Re-Formatting Governing Documents

You might try to use an OCR (Optical Character Recognizition) software package. Most scanners come with the software and it's not perfect, but it might save you from having to type the entire document. It would be nice to have this on a text searchable pdf file. It makes it a lot easier to look up specific subjects. OCR software won't work on very small fonts and it works betters with some fonts than others. This sounds like a lot of work, but it might be worth the effort.

Thank you both for the suggestions. The copy I have in-house is not suitable for OCR, but perhaps if I get a clean copy from the city, I will have more success. I am willing to use a typing service if I need to or, dare I say, do it myself. I am more concerned with the legal steps involved, having it re-recorded, etc. Can either of you offer me some guidance in that area? I am afraid my inexperience is showing.

Rebecca, we place the following disclaimer at the beginning of digital documents which has been created by scanning hardcopy and running OCR. All HOA documents are placed in PDF format, emailed upon request to Owners and to Seller's Agent, and posted on their websites.

Disclaimer: This document was created by scanning the hard copy document and converting images to digital text using optical character recognition (OCR) software. This allows efficient electronic transfer via email or website when available. You are herein advised of the potential for OCR errors and font replacement of hand written script. If concerned, please request an image copy created directly from the hard copy document.

DECLARATION OF COVENANTS, CONDITIONS, AND RESTRICTIONS OF ______________

Rebecca, a Board can chose whether or not to use an attorney. None of the associations we manage have used an attorney. And no association that we manage has recorded this type document. I think to do so it would be considered an amendment; I don't recommend this.

Rebecca - The official document is on file with the county. How they maintain that document (whether in electronic form or paper hard-copy) is irrelevant to all other copies. The documents that you and the other homeowners have are only copies. If a situation ever came up where the copy that you have says "A" while the copy that your neighbor has says "B", you would have to go to the county and check the "official" document to see what is correct (and then go to your title companies to find out why there are conflicting copies floating around). Unless you are making changes to the content of the document (which you probably can't do without the signature of a large majority of the homeowners), you don't need to refile.

As to you making an electronic version and making it available to others, that is fine. But it it still just a "copy" and everyone who views it should understand that. As others have stated, it would probably be a good idea to include a disclaimer indicating that it is only a copy. I provide a link on our HOA website to our CC&Rs. When somebody clicks on that link, they should get a pop-up warning them that "Note that these are sample CC&Rs provided as a reference only. This is not a recorded copy."

I agree, ocr software can extract text from images and scanned pdf document.

Welcome to the forum, Tony. Please note that this particular thread is 9 years old.