Two bills sponsored by state Rep. Joel McEntire, R-Cathlamet, were signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday after passing the Legislature. Both bills will go into effect on July 22.
House Bill 1043 will streamline rules and regulations in common interest communities. Depending on the type of community and the timeframe it was created, interest communities could be governed by any one of four statutes.
"In meeting with constituents, they presented a number of concerns that needed to be addressed related to common interest communities. With the many different statutes governing these communities, our goal was to provide some uniformity and consistency with the regulations and how they are applied. This legislation should accomplish that," McEntire said.
A common interest community is a form of real estate in which each homeowner or unit owner has an exclusive interest in a unit and a shared interest in a common area property. Common interest communities are administered by an association of unit owners, such as a homeowners’ association or a condominium unit owners’ association.
"The new law will also ensure the communities have fair and balanced elections," McEntire said. "All members of homeowners' associations deserve to have their voices heard in their association elections."
HB 1403 will amend association recordkeeping requirements in the Homeowners’ Association Act, the Washington Condominium Act and the Horizontal property Regimes Act to align with association recordkeeping requirements for lists of unit owners under the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WUCIOA), with certain modifications to the WUCIOA recordkeeping requirements. The bill will also amend the WUCIOA association recordkeeping requirements for lists of unit owners and revises WUCIOA withholding requirements for other association records.
House Bill 1782 will address the operation and maintenance deficit of the Wahkiakum County ferry.
"This is about getting people to work. Many people in Washington and Oregon rely on the ferry daily to travel to and from their jobs," McEntire said. "We cannot overlook the public safety aspect of this legislation. It is critical to have the ferry as an option if emergencies come up and state Route 4 is blocked by a landslide, traffic accident or a different emergency."
Under HB 1782, state support of the Wahkiakum County ferry service will increase to 85% of the operating deficit. The bill will also remove a restriction that reimbursement can not exceed amounts appropriated for the biennium.
"This is an important piece of legislation to keep a vital transportation route open in the southwest corner of our state," McEntire said.
