Washington HOA Guides & Resources
Everything we publish for Washington boards — verification guides, state law, and the full management-company directory.
The essentials
Manager licensing
Washington has no mandatory licensing or registration requirement for HOA management companies or individual community association managers. State law exempts common-interest community managers from real-estate broker licensure under RCW 18.85.151, and no separate CAM credential is required by statute. Management firms operating in Washington may hold voluntary professional designations — such as CMCA, AMS, or PCAM credentials from the Community Association Managers International Certification Board or the Community Associations Institute — but these are market-driven standards, not legal prerequisites.
Governing law
The primary legal framework governing Washington community associations is the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WUCIOA), codified at RCW 64.90. Enacted in 2018 and modeled on the national Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, WUCIOA applies to all common interest communities formed on or after July 1, 2018. It establishes uniform requirements for board governance, open meetings, financial management (including mandatory accrual-based accounting and reserve studies), records access, and resale certificate disclosures. A 2024 legislative amendment (ESSB 5796) extended WUCIOA to nearly all pre-existing associations — those previously governed by the older Homeowners' Associations Act (RCW 64.38), Condominium Act (RCW 64.34), and Horizontal Property Regimes Act (RCW 64.32) — with full applicability required by January 1, 2028.