Washington HOA buyer due diligence checklist

Hi [Seller / Agent / Closing team / Association contact],

I am reviewing the common interest community documents for [Property Address] in [Community Name]. My current timing is [researching / before offer / under contract within 7 days / under contract within 14 days / under contract within 30 days], and my relevant contract or closing deadline is [date, if any].

Please send the current resale certificate and confirm the date it was first delivered to me. I am asking for the packet under the Washington resale-certificate rule, RCW 64.90.640, as updated by 2026 ESHB 1500, Chapter 194, effective June 11, 2026. If a different Washington chapter or exemption is being used for this property, please identify it in writing.

Please include or point me to these items in the certificate:

1. Current assessments, delinquent assessments, special assessments that have been levied and not paid even if not yet due, other association fees, and any past-due association monetary obligations.
2. Annual financial statement, including the most recent financial audit report available; the most recent balance sheet and revenue and expense statement, if any; and the current operating budget.
3. Whether the association has a reserve study prepared under RCW 64.90.545 and RCW 64.90.550, the most current reserve study, and any no-current-reserve-study disclosure.
4. Any anticipated repair, replacement, or expenditure expected to exceed five percent of the board-approved annual budget.
5. Unsatisfied judgments, legal actions, insurance information, unit or common-element violations, building-code or health-code notices, rental or occupancy restrictions, and any pending common-element sale or encumbrance.
6. Declaration, organizational documents, rules or regulations, all board-approved policies, procedures, and resolutions currently in effect, board and association meeting minutes for the last 12 months, and any other mortgagee-requested information that is reasonably available to the association.
7. The statement "NONE" or "RECORDS UNAVAILABLE" for every category of records that is not provided.
8. The resale-certificate fee charged to the owner, any update fee, and whether any third-party payment or delivery account is being requested.

I am not asking anyone to give legal advice. I need the current packet and delivery date so I can evaluate the documents before my deadline.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Phone]
[Email]

Start with the packet, then count the business days

Washington’s buyer diligence starts with the resale certificate when RCW 64.90.640 applies. The official RCW page flags a 2026 change, and the enrolled session law is 2026 ESHB 1500, Chapter 194, effective June 11, 2026.

The current buyer timing language uses business days. A purchaser may cancel within five business days after first receiving the resale certificate. The same section has different rules depending on whether the certificate was first provided more than five business days before contract execution, five business days or less before signing, or less than five business days before closing.

That timing is a document fact before it is a negotiation point. Ask for the resale certificate and the first-delivery date in writing. Then take deadline questions to your agent or counsel before assuming a right to cancel, extend, waive, or proceed.

Current Washington source notes

RCW 64.90 is still part of a transition. RCW 64.90.360 says that before January 1, 2028, the chapter applies to common interest communities created on or after July 1, 2018, and to earlier communities that amend their declarations to elect into the chapter, subject to other provisions. The same page notes the repeal of older chapters effective January 1, 2028. That is why the first diligence question is which chapter and packet rule the transaction is using.

Washington’s reserve-study rule is also current through a 2026 amendment. 2026 SHB 2354, Chapter 96, effective June 11, 2026, updated RCW 64.90.545 to add a middle-housing exemption when the statutory conditions are met. Do not infer from a listing label alone that the reserve-study duty applies or does not apply; ask for the association’s chapter, reserve-study status, and any claimed exemption.

Document checklist

Ask for the resale certificate first, then check whether it contains these groups:

1. Assessment amounts for the seller’s unit, delinquent assessments, special assessments that have been levied and not paid even if not yet due, and other association fees.
2. Statements current to within 45 days for assessments against units that are more than 30 days past due, and for monetary obligations of the association that are more than 30 days past due.
3. Annual financial statement, including the most recent financial audit report available; the most recent balance sheet and revenue and expense statement, if any; and the current operating budget.
4. Whether the association has a reserve study prepared under RCW 64.90.545 and RCW 64.90.550, the most current reserve study, and any no-current-reserve-study disclosure.
5. Anticipated repairs, replacements, or expenditures reasonably expected to exceed five percent of the board-approved annual budget.
6. Unsatisfied judgments, legal actions, insurance coverage, restrictions, code notices, existing use or alteration issues, and any pending common-element sale or encumbrance.
7. Declaration, organizational documents, rules or regulations, all board-approved policies, procedures, and resolutions currently in effect, and the last 12 months of board and association meeting minutes, excluding information that may be exempt from disclosure.
8. The statement “NONE” or “RECORDS UNAVAILABLE” for every category of records that is not provided.

The current fee and delivery update matters too. Under the 2026 session law, the association must furnish the certificate within 10 days after the unit owner request and payment of permitted fees. The preparation charge to the owner may not exceed $275 and is limited to direct costs of copying and providing the information. An update within six months may be charged at a nominal fee not exceeding $100. The amended text also addresses electronic-document charges, third-party payment or delivery accounts, and responsibility for timeliness when an authorized agent charges a fee.

Three reserve questions for the seller or manager

Ask these in writing:

1. Does the association have a current reserve study prepared under the Washington reserve-study statutes, and where is the most current reserve study in the resale-certificate packet?
2. If there is no current reserve study, where is the required no-current-reserve disclosure in the certificate?
3. Is the association claiming a reserve-study exemption under the current RCW 64.90.545 text, including the 2026 middle-housing exemption, and what records support that answer?

Those questions do not decide whether the association is compliant or financially healthy. They tell you whether the packet contains the records a buyer needs before pricing assessment risk.

Useful next steps

Read the Washington resale-certificate explainer and the Washington reserve-study explainer.

For follow-up help, start a buyer document request for Washington.

This is not legal advice, and it does not decide whether RCW 64.90 applies to a specific property. It is a buyer checklist grounded in the official Washington RCW and 2026 session laws.