The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
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Terms Used In Washington Code 64.90.010

  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
  • Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • person: may be construed to include the United States, this state, or any state or territory, or any public or private corporation or limited liability company, as well as an individual. See Washington Code 1.16.080
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
(1) “Affiliate of a declarant” means any person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a declarant. For purposes of this subsection:
(a) A person controls a declarant if the person:
(i) Is a general partner, managing member, officer, director, or employer of the declarant;
(ii) Directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote, or holds proxies representing more than twenty percent of the voting interest in the declarant;
(iii) Controls in any manner the election or appointment of a majority of the directors, managing members, or general partners of the declarant; or
(iv) Has contributed more than twenty percent of the capital of the declarant.
(b) A person is controlled by a declarant if the declarant:
(i) Is a general partner, managing member, officer, director, or employer of the person;
(ii) Directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote, or holds proxies representing more than twenty percent of the voting interest in the person;
(iii) Controls in any manner the election or appointment of a majority of the directors, managing members, or general partners of the person; or
(iv) Has contributed more than twenty percent of the capital of the person.
(c) Control does not exist if the powers described in this subsection (1) are held solely as security for an obligation and are not exercised.
(2) “Allocated interests” means the following interests allocated to each unit:
(a) In a condominium, the undivided interest in the common elements, the common expense liability, and votes in the association;
(b) In a cooperative, the common expense liability, the ownership interest, and votes in the association; and
(c) In a plat community and miscellaneous community, the common expense liability and the votes in the association, and also the undivided interest in the common elements if owned in common by the unit owners rather than an association.
(3) “Assessment” means all sums chargeable by the association against a unit, including any assessments levied pursuant to RCW 64.90.480, fines or fees levied or imposed by the association pursuant to this chapter or the governing documents, interest and late charges on any delinquent account, and all costs of collection incurred by the association in connection with the collection of a delinquent owner’s account, including reasonable attorneys’ fees.
(4) “Association” or “unit owners association” means the unit owners association organized under RCW 64.90.400 and, to the extent necessary to construe sections of this chapter made applicable to common interest communities pursuant to RCW 64.90.080, 64.90.090, or 64.90.095, the association organized or created to administer such common interest communities.
(5) “Ballot” means a record designed to cast or register a vote or consent in a form provided or accepted by the association.
(6) “Board” means the body, regardless of name, designated in the declaration, map, or organizational documents, with primary authority to manage the affairs of the association.
(7) “Common elements” means:
(a) In a condominium or cooperative, all portions of the common interest community other than the units;
(b) In a plat community or miscellaneous community, any real estate other than a unit within a plat community or miscellaneous community that is owned or leased either by the association or in common by the unit owners rather than an association; and
(c) In all common interest communities, any other interests in real estate for the benefit of any unit owners that are subject to the declaration.
(8) “Common expense” means any expense of the association, including allocations to reserves, allocated to all of the unit owners in accordance with common expense liability.
(9) “Common expense liability” means the liability for common expenses allocated to each unit pursuant to RCW 64.90.235.
(10) “Common interest community” means real estate described in a declaration with respect to which a person, by virtue of the person’s ownership of a unit, is obligated to pay for a share of real estate taxes, insurance premiums, maintenance, or improvement of, or services or other expenses related to, common elements, other units, or other real estate described in the declaration. “Common interest community” does not include an arrangement described in RCW 64.90.110 or 64.90.115. A common interest community may be a part of another common interest community.
(11) “Condominium” means a common interest community in which portions of the real estate are designated for separate ownership and the remainder of the real estate is designated for common ownership solely by the owners of those portions. A common interest community is not a condominium unless the undivided interests in the common elements are vested in the unit owners.
(12) “Condominium notice” means the notice given to tenants pursuant to subsection (13)(c) of this section.
(13)(a) “Conversion building” means a building:
(i) That at any time before creation of the common interest community was lawfully occupied wholly or partially by a tenant or subtenant for residential purposes pursuant to a rental agreement, oral or written, express or implied, who did not receive a condominium notice prior to entering into the rental agreement or lawfully taking occupancy, whichever event occurred first; or
(ii) That at any time within the twelve months preceding the first acceptance of an agreement with the declarant to convey, or the first conveyance of, any unit in the building, whichever event occurred first, to any person who was not a declarant or dealer, or affiliate of a declarant or dealer, was lawfully occupied wholly or partially by a tenant or subtenant for residential purposes pursuant to a rental agreement, oral or written, express or implied, who did not receive a condominium notice prior to entering into the rental agreement or lawfully taking occupancy, whichever event occurred first.
(b) A building in a common interest community is a conversion building only if:
(i) The building contains more than two attached dwelling units as defined in RCW 64.55.010(1); and
(ii) Acceptance of an agreement to convey, or conveyance of, any unit in the building to any person who was not a declarant or dealer, or affiliate of a declarant or dealer, did not occur prior to July 1, 2018.
(c) The notice referred to in (a)(i) and (ii) of this subsection must be in writing and must state: “The unit you will be occupying is, or may become, part of a common interest community and subject to sale.”
(14) “Convey” or “conveyance” means, with respect to a unit, any transfer of ownership of the unit, including a transfer by deed or by real estate contract and, with respect to a unit in a leasehold common interest community or a proprietary lease in a cooperative, a transfer by lease or assignment of the unit, but does not include the creation, transfer, or release of a security interest.
(15) “Cooperative” means a common interest community in which the real estate is owned by an association, each member of which is entitled by virtue of the member’s ownership interest in the association and by a proprietary lease to exclusive possession of a unit.
(16) “Dealer” means a person who, together with such person’s affiliates, owns or has a right to acquire either six or more units in a common interest community or fifty percent or more of the units in a common interest community containing more than two units.
(17) “Declarant” means:
(a) Any person who executes as declarant a declaration;
(b) Any person who reserves any special declarant right in a declaration;
(c) Any person who exercises special declarant rights or to whom special declarant rights are transferred of record. The holding or exercise of rights to maintain sales offices, signs advertising the common interest community, and models, and related right of access, does not confer the status of being a declarant; or
(d) Any person who is the owner of a fee interest in the real estate that is subjected to the declaration at the time of the recording of an instrument pursuant to RCW 64.90.425 and who directly or through one or more affiliates is materially involved in the construction, marketing, or sale of units in the common interest community created by the recording of the instrument.
(18) “Declarant control” means the right of the declarant or persons designated by the declarant to appoint or remove any officer or board member of the association or to veto or approve a proposed action of any board or association, pursuant to RCW 64.90.415(1)(a).
(19) “Declaration” means the instrument, however denominated, that creates a common interest community, including any amendments to the instrument.
(20) “Development rights” means any right or combination of rights reserved by a declarant in the declaration to:
(a) Add real estate or improvements to a common interest community;
(b) Create units, common elements, or limited common elements within a common interest community;
(c) Subdivide or combine units or convert units into common elements;
(d) Withdraw real estate from a common interest community; or
(e) Reallocate limited common elements with respect to units that have not been conveyed by the declarant.
(21) “Effective age” means the difference between the useful life and remaining useful life.
(22) “Electronic transmission” or “electronically transmitted” means any electronic communication (a) not directly involving the physical transfer of a record in a tangible medium and (b) that may be retained, retrieved, and reviewed by the sender and the recipient of the communication, and that may be directly reproduced in a tangible medium by a sender and recipient.
(23) “Eligible mortgagee” means the holder of a security interest on a unit that has filed with the secretary of the association a written request that it be given copies of notices of any action by the association that requires the consent of mortgagees.
(24) “Foreclosure” means a statutory forfeiture or a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure of a security interest or a deed or other conveyance in lieu of a security interest.
(25) “Full funding plan” means a reserve funding goal of achieving one hundred percent fully funded reserves by the end of the thirty-year study period described under RCW 64.90.550, in which the reserve account balance equals the sum of the estimated costs required to maintain, repair, or replace the deteriorated portions of all reserve components.
(26) “Fully funded balance” means the current value of the deteriorated portion, not the total replacement value, of all the reserve components. The fully funded balance for each reserve component is calculated by multiplying the current replacement cost of that reserve component by its effective age, then dividing the result by that reserve component’s useful life. The sum total of all reserve components’ fully funded balances is the association’s fully funded balance.
(27) “Governing documents” means the organizational documents, map, declaration, rules, or other written instrument by which the association has the authority to exercise any of the powers provided for in this chapter or to manage, maintain, or otherwise affect the property under its jurisdiction.
(28) “Identifying number” means a symbol or address that identifies only one unit or limited common element in a common interest community.
(29) “Leasehold common interest community” means a common interest community in which all or a portion of the real estate is subject to a lease the expiration or termination of which will terminate the common interest community or reduce its size.
(30) “Limited common element” means a portion of the common elements allocated by the declaration or by operation of RCW 64.90.210 (1)(b) or (3) for the exclusive use of one or more, but fewer than all, of the unit owners.
(31) “Map” means: (a) With respect to a plat community, the plat as defined in RCW 58.17.020 and complying with the requirements of Title 58 RCW, and (b) with respect to a condominium, cooperative, or miscellaneous community, a map prepared in accordance with the requirements of RCW 64.90.245.
(32) “Master association” means an organization described in RCW 64.90.300, whether or not it is also an association described in RCW 64.90.400.
(33) “Miscellaneous community” means a common interest community in which units are lawfully created in a manner not inconsistent with chapter 58.17 RCW and that is not a condominium, cooperative, or plat community.
(34) “Nominal reserve costs” means that the current estimated total replacement costs of the reserve components are less than fifty percent of the annual budgeted expenses of the association, excluding contributions to the reserve fund, for a condominium or cooperative containing horizontal unit boundaries, and less than seventy-five percent of the annual budgeted expenses of the association, excluding contributions to the reserve fund, for all other common interest communities.
(35) “Organizational documents” means the instruments filed with the secretary of state to create an entity and the instruments governing the internal affairs of the entity including, but not limited to, any articles of incorporation, certificate of formation, bylaws, and limited liability company or partnership agreement.
(36) “Person” means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, the trustee or beneficiary of a trust that is not a business trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government, or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal entity.
(37) “Plat community” means a common interest community in which units have been created by subdivision or short subdivision as both are defined in RCW 58.17.020 and in which the boundaries of units are established pursuant to chapter 58.17 RCW.
(38) “Proprietary lease” means a written and recordable lease that is executed and acknowledged by the association as lessor and that otherwise complies with requirements applicable to a residential lease of more than one year and pursuant to which a member is entitled to exclusive possession of a unit in a cooperative. A proprietary lease governed under this chapter is not subject to chapter 59.18 RCW except as provided in the declaration.
(39) “Purchaser” means a person, other than a declarant or a dealer, which by means of a voluntary transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a unit other than as security for an obligation.
(40) “Qualified financial institution” means a bank, savings association, or credit union whose deposits are insured by the federal government.
(41) “Real estate” means any leasehold or other estate or interest in, over, or under land, including structures, fixtures, and other improvements and interests that by custom, usage, or law pass with a conveyance of land though not described in the contract of sale or instrument of conveyance. “Real estate” includes parcels with or without upper or lower boundaries and spaces that may be filled with air or water.
(42) “Real estate contract” has the same meaning as defined in RCW 61.30.010.
(43) “Record,” when used as a noun, means information inscribed on a tangible medium or contained in an electronic transmission.
(44) “Remaining useful life” means the estimated time, in years, before a reserve component will require major maintenance, repair, or replacement to perform its intended function.
(45) “Replacement cost” means the estimated total cost to maintain, repair, or replace a reserve component to its original functional condition.
(46) “Reserve component” means a physical component of the common interest community which the association is obligated to maintain, repair, or replace, which has an estimated useful life of less than thirty years, and for which the cost of such maintenance, repair, or replacement is infrequent, significant, and impractical to include in an annual budget.
(47) “Reserve study professional” means an independent person who is suitably qualified by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education to prepare a reserve study in accordance with RCW 64.90.545 and 64.90.550. For the purposes of this subsection, “independent” means a person who is not an employee, officer, or director, and has no pecuniary interest in the declarant, association, or any other party for whom the reserve study is prepared.
(48) “Residential purposes” means use for dwelling or recreational purposes, or both.
(49) “Rule” means a policy, guideline, restriction, procedure, or regulation of an association, however denominated, that is not set forth in the declaration or organizational documents and governs the conduct of persons or the use or appearance of property.
(50) “Security interest” means an interest in real estate or personal property, created by contract or conveyance that secures payment or performance of an obligation. “Security interest” includes a lien created by a mortgage, deed of trust, real estate contract, lease intended as security, assignment of lease or rents intended as security, pledge of an ownership interest in an association, and any other consensual lien or title retention contract intended as security for an obligation.
(51) “Special declarant rights” means rights reserved for the benefit of a declarant to:
(a) Complete any improvements indicated on the map or described in the declaration or the public offering statement pursuant to RCW 64.90.610(1)(h);
(b) Exercise any development right;
(c) Maintain sales offices, management offices, signs advertising the common interest community, and models;
(d) Use easements through the common elements for the purpose of making improvements within the common interest community or within real estate that may be added to the common interest community;
(e) Make the common interest community subject to a master association;
(f) Merge or consolidate a common interest community with another common interest community of the same form of ownership;
(g) Appoint or remove any officer or board member of the association or any master association or to veto or approve a proposed action of any board or association, pursuant to RCW 64.90.415(1);
(h) Control any construction, design review, or aesthetic standards committee or process;
(i) Attend meetings of the unit owners and, except during an executive session, the board;
(j) Have access to the records of the association to the same extent as a unit owner.
(52) “Specially allocated expense” means any expense of the association, including allocations to reserves, allocated to some or all of the unit owners pursuant to RCW 64.90.480 (4) through (8).
(53) “Survey” has the same meaning as defined in RCW 58.09.020.
(54) “Tangible medium” means a writing, copy of a writing, facsimile, or a physical reproduction, each on paper or on other tangible material.
(55) “Timeshare” has the same meaning as defined in RCW 64.36.010.
(56) “Transition meeting” means the meeting held pursuant to RCW 64.90.415(4).
(57)(a) “Unit” means a physical portion of the common interest community designated for separate ownership or occupancy, the boundaries of which are described pursuant to RCW 64.90.225(1)(d).
(b) If a unit in a cooperative is owned by a unit owner or is sold, conveyed, voluntarily or involuntarily encumbered, or otherwise transferred by a unit owner, the interest in that unit that is owned, sold, conveyed, encumbered, or otherwise transferred is the right to possession of that unit under a proprietary lease, coupled with the allocated interests of that unit, and the association’s interest in that unit is not affected.
(c) Except as provided in the declaration, a mobile home or manufactured home for which title has been eliminated pursuant to chapter 65.20 RCW is part of the unit described in the title elimination documents.
(58)(a) “Unit owner” means (i) a declarant or other person that owns a unit or (ii) a lessee of a unit in a leasehold common interest community whose lease expires simultaneously with any lease the expiration or termination of which will remove the unit from the common interest community, but does not include a person having an interest in a unit solely as security for an obligation.
(b) “Unit owner” also means the vendee, not the vendor, of a unit under a recorded real estate contract.
(c) In a condominium, plat community, or miscellaneous community, the declarant is the unit owner of any unit created by the declaration. In a cooperative, the declarant is treated as the unit owner of any unit to which allocated interests have been allocated until that unit has been conveyed to another person.
(59) “Useful life” means the estimated time during which a reserve component is expected to perform its intended function without major maintenance, repair, or replacement.
(60) “Writing” does not include an electronic transmission.
(61) “Written” means embodied in a tangible medium.
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