HOA and Condo Documents: Portland vs. Vancouver (2026)

What HOA documents do you get when you buy a condo or HOA home in Portland versus Vancouver?

In Washington, the seller must hand you a resale certificate — a statutory packet the association prepares, capped at $275, delivered within 10 days of the owner's request — and you get five business days after you receive it to cancel the purchase. In Oregon, there is no resale certificate and no statutory cancellation right. The association's duty to produce documents runs to the owner, not to you, so everything you see as a buyer arrives through the sale agreement. Same river, completely different paperwork.

By Rick Sadle | August 31, 2026

Here's the call I get about twice a month, almost always at the worst possible moment: closing is nine days out, and the buyer still hasn't seen the HOA budget.

If the home is in Vancouver, Camas, or anywhere else in Clark County, that's a problem with a legal fix. If it's in Portland, it's a problem with a contract fix. Knowing which one you're in changes what you do next.

This catches a lot of people in our market, because so many buyers and sellers here cross the river. A Pearl District condo and a Felida townhome look like the same transaction on the surface. The document rules behind them are not remotely the same.

Washington: the resale certificate is the law, and it comes with a clock

Under RCW 64.90.640, a unit owner selling in a Washington common interest community must furnish the buyer a resale certificate before the purchase contract is executed, or otherwise before conveyance. An officer or authorized agent of the association signs it, and it has to be based on the association's actual books and records.

It's long — the statute spells out roughly two dozen required items. These are the ones that actually change your decision:

• Assessments currently due, any delinquent amounts, and any special assessment already levied but not yet payable
• Community-wide delinquencies — assessments on any unit past due more than 30 days, current to within 45 days
• Any anticipated repair or replacement expected to exceed five percent of the association's board-approved annual budget (on a $400,000 budget, that's $20,000 — low enough to catch real problems early)
• Whether the association has a current reserve study, and if it doesn't, a mandatory written warning that you could be hit with a special assessment
• The annual financial statement, the most recent audit if one exists, and the current operating budget
• Unsatisfied judgments and the status of any litigation
• Insurance coverage, plus contact information for the association's broker
• Any restriction on leasing or renting the unit
• Requirements tied to an electric vehicle charging station

Three deadlines and two dollar figures do the real work:

1. The association has 10 days after an owner's request to produce the certificate.
2. Preparation is capped at $275, plus up to $100 to update it within six months — $375 total, at most. The association also can't require the owner to open an account with a third-party vendor just to receive it.
3. You can cancel the contract within five business days after you first receive the certificate. If you receive it more than five business days before you sign, that cancellation right never attaches. If you receive it fewer than five business days before closing, you can push the closing date out up to five business days instead.

There's real protection underneath all of that. You aren't liable for unpaid assessments above the amount stated in the certificate. The seller isn't liable to you for errors the association made. And if the association misses the deadline or overcharges, the owner can bring an action over it, with attorney fees available to the prevailing party.

Two caveats I'd want you to hear from your broker rather than discover at signing.

Not every Washington community is on the same statute yet. Condominiums created between July 1, 1990 and July 1, 2018 that haven't opted into WUCIOA still run on RCW 64.34.425 — same basic idea, slightly different cancellation mechanics. Older single-family homeowners associations governed by RCW 64.38 owe no statutory resale certificate at all. That gap closes on January 1, 2028, when the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act applies to every common interest community regardless of when it was formed.

A 2025 amendment lets a buyer waive receipt when the certificate is genuinely unavailable — for example, when the association blew the 10-day deadline after payment, or the seller made three documented good-faith requests and heard nothing within three business days. That's a release valve for unresponsive associations, not an invitation to skip the packet. It also pairs closely with what sellers have to disclose in Oregon versus Washington, since one of the waiver paths runs straight through the seller disclosure form.

Oregon: no resale certificate, and the association doesn't owe you anything

Oregon has no equivalent. Not for condominiums, not for planned communities.

What Oregon has is a records duty that runs to owners. Under ORS 100.480 for condominiums and ORS 94.670 for planned communities, an association must, within 10 business days of a written request from an owner, furnish:

• The declaration, bylaws, recorded plat, and the rules currently in effect
• The most recent annual financial statement
• The current operating budget
• The reserve study, if the association has one
• Architectural standards and guidelines, if any

Separately, on written request from an owner, the association must produce a statement of that owner's unpaid assessments, fines, accrued interest, and late charges, along with the rates used to calculate interest and late fees.

Read those provisions closely and you'll notice who's missing: you, the buyer. The right to examine association records belongs to owners and to mortgagees of a unit or lot. There's no statutory cap on the fee — the board may set a "reasonable" charge that can include personnel costs. And there's no statutory cancellation window tied to receiving anything.

The condominium disclosure statement people sometimes bring up is a different animal. Under Oregon's Condominium Act, that obligation sits with the developer selling new units, along with the cancellation rights attached to it. The Oregon Real Estate Agency describes it the same way. On a resale, it doesn't apply.

So in Oregon, your protection is whatever the sale agreement gives you. The HOA document review period, how many days you get, and what happens if the packet lands late are all negotiated terms — not statutory ones. It works a lot like the inspection response window: the contract sets the clock, so the contract has to be written with the clock in mind.

That's not a reason to avoid Oregon condos. It's a reason to treat the review window as a real negotiating point instead of a formality.

What to actually do about it

Selling in Clark County: request the resale certificate the day you decide to list, not the day you accept an offer. Ten days is the association's floor, not its habit. Budget $275, plus $100 if you need an update later — a line item worth adding to your closing cost estimate early.

Buying in Clark County: read the reserve study and the five-percent repair disclosure before you read anything else. That's where special assessments announce themselves. And know exactly when your five business days started, because the answer depends on when you received the certificate relative to signing and to your closing date.

Selling in Portland: you're the only person who can pull these documents, so pull them early. Order the declaration, bylaws, rules, budget, latest financial statement, and reserve study before you list, and ask up front what the association charges.

Buying in Portland: negotiate the HOA document review period into the offer, and make it long enough to actually read a reserve study. If the seller can't produce documents inside that window, you want the consequence spelled out in the contract, because the statute won't do it for you.

One more thing that applies on both sides of the river: association insurance premiums and reserve funding requirements have been climbing, and that pressure shows up in monthly dues and in special assessments. That's a national trend, not a Portland or Vancouver one — but it's why the reserve study has become the most important page in the packet.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the association have to give me the documents?

In Washington, 10 days after the owner requests a resale certificate. In Oregon, 10 business days after an owner's written request for the governing documents, budget, financial statement, and reserve study. Neither state gives a prospective buyer a direct right to demand documents from the association.

Can I cancel my purchase if I don't like what's in the HOA documents?

In Washington, yes — you have five business days after first receiving the resale certificate to cancel. In Oregon, only if your sale agreement gives you that right, because no statute does.

How much do HOA documents cost?

Washington caps resale certificate preparation at $275, plus up to $100 for an update within six months. Oregon sets no cap; the board may charge a reasonable fee that can include personnel costs.

Does this apply to a single-family home in an HOA, or only to condos?

Both, with one gap. Oregon's ORS 94.670 covers planned communities and mirrors the condominium rule. In Washington, WUCIOA communities and most condominiums owe a resale certificate, but older homeowners associations under RCW 64.38 don't — until January 1, 2028, when WUCIOA covers every common interest community.

What's the one document I should read first?

The reserve study, together with the disclosure of any anticipated repair exceeding five percent of the annual budget. Underfunded reserves are the most common source of a special assessment nobody saw coming.

Same transaction, two completely different sets of rights. In Vancouver, the statute protects you and the clock runs on its own. In Portland, the contract is the only thing protecting you — so the contract has to be written that way from the start.

If you're buying or selling a condo, townhome, or HOA property anywhere in the Portland–Vancouver metro and you want to know exactly what you're entitled to and when, I'm happy to walk you through it. Reach out anytime.

A note on scope: I'm a real estate broker, not an attorney or a CPA. This is general information about Oregon and Washington law as of August 2026 — not legal or tax advice for your transaction. Statutes change, and how they apply to your property depends on when your association was formed and what its governing documents say. Confirm the specifics with a real estate attorney or your escrow officer.

About Rick Sadle

Rick Sadle is the Principal Broker and CEO of The Sadle Home Selling Team at Keller Williams Realty Professionals, serving the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington real estate markets. With more than 20 years of real estate experience, over 3,500 homes sold and more than $1 billion in team sales volume, Rick is one of the Portland area's most experienced real estate professionals. He is also a weekly real estate expert on KXL 101 FM, where he discusses the Portland and Vancouver housing markets, mortgage rates, housing trends and the economy. Rick is an Oregon-licensed Principal Broker and Washington-licensed Broker.

Sources

• RCW 64.90.640 — Unit resales, resale certificate (Washington State Legislature)
• RCW 64.34.425 — Resale of unit (effective until January 1, 2028) (Washington State Legislature)
• Chapter 64.38 RCW — Homeowners' Associations (Washington State Legislature)
• House Bill Report, ESSB 5129, as passed House April 10, 2025 (Washington State Legislature)
• ORS 100.480 and ORS 100.725 — Oregon Condominium Act (Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 100)
• ORS 94.670 — Association duty to keep documents and records (Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 94)
• The Condominium Form of Ownership Explained (Oregon Real Estate Agency)