Community restrictions

AN ACT Relating to preventing common interest community unit 1
owners' associations from imposing more onerous restrictions on an 2
owner than those restrictions that existed when the owner acquired 3
the unit; adding a new section to chapter 64.90 RCW; adding a new 4
section to chapter 64.38 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 64.34 5
RCW; adding a new section to chapter 64.32 RCW; and providing 6
expiration dates. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:8
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 64.90 9
RCW to read as follows: 10
(1)(a) An association may not enter into, amend, or enforce a 11
covenant, condition, or restriction in such a way that imposes more 12
onerous restrictions on the types of use of a unit than those 13
restrictions that existed when the unit owner acquired the unit 14
owner's interest in the unit, unless the unit owner who owns the 15
affected unit expressly agrees in writing at the time of the adoption 16
or amendment of the covenant, condition, or restriction.17
(b) When a unit owner claims the benefit of this subsection (1), 18
the unit owner must request that the association record, or allow 19
recording of, the exception applicable to the unit owner. Upon 20
request by the unit owner, the association, the unit owner, or a 21
H-2462.1
HOUSE BILL 2118
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Jacobsen, Reed, Duerr, Engell, and Bernbaum
Prefiled 12/09/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Housing.
p. 1 HB 2118
designee must record the unit owner's exception in every county in 1
which the affected unit is situated. The unit owner must provide the 2
association with the date on which the affected unit was conveyed to 3
the unit owner and must pay the recording fees for the document 4
setting forth the exception. 5
(2) A unit owner's successor-in-interest may not claim the 6
benefit of subsection (1) of this section to the extent that the 7
association entered into, amended, or enforced a covenant, condition, 8
or restriction before the successor-in-interest purchased the unit, 9
even if the covenant, condition, or restriction was not enforceable 10
against the previous unit owner pursuant to subsection (1) of this 11
section, unless the successor-in-interest is owned by or shares 12
ownership with the previous unit owner or unless the successor-in-13
interest is a lender that acquired the unit through foreclosure.14
(3) This section does not apply to a covenant, condition, or 15
restriction that is: 16
(a) Not subject to enforcement by an association; or17
(b) Required in order to comply with applicable federal, state, 18
and local laws, ordinances, and regulations. 19
(4) Nothing in this section may be construed to prevent the 20
enforcement of a covenant, condition, or restriction limiting the 21
types of use of a unit as long as the covenant, condition, or 22
restriction applied to the unit at the time the unit owner acquired 23
an interest in the unit. 24
(5) Nothing in this section invalidates covenants, conditions, or 25
restrictions that existed before the effective date of this section 26
or creates a private right of action for actions or omissions 27
occurring before the effective date of this section. However, on or 28
after the effective date of this section, unless the unit owner has 29
consented as provided by subsection (1) of this section, an 30
association may not enforce a covenant, condition, or restriction in 31
such a way that limits the types of use that were allowed for a unit 32
when the unit owner acquired the affected unit. 33
(6) For the purposes of this section, "types of use" means the 34
following lawful types of use of the unit: 35
(a) Use for residential, agricultural, or commercial purposes, 36
unless the use was impermissible according to the written or recorded 37
restrictions; 38
(b) The ability to rent the unit, including the unit's land and 39
structures, for any amount of time; and 40
p. 2 HB 2118
(c) The ability to otherwise develop the unit in accordance with 1
applicable federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, and 2
regulations, unless the ability was impermissible according to the 3
written or recorded restrictions. 4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 64.38 5
RCW to read as follows: 6
(1)(a) A homeowners' association may not enter into, amend, or 7
enforce a covenant, condition, or restriction in such a way that 8
imposes more onerous restrictions on the types of use of a lot than 9
those restrictions that existed when the owner acquired the owner's 10
interest in the lot, unless the owner who owns the affected lot 11
expressly agrees in writing at the time of the adoption or amendment 12
of the covenant, condition, or restriction. 13
(b) When an owner claims the benefit of this subsection (1), the 14
owner must request that the association record, or allow recording 15
of, the exception applicable to the owner. Upon request by the owner, 16
the association, the owner, or a designee must record the owner's 17
exception in every county in which the affected lot is situated. The 18
owner must provide the association with the date on which the 19
affected lot was conveyed to the owner and must pay the recording 20
fees for the document setting forth the exception.21
(2) An owner's successor-in-interest may not claim the benefit of 22
subsection (1) of this section to the extent that the homeowners' 23
association entered into, amended, or enforced a covenant, condition, 24
or restriction before the successor-in-interest purchased the lot, 25
even if the covenant, condition, or restriction was not enforceable 26
against the previous owner pursuant to subsection (1) of this 27
section, unless the successor-in-interest is owned by or shares 28
ownership with the previous owner or unless the successor-in-interest 29
is a lender that acquired the lot through foreclosure.30
(3) This section does not apply to a covenant, condition, or 31
restriction that is: 32
(a) Not subject to enforcement by a homeowners' association; or33
(b) Required in order to comply with applicable federal, state, 34
and local laws, ordinances, and regulations. 35
(4) Nothing in this section may be construed to prevent the 36
enforcement of a covenant, condition, or restriction limiting the 37
types of use of a lot as long as the covenant, condition, or 38
p. 3 HB 2118
restriction applied to the lot at the time the owner acquired an 1
interest in the lot. 2
(5) Nothing in this section invalidates covenants, conditions, or 3
restrictions that existed before the effective date of this section 4
or creates a private right of action for actions or omissions 5
occurring before the effective date of this section. However, on or 6
after the effective date of this section, unless the owner has 7
consented as provided by subsection (1) of this section, a 8
homeowners' association may not enforce a covenant, condition, or 9
restriction in such a way that limits the types of use that were 10
allowed for a lot when the owner acquired the affected lot.11
(6) For the purposes of this section, "types of use" means the 12
following lawful types of use of the lot: 13
(a) Use for residential, agricultural, or commercial purposes, 14
unless the use was impermissible according to the written or recorded 15
restrictions; 16
(b) The ability to rent the lot, including the land and 17
structures on the lot, for any amount of time; and18
(c) The ability to otherwise develop the lot in accordance with 19
applicable federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, and 20
regulations, unless the ability was impermissible according to the 21
written or recorded restrictions. 22
(7) This section expires January 1, 2028. 23
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 64.34 24
RCW to read as follows: 25
(1)(a) An association may not enter into, amend, or enforce a 26
covenant, condition, or restriction in such a way that imposes more 27
onerous restrictions on the types of use of a unit than those 28
restrictions that existed when the unit owner acquired the unit 29
owner's interest in the unit, unless the unit owner who owns the 30
affected unit expressly agrees in writing at the time of the adoption 31
or amendment of the covenant, condition, or restriction.32
(b) When a unit owner claims the benefit of this subsection (1), 33
the unit owner must request that the association record, or allow 34
recording of, the exception applicable to the unit owner. Upon 35
request by the unit owner, the association, the unit owner, or a 36
designee must record the unit owner's exception in every county in 37
which the affected unit is situated. The unit owner must provide the 38
association with the date on which the affected unit was conveyed to 39
p. 4 HB 2118
the unit owner and must pay the recording fees for the document 1
setting forth the exception. 2
(2) A unit owner's successor-in-interest may not claim the 3
benefit of subsection (1) of this section to the extent that the 4
association entered into, amended, or enforced a covenant, condition, 5
or restriction before the successor-in-interest purchased the unit, 6
even if the covenant, condition, or restriction was not enforceable 7
against the previous unit owner pursuant to subsection (1) of this 8
section, unless the successor-in-interest is owned by or shares 9
ownership with the previous unit owner or unless the successor-in-10
interest is a lender that acquired the unit through foreclosure.11
(3) This section does not apply to a covenant, condition, or 12
restriction that is: 13
(a) Not subject to enforcement by an association; or14
(b) Required in order to comply with applicable federal, state, 15
and local laws, ordinances, and regulations. 16
(4) Nothing in this section may be construed to prevent the 17
enforcement of a covenant, condition, or restriction limiting the 18
types of use of a unit as long as the covenant, condition, or 19
restriction applied to the unit at the time the unit owner acquired 20
an interest in the unit. 21
(5) Nothing in this section invalidates covenants, conditions, or 22
restrictions that existed before the effective date of this section 23
or creates a private right of action for actions or omissions 24
occurring before the effective date of this section. However, on or 25
after the effective date of this section, unless the unit owner has 26
consented as provided by subsection (1) of this section, an 27
association may not enforce a covenant, condition, or restriction in 28
such a way that limits the types of use that were allowed for a unit 29
when the unit owner acquired the affected unit. 30
(6) For the purposes of this section, "types of use" means the 31
following lawful types of use of the unit: 32
(a) Use for residential, agricultural, or commercial purposes, 33
unless the use was impermissible according to the written or recorded 34
restrictions; 35
(b) The ability to rent the unit, including the unit's land and 36
structures, for any amount of time; and 37
(c) The ability to otherwise develop the unit in accordance with 38
applicable federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, and 39
p. 5 HB 2118
regulations, unless the ability was impermissible according to the 1
written or recorded restrictions. 2
(7) This section expires January 1, 2028. 3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 64.32 4
RCW to read as follows: 5
(1)(a) An association of apartment owners may not enter into, 6
amend, or enforce a covenant, condition, or restriction in such a way 7
that imposes more onerous restrictions on the types of use of an 8
apartment than those restrictions that existed when the apartment 9
owner acquired the apartment owner's interest in the apartment, 10
unless the apartment owner who owns the affected apartment expressly 11
agrees in writing at the time of the adoption or amendment of the 12
covenant, condition, or restriction. 13
(b) When an apartment owner claims the benefit of this subsection 14
(1), the apartment owner must request that the association record, or 15
allow recording of, the exception applicable to the apartment owner. 16
Upon request by the apartment owner, the association, the apartment 17
owner, or a designee must record the apartment owner's exception in 18
every county in which the affected apartment is situated. The 19
apartment owner must provide the association with the date on which 20
the affected apartment was conveyed to the apartment owner and must 21
pay the recording fees for the document setting forth the exception.22
(2) An apartment owner's successor-in-interest may not claim the 23
benefit of subsection (1) of this section to the extent that the 24
association of apartment owners entered into, amended, or enforced a 25
covenant, condition, or restriction before the successor-in-interest 26
purchased the apartment, even if the covenant, condition, or 27
restriction was not enforceable against the previous apartment owner 28
pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, unless the successor-in-29
interest is owned by or shares ownership with the previous apartment 30
owner or unless the successor-in-interest is a lender that acquired 31
the apartment through foreclosure. 32
(3) This section does not apply to a covenant, condition, or 33
restriction that is: 34
(a) Not subject to enforcement by an association of apartment 35
owners; or 36
(b) Required in order to comply with applicable federal, state, 37
and local laws, ordinances, and regulations. 38
p. 6 HB 2118
(4) Nothing in this section may be construed to prevent the 1
enforcement of a covenant, condition, or restriction limiting the 2
types of use of an apartment as long as the covenant, condition, or 3
restriction applied to the apartment at the time the apartment owner 4
acquired an interest in the apartment. 5
(5) Nothing in this section invalidates covenants, conditions, or 6
restrictions that existed before the effective date of this section 7
or creates a private right of action for actions or omissions 8
occurring before the effective date of this section. However, on or 9
after the effective date of this section, unless the apartment owner 10
has consented as provided by subsection (1) of this section, an 11
association of apartment owners may not enforce a covenant, 12
condition, or restriction in such a way that limits the types of use 13
that were allowed for an apartment when the apartment owner acquired 14
the affected apartment. 15
(6) For the purposes of this section, "types of use" means the 16
following lawful types of use of the apartment: 17
(a) Use for residential, agricultural, or commercial purposes, 18
unless the use was impermissible according to the written or recorded 19
restrictions; 20
(b) The ability to rent the apartment, including the apartment's 21
land and structures, for any amount of time; and 22
(c) The ability to otherwise develop the apartment in accordance 23
with applicable federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, and 24
regulations, unless the ability was impermissible according to the 25
written or recorded restrictions. 26
(7) This section expires January 1, 2028. 27
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p. 7 HB 2118