old association with limited paperwork

Started by LindaD6 • 4 replies • 1333 views

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LindaD6 (Illinois)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Hi, My association was formed before 1945. We only have documentaion from 1981 to present. The secretaries of the past had forwarded them to each other each year and around this time there had been a fire where a lot of the documentation was lost. How long is all of the minutes and everything to be kept?

RobertR1 (South Carolina)
Posts: 5,164

Posted:

The only thing I can tell you is I believe records must be kept for seven years in a condo in SC. We have kept them since 81, but are they complete???? Who knows?

I would think any good HOA lawyer could tell you, but it is sometimes just better to keep them all. This practice, to me, sets the stage for a lot of confusion if you get a request by an owner to review records, and the request demands something like a look at all the past years financial, for instance. When this kind of stuff happens it just adds up more lawyer bills on both sides. I suspect there is a time limit but that does not mean you are commanded to destroy any records.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,047

Posted:

Linda,

You need to keep minutes for a minimum of 7 years. This is based on the following research:

Per the IL General Not-for-profit Corporation Act of 1986 Section 107.75:

(805 ILCS 105/107.75) (from Ch. 32, par. 107.75)
Sec. 107.75. Books and records.
(a) Each corporation shall keep correct and complete books and records of account and shall also keep minutes of the proceedings of its members, board of directors and committees having any of the authority of the board of directors; and shall keep at its registered office or principal office a record giving the names and addresses of its members entitled to vote.

Since this act only says that records must be kept, we need to look at
(765 ILCS 605/) Condominium Property Act Section 18.5 Sub-section (d) Number 1, sub-paragraph (iii) which says:

(iii) The minutes of all meetings of the master association and the board of the master association shall be maintained for not less than 7 years.

There is more information as to what records and how long to keep them in the Condo Act. Use the link provided and scroll down to section 18.5 sub-section (d): Records.

Hope this helps,

Tim

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Linda,

7 years is the normal. Most of your old paperwork should be shredded with only saving the legal type items prior to the 7, like registration with your Stat, annual tax returns, etc. Minutes, notes, old contracts and election items could be cleaned out. Now, everything should go onto data saving computer systems for storage.

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

Linda you should check with the Association’s attorney and CPA to come up with a schedule for document disposal that meets IL statutes and general business practices. Some items such as minutes should be kept forever.

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