noticed that recording fees in King County have gone up! Effective September 1, 2012, recording fees are now $72.00 for the first page of your document (an increase of $10.00) and $1.00 for every page thereafter. Follow this link for more information.
Upcoming Condo Law Webinars
If you missed this morning’s webinar “New Budget Process for HOAs and New Act Condos“, you’ll be able to listen to the playback shortly by visiting the Webinars page of our firm website. All of our previous webinars are archived there for your use. To register for upcoming webinars, follow the links below: November 14:…
Community Associatons Day 2012!
We hope to see you at Community Association (CA) Day 2012, Washington’s largest Educational Home & Trade Show for Condos & HOAs, on Saturday, October 20th at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Details about the program and trade show are found in this link.
Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Condominium associations homeowners need to be aware of Washington’s carbon monoxide alarm law! Although the law was passed in 2009, it requires that all buildings classified as residential occupancies (which includes condominiums) be equipped with carbon monoxide detectors by January 1, 2013. See RCW 19.27.530 for the full text of the law. A carbon monoxide…
What’s in Your Governing Documents?
Washington law contains numerous provisions containing restrictions and requirements on COAs and HOAs. In many cases, however, the law contains a minimum requirement only and defers to the more specific provisions of the governing documents. For a primer on governing documents and their interplay with the law, please read our Governing Documents post. The law…
When Board Members Go Rogue
Sometimes, board members don’t follow the rules. A board member might speak out of turn at meetings or dominate the floor; might take actions without consulting other board members or in direct conflict with a board decision; or might even hide or steal association records or funds. Sometimes a board member puts his or her…
Board of Directors Resignation
Imagine this scenario: your association’s entire board of directors decides they are fed up with being board members, and all resign at the same time, leaving your association with no board at all. Or, imagine that, one by one, each board member resigned over time and was never replaced, so that when the last board…
Resale Certificates
A resale certificate is a document that a unit owner must provide to the purchaser before they can sell their condominium unit. Any unit owner who wishes to sell his or her unit needs to be aware of the resale certificate requirements. These requirements apply to all Washington condominiums. The resale certificate must contain certain…
Adopting a Budget
Many condominium and homeowners’ associations are preparing their annual budgets this time of year. Association members, as well as the association’s board of directors, need to be aware of the laws applicable to community association budgets. A budget is an estimate of the future financial needs of the association. A budget needs to provide for…
Bank of America Foreclosures in Washington State
For many months, we’ve seen that Bank of America foreclosures have been completely stalled. There are a number of reasons for this, not the least of which is the fact that BOA took over a multitude of sub-prime loans when Countrywide went belly-up. More recently, however, the company BOA used (Recontrust) to conduct its foreclosure…
Recording Fee Increase!
You may have already noticed that recording fees in King County have gone up! Effective September 1, 2012, recording fees are now $72.00 for the first page of your document (an increase of $10.00) and $1.00 for every page thereafter. Follow this link for more information.
Upcoming Condo Law Webinars
If you missed this morning’s webinar “New Budget Process for HOAs and New Act Condos“, you’ll be able to listen to the playback shortly by visiting the Webinars page of our firm website. All of our previous webinars are archived there for your use. To register for upcoming webinars, follow the links below: November 14:…
Community Associatons Day 2012!
We hope to see you at Community Association (CA) Day 2012, Washington’s largest Educational Home & Trade Show for Condos & HOAs, on Saturday, October 20th at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Details about the program and trade show are found in this link.
