A recent Division II Court of Appeals case has set out a two-prong test for determining whether a house rule is reasonable. The case, Kawawaki v. Academy Square Condominium Association, concerned a dispute over a newly implemented house rule that dictated that rental status runs with the condominium unit and not with the owner. The…
Category Archives: Governing Documents
Use Restrictions Must be Contained in a Condominium’s Declaration
A recently decided Washington Court of Appeals case, Kawawaki v. Academy Square Condominium Association, has emphasized that use restrictions must be contained in a condominium’s Declaration. In 2005, the Kawawakis purchased a condominium intending it to be a potential rental investment. However, at the time they purchased the unit they were aware of a use…
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…
Reserves for Mixed Use Building & Limited Common Elements
Often condo declarations state that some building components are to be paid for exclusively by one group of owners. This may include all residential owners, or all owners within a single building. This means that reserve contributions for those components must come only from the units to which the cost is allocated. We frequently see reserve…
Know Your Governing Documents
All associations, whether condominiums or homeowners associations, have a set of governing documents that…well…govern how that association is run. Many homeowners and even board members are unfamiliar with these documents, use the terms for them interchangeably, or don’t understand that there is a hierarchy within the documents themselves. Understanding what each documents should contain and…
Your Condo Declaration is Not a Contract Between You and the Developer
Many buyers of condominiums do not understand that the Condo Association and the Developer are not the same (even though they seem to be early on in the life of the Condo Association). The purchase and sale agreement that the buyer and seller have is not a contractual relationship between the Association and the buyer,…
Annual Audits
Can condominiums with fewer than 50 units vote to avoid having an annual audit? Only if their Declaration does not require an audit. The statute that requires both New and Old Act condominiums to conduct an annual audit provides that with a vote of 60% of the owners, the association can avoid that audit. The…
Enforcing Your Governing Documents
On occasion we are in court trying to defend the actions taken by a board of directors to enforce the provisions of their governing documents. The biggest frustration we have, and which can lead to losing in court, is the lack of documentation supporting the decision making process of the board. And when unit owners don’t…
Limited Common Element Confusion
Limited common elements (LCE) in condominiums can be spaces or things. Spaces are like parking spots, decks, and storage closets. Things are like fireplaces, windows, or wires. When the LCE is a space, the boundaries of the space need to be defined so that the maintenance and repair responsibility can be allocated to the association…
Who Pays for Limited Common Element Maintenance?
Today I was asked again about whether the waterproof coating on a limited common element deck was the unit owner’s responsibility or the condo association’s responsibility. The answer depends on your specific condominium declaration, and depends on several factors, most of which owners and managers are confused about. First is the boundary of the limited…
Category Archives: Governing Documents
Two-Prong Test for the Reasonableness of House Rules
A recent Division II Court of Appeals case has set out a two-prong test for determining whether a house rule is reasonable. The case, Kawawaki v. Academy Square Condominium Association, concerned a dispute over a newly implemented house rule that dictated that rental status runs with the condominium unit and not with the owner. The…
Use Restrictions Must be Contained in a Condominium’s Declaration
A recently decided Washington Court of Appeals case, Kawawaki v. Academy Square Condominium Association, has emphasized that use restrictions must be contained in a condominium’s Declaration. In 2005, the Kawawakis purchased a condominium intending it to be a potential rental investment. However, at the time they purchased the unit they were aware of a use…
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…
Reserves for Mixed Use Building & Limited Common Elements
Often condo declarations state that some building components are to be paid for exclusively by one group of owners. This may include all residential owners, or all owners within a single building. This means that reserve contributions for those components must come only from the units to which the cost is allocated. We frequently see reserve…
Know Your Governing Documents
All associations, whether condominiums or homeowners associations, have a set of governing documents that…well…govern how that association is run. Many homeowners and even board members are unfamiliar with these documents, use the terms for them interchangeably, or don’t understand that there is a hierarchy within the documents themselves. Understanding what each documents should contain and…
Your Condo Declaration is Not a Contract Between You and the Developer
Many buyers of condominiums do not understand that the Condo Association and the Developer are not the same (even though they seem to be early on in the life of the Condo Association). The purchase and sale agreement that the buyer and seller have is not a contractual relationship between the Association and the buyer,…
Annual Audits
Can condominiums with fewer than 50 units vote to avoid having an annual audit? Only if their Declaration does not require an audit. The statute that requires both New and Old Act condominiums to conduct an annual audit provides that with a vote of 60% of the owners, the association can avoid that audit. The…
Enforcing Your Governing Documents
On occasion we are in court trying to defend the actions taken by a board of directors to enforce the provisions of their governing documents. The biggest frustration we have, and which can lead to losing in court, is the lack of documentation supporting the decision making process of the board. And when unit owners don’t…
Limited Common Element Confusion
Limited common elements (LCE) in condominiums can be spaces or things. Spaces are like parking spots, decks, and storage closets. Things are like fireplaces, windows, or wires. When the LCE is a space, the boundaries of the space need to be defined so that the maintenance and repair responsibility can be allocated to the association…
Who Pays for Limited Common Element Maintenance?
Today I was asked again about whether the waterproof coating on a limited common element deck was the unit owner’s responsibility or the condo association’s responsibility. The answer depends on your specific condominium declaration, and depends on several factors, most of which owners and managers are confused about. First is the boundary of the limited…
