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VeronicaR1 (Florida)
Posts: 6
Posted:
Our HOA by-laws states:

5.3 Financial Statements.

Financial statements of theaccounts shall be made annually by an independent accountant and a copy of the report shall be furnished to each Member and Owner no later than the first day of May of the year following the year for which the report is made. The report shall be deemed furnished to the Member or Owner upon its delivery or mailing to the Member or Owner shown on the records of the Corporation at his last known address shown on the records of the Corporation.

Now the Florida Statutes states:

(a) An association that meets the criteria of this paragraph shall prepare or cause to be prepared a complete set of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as adopted by the Board of Accountancy. The financial statements shall be based upon the association’s total annual revenues, as follows:
1. An association with total annual revenues of $100,000 or more, but less than $200,000, shall prepare compiled financial statements.
2. An association with total annual revenues of at least $200,000, but less than $400,000, shall prepare reviewed financial statements.
3. An association with total annual revenues of $400,000 or more shall prepare audited financial statements.

(b)1. An association with total annual revenues of less than $100,000 shall prepare a report

The board is telling us that they do not need to have it done by an independent accountant because they fell under 100,000. Even though this is true according to Florida Statutes our by-laws says differently.

Please advise.
JayP3 (Florida)
Posts: 154
Posted:
Typically state statutes prevail... but not always.

The by-laws create a contract with a private corporation.

In the absence of a 'not notwithstanding' clause and given that the by-laws are in a sense more restrictive my bet is the by-laws prevail in this case.

For example: the drinking age in Fl. is 21, but an establishment could have a 25 y.o. minimum policy (more restrictive). Thus you cannot force the private establishment to serve say a 22 y.o.
TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,061
Posted:
Veronica,

Based on your posting, the Board must do both. They need to:

1) Prepare a report in order to be in compliance with FL law.
2) Have the report prepared by an independent individual, who is also an accountant, in order to be in compliance with your Bylaws.

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