Amendment & Restatement
Declaration + Bylaws
RCW 64.90 "WUCIOA"
WASHINGTON STATE
Why should you care about WUCIOA (RCW 64.90)?! 🕰️ Because the clock is ticking...
SB5796 retrofits WUCIOA to ALL Washington State community associations effective January 1, 2028 (with limited exceptions). Learn more at WUCIOA.info.
RCW 64.32, RCW 64.34 and RCW 64.38 are all going the way of the dodo AND plat communities (HOAs) not previously subject to RCW 64.38 will be subject to RCW 64.90.
💡Why SMAARTE?
1️⃣ We know current law and what's coming next because we have a seat at the table working directly with state legislators.
2️⃣ Great restatements are detailed, precise and require up to 50 hours of professional effort PLUS volunteer involvement.
Your association's goals, content considerations and lived experience are a critical part of the adoption equation since amendments and restatements often require 67% homeowner approval. Professional involvement cannot guarantee homeowner approval, but intentional preparation makes all the difference with a project involving 30,000 to 50,000 words across dozens of pages.
3️⃣ The SMAARTE approach to amending and restating your governing documents puts homeowners at the center from start to finish. We help translate nearly inscrutable reams of run-on legal jargon into digestible chunks using plain language. Our web-based review tool facilitates collaboration and the frictionless exchange of ideas and information. Read our Restatement Overview.
4️⃣ Our customer-service oriented restatement structures information to clearly elucidate differences between your current documents and proposed updates by highlighting sections required by law, recommendations based on best practice, and items unique to your community. Every process we have is tailored for volunteer homeowner participation.
Restatements reimagined. [rē-i-ˈma-jən]: to form a new conception of; to re-create
Are your association's declaration and bylaws a bust? Have amendments and statutory changes left them in the dust?
Do you know what's lurking in your CC&Rs? When's the last time you took your governing docs for an oil change?
We've reimagined amendments and restatements from A-Z! Our question-oriented, compartmentalized approach leverages technology and integrates governance best practices to help homeowner volunteers navigate the restatement challenge efficiently and intuitively. Get SMAARTE and make your restatement a reality!
What will it take to restate your governing documents?!
⏰ Why NOW?
One thing is certain: community association law will continue to evolve. SB5796 / ESSB5796 repeals and replaces RCW 64.32, 64.34 and 64.38 with 64.90 effective January 1, 2028 and the changes are immense. Given the volume of work involved and the reasonable limits of volunteer capacity, communities should expect to spend at least 12 to 18 months from inception to adoption of a restatement.
RCW 64.90 (WUCIOA) allows associations to amend their governing documents to eliminate language that conflicts with the law without a supermajority vote, but there are dozens of important provisions that can only be adopted by the members. Examples range from enforcement and dispute procedures to how expenses are recovered following a loss.
Adopting the provisions of WUCIOA is likely to be the most complex, costly and time-consuming governance project every Washington condo and HOA will face over the next few years. Communities that have not transitioned on or before January 1, 2028 are at increased risk of disputes related to materially violating state law due to the inherent challenges of navigating outdated documents that do not reflect current requirements. Even now, many communities are unaware of and/or non-compliant with statutory changes that became effective over the past six years.
In addition to state law, your declaration and bylaws are essential to the fabric of your community and provide the authority and framework for collections, enforcement and for every policy, procedure and resolution and application of Board discretion.
❓If your association has no plan to update your documents before January 1, 2028, what is your plan to ensure governance and operations comply with state law?
Restatements from the SMAARTE Group deliver:
✅ a web-based workspace that encourages collaboration and eliminates email fatigue
✅ a comprehensive restatement process framework and highly structured toolkit:
✔️ project tracking
✔️ email, phone and web meeting support
✔️ examples, concepts and language for consideration
✔️ references to statutes and your current governing documents
✔️ dedicated restatement facilitation sessions for the Board, Committee members and homeowners
✔️ assistance with final summation of volunteer work product, including an executive summary for homeowners
✅ a responsive service level agreement (SLA) that holds us accountable to our clients
✅ the SMAARTE Guarantee
Governing Documents Restatement Overview
SMAARTE Group Governing Documents Restatement Overview.pdfSMAARTE Giving = Stronger Communities
We pledge to donate 5% of our annual net profit to community organizations in the neighborhoods and cities where our clients live and work.
The SMAARTE Guarantee
100% accountability means we guarantee you will always get what you pay for.
We will happily refund related professional fees if our service fails to match our promise.