Washington resale certificate rules for HOA buyers

Source status as of July 11, 2026

The official RCW 64.90.640 page flags a 2026 change. The enrolled update is Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1500, Chapter 194, Laws of 2026, effective June 11, 2026. This draft incorporates that session-law text for the current certificate contents, fee and delivery provisions, and five-business-day timing rules.

This page assumes RCW 64.90.640 is the resale-certificate rule being used for the transaction. If the community’s governing chapter or an exemption is uncertain, confirm that first.

What the buyer should expect

Except when a public offering statement is required, an exemption applies under RCW 64.90.600, or the buyer has expressly waived the certificate because it is unavailable as provided by RCW 64.90.600, the unit owner must furnish a resale certificate before execution of a sale contract or otherwise before conveyance.

The certificate is signed by an officer or authorized agent of the association and is based on association books and records plus the actual knowledge of the signer. It is not only a reserve document. It is the buyer’s packet for assessments, fees, financial statements, legal actions, insurance, restrictions, and other association facts. Under the 2026 enrolled text, the certificate must also state “NONE” or “RECORDS UNAVAILABLE” for each category of records that is not provided.

Current certificate contents to check

Read the certificate for these groups:

1. Any right of first refusal or other restraint on free alienability.
2. Unit-specific assessments currently due, delinquent assessments, and special assessments that have been levied and not paid even if not yet due.
3. Statements current to within 45 days for assessments against any unit that are past due over 30 days, and for association monetary obligations past due over 30 days.
4. Other association fees payable by unit owners.
5. Any expenditure or anticipated repair or replacement cost reasonably expected to exceed five percent of the board-approved annual budget.
6. Whether the association has a reserve study prepared in accordance with RCW 64.90.545 and RCW 64.90.550.
7. Annual financial statement, including the most recent financial audit report available, plus the most recent balance sheet and revenue and expense statement, if any, and the current operating budget.
8. Unsatisfied judgments, legal actions, insurance coverage, notices of governing-document violations, code or health notices, restrictions affecting sale price, rental or occupancy restrictions, and any pending common-element sale or encumbrance.
9. 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 subject to the statutory exception, the most current reserve study, and other mortgagee-requested information that is reasonably available to the association.
10. Warranty, age-restriction, and electric vehicle charging information when those items apply.
11. If there is no current reserve study, the statutory disclosure warning buyers that the lack of a current study may create special-assessment risk.
12. The conspicuous notice telling purchasers to review the association’s financial obligations, finances, reserve study if any, governing documents, and the other information in the resale certificate.

Do not treat the presence of a certificate as proof that the association is well funded. The certificate gives the facts to compare.

Delivery and fee rules after ESHB 1500

The association must furnish the resale certificate within 10 days after a unit owner request, subject to payment of permitted fees. Under the 2026 session law:

• A reasonable preparation charge to the owner may not exceed $275 and is limited to direct costs of copying and providing the information.
• The association may not add charges for documents maintained in electronic form on a website, web portal, or application available to unit owners.
• An update within six months of the owner’s previous resale-certificate request may be charged at a nominal fee not exceeding $100.
• The association may not require a unit owner to contract with or establish an account with a third party in order to provide payment for or accept delivery of the resale certificate.
• A unit owner is not liable to the purchaser for erroneous information provided by the association and included in the certificate.
• An authorized agent that charges a fee for furnishing the certificate is responsible for timeliness of delivery and for exercising reasonable care in preparing it.

The 2026 text also adds that a unit owner may bring an action to enforce requirements related to fees charged, timeliness of delivery, or preparation of the resale certificate against the association or responsible authorized agent. That sentence is a statutory remedy statement, not a recommendation about filing suit.

The five-business-day buyer timing

The 2026 update uses business days for the buyer timing rule.

The buyer may cancel a purchase contract within five business days after first receiving the resale certificate. If the certificate was first provided more than five business days before execution of the contract, the buyer does not have the cancellation right under this section after the contract is executed. If the certificate was first provided five business days or less before signing, the buyer may cancel before conveyance by delivering notice to the seller no later than the fifth business day after first receiving the certificate. If the certificate was first provided less than five business days before closing, the buyer may extend closing to a date not more than five business days after first receiving the certificate.

Those are deadline rules with transaction consequences. Ask for the first-delivery date in writing and take contract-specific timing questions to the agent or counsel handling the transaction.

What to check before closing

1. Confirm whether RCW 64.90.640 is the resale-certificate rule being used for the property.
2. Ask for the resale certificate early and record the date it was first delivered to you.
3. Compare the assessment, special assessment, fee, and delinquency statements to the seller’s listing, escrow numbers, and budget.
4. Find the reserve-study statement, the most current reserve study, or the no-current-reserve disclosure.
5. Compare the current operating budget, annual financial statement and most recent audit report available, most recent balance sheet and revenue and expense statement, and any anticipated repair or replacement cost above the five-percent threshold.
6. Check the current policies, procedures, and resolutions along with legal actions, insurance, use restrictions, rental restrictions, code notices, unit alterations, and common-element transactions.
7. Check that each category not provided is marked “NONE” or “RECORDS UNAVAILABLE” rather than left ambiguous.
8. Keep the resale-certificate fee and delivery history in the file, especially if a third-party account or extra electronic-document charge is requested.

Request a buyer document check for a Washington community if the resale certificate is missing, late, unclear on reserves, or inconsistent with the budget.

Publication note

This draft remains noindex pending human legal QA. It is grounded in official Washington sources, but it does not decide whether RCW 64.90 applies to a specific property, whether an exemption applies, or what a buyer should do under a particular purchase contract.