The bill adds new statutory sections to chapters 64.90, 64.32, 64.34, and 64.38 RCW that create a procedural framework governing written inquiries from owners or owners' authorized agents to associations about governance or operations. For inquiries sent by certified mail, an association must respond in the form of a record within 30 days of receipt, subject to extensions to allow review at the next regularly scheduled board meeting (if meetings are at least monthly), an additional 30 days for complex inquiries, or time to obtain legal or other third‑party opinions when reasonably necessary. A "substantive response" is defined to include factual explanation, references to governing documents or records already available for inspection, statements of current association practices, or other responsive information reasonably available; associations are not required to obtain third‑party opinions to provide a substantive response unless reasonably necessary. The law treats costs of discretionary legal or third‑party professional opinions as common expenses that may not be specially assessed to any unit. It gives the prevailing party in any action or proceeding arising out of an inquiry subject to these sections (including litigation, mediation, arbitration, or administrative proceedings) the ability to recover reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. Associations may adopt reasonable rules about frequency and manner of responses and may limit their obligation to one written inquiry per unit (or per lot/apartment) in any 30‑day period; a single inquiry may contain multiple questions. Some new sections (those added to chapter 64.32 RCW and chapter 64.34 RCW) explicitly expire January 1, 2028. The record is incomplete about whether the sections added to chapter 64.90 RCW or chapter 64.38 RCW include expiration dates or other differing effective/expiration language, and the text of the new section added to chapter 64.38 RCW is cut off mid‑sentence, so some details and definitions (for example formal definitions of "association," "owner," or "authorized agent") are not available in the extracted material.

If enacted, community associations and their boards will be required to respond within about a month to certified-mail written questions from owners or their agents, with limited, defined ways to extend that time. Boards will likely adopt regular procedures and limits (for example answering only one written inquiry per unit every 30 days), and they may use common funds to pay for discretionary legal or professional advice rather than charging a unit directly, which could raise common expenses and change budgeting choices. The fee-shifting rule that lets the prevailing party recover attorneys’ fees may make enforcement actions more likely and raise litigation risk for associations. The biggest impacts fall on associations and their boards, which gain new timing and response duties and potentially higher common costs, and on owners, who gain clearer, enforceable access to information and some leverage to challenge nonresponse. Third-party lawyers and consultants may see more requests for opinions paid from association funds. Important details are unclear from the provided text: parts of one section are incomplete and only some new sections explicitly expire on January 1, 2028, so the duration and full scope of the rules are uncertain.