Revised Code of Washington
Chapter 64.90 - Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.
64.90.285 - Amendment of declaration.

RCW 64.90.285
Amendment of declaration.

(1)(a) Except in cases of amendments that may be executed by: A declarant under subsection (10) of this section, RCW 64.90.240(2), 64.90.245(12), 64.90.250, or 64.90.415(2)(d); the association under RCW 64.90.030, 64.90.230(5), 64.90.240(3), 64.90.260(1), or 64.90.265 or subsection (11) of this section; or certain unit owners under RCW 64.90.240(2), 64.90.260(1), 64.90.265(2), or 64.90.290(2), and except as limited by subsections (4), (6), (7), (8), and (12) of this section, the declaration may be amended only by vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which at least sixty-seven percent of the votes in the association are allocated, unless the declaration specifies a different percentage not to exceed ninety percent for all amendments or for specific subjects of amendment. For purposes of this section, "amendment" means any change to the declaration, including adding, removing, or modifying restrictions contained in a declaration.
(b) If the declaration requires the approval of another person as a condition of its effectiveness, the amendment is not valid without that approval; however, any right of approval may not result in an expansion of special declarant rights reserved in the declaration or violate any other section of this chapter, including RCW 64.90.015, 64.90.050, 64.90.055, and 64.90.060.
(2) In the absence of fraud, any action to challenge the validity of an amendment adopted by the association may not be brought more than one year after the amendment is recorded.
(3) Every amendment to the declaration must be recorded in every county in which any portion of the common interest community is located and is effective only upon recordation. An amendment, except an amendment pursuant to RCW 64.90.260(1), must be indexed in the grantee's index in the name of the common interest community and the association and in the grantor's index in the name of the parties executing the amendment.
(4) Except to the extent expressly permitted or required under this chapter, an amendment may not create or increase special declarant rights, increase the number of units, change the boundaries of any unit, or change the allocated interests of a unit without the consent of unit owners to which at least ninety percent of the votes in the association are allocated, including the consent of any unit owner of a unit, the boundaries of which or allocated interest of which is changed by the amendment.
(5) Amendments to the declaration required to be executed by the association must be executed by any authorized officer of the association who must certify in the amendment that it was properly adopted.
(6) The declaration may require a higher percentage of unit owner approval for an amendment that is intended to prohibit or materially restrict the uses of units permitted under the applicable zoning ordinances, or to protect the interests of members of a defined class of owners, or to protect other legitimate interests of the association or its members. Subject to subsection (13) of this section, a declaration may not require, as a condition for amendment, approval by more than ninety percent of the votes in the association or by all but one unit owner, whichever is less. An amendment approved under this subsection must provide reasonable protection for a use permitted at the time the amendment was adopted.
(7) The time limits specified in the declaration pursuant to RCW 64.90.225(1)(g) within which reserved development rights must be exercised may be extended, and additional development rights may be created, if persons entitled to cast at least eighty percent of the votes in the association, including eighty percent of the votes allocated to units not owned by the declarant, agree to that action. The agreement is effective thirty days after an amendment to the declaration reflecting the terms of the agreement is recorded unless all the persons holding the affected special declarant rights, or security interests in those rights, record a written objection within the thirty-day period, in which case the amendment is void, or consent in writing at the time the amendment is recorded, in which case the amendment is effective when recorded.
(8) A provision in the declaration creating special declarant rights that have not expired may not be amended without the consent of the declarant.
(9) If any provision of this chapter or the declaration requires the consent of a holder of a security interest in a unit as a condition to the effectiveness of an amendment to the declaration, the consent is deemed granted if a refusal to consent in a record is not received by the association within sixty days after the association delivers notice of the proposed amendment to the holder at an address for notice provided by the holder or mails the notice to the holder by certified mail, return receipt requested, at that address. If the holder has not provided an address for notice to the association, the association must provide notice to the address in the security interest of record.
(10) Upon thirty-day advance notice to unit owners, the declarant may, without a vote of the unit owners or approval by the board, unilaterally adopt, execute, and record a corrective amendment or supplement to the governing documents to correct a mathematical mistake, an inconsistency, or a scrivener's error, or clarify an ambiguity in the governing documents with respect to an objectively verifiable fact including, without limitation, recalculating the undivided interest in the common elements, the liability for common expenses, or the number of votes in the unit owners' association appertaining to a unit, within five years after the recordation or adoption of the governing document containing or creating the mistake, inconsistency, error, or ambiguity. Any such amendment or supplement may not materially reduce what the obligations of the declarant would have been if the mistake, inconsistency, error, or ambiguity had not occurred.
(11) Upon thirty-day advance notice to unit owners, the association may, upon a vote of two-thirds of the members of the board, without a vote of the unit owners, adopt, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration for the following purposes:
(a) To correct or supplement the governing documents as provided in subsection (10) of this section;
(b) To remove language and otherwise amend as necessary to effect the removal of language purporting to forbid or restrict the conveyance, encumbrance, occupancy, or lease to: Individuals of a specified race, creed, color, sex, or national origin; individuals with sensory, mental, or physical disabilities; and families with children or any other legally protected classification;
(c) To remove language and otherwise amend as necessary to effect the removal of language that purports to impose limitations on the power of the association beyond the limit authorized in RCW 64.90.405(3)(a) to deal with the declarant that are more restrictive than the limitations imposed on the power of the association to deal with other persons; and
(d) To remove any other language and otherwise amend as necessary to effect the removal of language purporting to limit the rights of the association or its unit owners in direct conflict with this chapter.
(12) If the declaration requires that amendments to the declaration may be adopted only if the amendment is signed by a specified number or percentage of unit owners and if the common interest community contains more than twenty units, such requirement is deemed satisfied if the association obtains such signatures or the vote or agreement of unit owners holding such number or percentage.
(13)(a) If the declaration requires that amendments to the declaration may be adopted only by the vote or agreement of unit owners of units to which more than sixty-seven percent of the votes in the association are allocated, and the percentage required is otherwise consistent with this chapter, the amendment is approved if:
(i) The approval of the percentage specified in the declaration is obtained;
(ii)(A) Unit owners of units to which at least sixty-seven percent of the votes in the association are allocated vote for or agree to the proposed amendment;
(B) A unit owner does not vote against the proposed amendment; and
(C) Notice of the proposed amendment, including notice that the failure of a unit owner to object may result in the adoption of the amendment, is delivered to the unit owners holding the votes in the association that have not voted or agreed to the proposed amendment and no written objection to the proposed amendment is received by the association within sixty days after the association delivers notice; or
(iii)(A) Unit owners of units to which at least sixty-seven percent of the votes in the association are allocated vote for or agree to the proposed amendment;
(B) At least one unit owner objects to the proposed amendment; and
(C) Pursuant to an action brought by the association in the county in which the common interest community is situated against all objecting unit owners, the court finds, under the totality of circumstances including, but not limited to, the subject matter of the amendment, the purpose of the amendment, the percentage voting to approve the amendment, and the percentage objecting to the amendment, that the amendment is reasonable.
(b) If the declaration requires the affirmative vote or approval of any particular unit owner or class of unit owners as a condition of its effectiveness, the amendment is not valid without that vote or approval.

[ 2019 c 238 § 208; 2018 c 277 § 218.]

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