A recent Washington unpublished opinion concerned the amendment of a condominium association’s bylaws. The condominium’s declaration stated that amending
the bylaws required the approval of a majority of the unit owners. The bylaws were amended in 2015 without the
approval of a majority of the unit owners, and an owner challenged the validity
of that amendment. The Court of Appeals ruled
that the bylaws amendment was invalid.
The invalid 2015 bylaws amendment
authorized the condominium association to impose assessments for limited common
area expenses against the individual unit owners to which the limited common
areas were assigned. Since the
declaration and the applicable state law did not authorize the imposition of limited common area expense assessments, the Court
of Appeals ruled that the association could not
impose such assessments.
Washington
condominium and homeowners associations should obtain legal advice before they
seek to amend their governing documents.
