Member request for delinquent accounts at BOD meeting

At our last BOD meeting we were reviewing our delinquent homeowners and some of the members present wanted a copy of the delinquent statements. In the past, my position has been to keep this info only available to the BOD members but Florida Statues provide for the reviewing of HOA documents per member request. Based on this, the Board provided the information requested.

How have others handled request for sensitive financial information at Board meetings? Do you have some standard form for members to sign.

BenJ

HIPAA has nothing to do with HOA's and personal privacy, unless your HOA is providing health information to its' owners. HIPPA is a Health Insurance law, and requires health care providers, insurance companies, etc. to maintain confidentiality.

Your HOA is not covered by HIPAA.

Delinquent assessments are not "personal financial information of individual unit owners". They should be made available when there is a justifiable request by an owner.

Here's the Arizona law regarding what is to be in executive session regarding financial information:

"Personal, health or financial informtion about an individual member of the association, and individual employee of the association or an individual employee of a contractor for the association, including records of the association directly related to the personal, health or financial informtion about an individual member of the association, and individual employee of the association or an individual employee of a contractor for the association."

I would read that as "personal information" or "health information" or "financial information".

So we intrept the AZ law as not be able to provide any information that relates to personal (such as telephone numbers, email addresses, etc) health information (which we normally do not have) or financial information (which would include late assessments, fines, etc.

I realize that all states have different laws.

Brian http://www.ccfj.net/courtdecFLFDCPA.html or http://condolawyers.com/articles/7th%20Circuit%20Rules.htm are two of the rulings, there are more.

CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT AGAINST LAW FIRM
VIOLATION OF FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT
Since quite some time the argument about HOA attorneys being obligated to follow the guide lines of the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) is going on in and out of courts. There was so far a collection of different court cases but no real court case which took place here in Florida. Until members of a property owners association filed a class-action lawsuit against one of the biggest HOA law firms in Florida -- Becker & Poliakoff, a name well known among homeowners all over Florida. This lawsuit alleged violations of the FDCPA. The law firm argued that maintenance assessments were not a debt for purposes of the ACT and the firm shouldn't be considered debt collectors under the ACT. It was the courts opinion that the assessments were for family or personal purposes, making them debts subject to the FDCPA. The court further argued that the firm was made up of attorneys who regularly collect or attempt to collect debts, so they had to be considered debt-collectors. The court further found that the letter sent by the firm to the homeowners contained false and misleading representations under the debtor standards of the ACT.

The ruling in short terms :
Consumers brought action against lawyers for violating Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act (FCCPA). On consumers' motion for partial summary judgment, the District Court, Kovachevich, Chief Judge, held that:
(1) maintenance assessments from recreational property memberships were "debts";
(2) lawyers were "debt collectors";
(3) language used in collection letters was a "false representation" and "misleading" to a least sophisticated consumer;
(4) language used in collection letters was not "deceptive" to a least sophisticated consumer;
(5) collection letters did not "state amount of debt owed"; and
(6) fact issues existed precluding summary judgment.
Motion granted in part and denied in part.

IMO it is OKAY to discuss INDIVIDUALs accounts with THAT specific individual. It should NOT be available outside the board members/management office on who owes money. That could lead to "vigilantism" which is NOT a responsibility of individual members.
In our HOA board meetings we would simply refer to "Lot numbers" or sometimes addresses of the individual who owes money. We would NOT give out names or other personal information to the general membership. It's not really any of their business EXCEPT for the fact the board is taken or is given the right to collect in the proper procedures.
Let me put it in "layman's terms" why you do NOT reveal COLLECTION Reports. (EXPENDITURES ARE OPEN GAME). Say, you and 4 friends decide to go on vacation together. You ALL agree to pay $1,000 to cover the costs. You decide to put the costs on your credit card while your on your vacation. Your friends will pay you back when you come home. (Maybe from their winnings!) You get the money back from 2 of your friends. One gives you HALF the money due to a unexpectant layoff. The third friend does NOT pay at all. Now your other 2 paid up friends get "wind" that one didn't pay and the other only paid half. What do you think would happen? A fight? or end of friendship? No more vacations together? Meantime your credit card company is sending you notices and charging you interest on the $1,500 not paid up.
This is NOT unlike the setup of a HOA. It is ONLY funded BY it's members FOR it's members. Someone not paying can make others decide NOT to pay or to try to contact this person outside of HOA business.
So keeping the information strictly between the parties that is asking about thier own property is FINE. Someone else asking is asking for trouble.

Glen, regarding the Arizona law: that information MAY be withheld. the law does not require that it is withheld, just states that it may be (ARS 33-1805B). So, it is the HOA's choice to withhold it from records requests. the HOA is certainly able to divulge it if they wish, as long as it doesn't otherwise violate another state or federal privacy law that applies.

Also, names, phone numbers, addresses, and even social security numbers are commonly public, and thus, your HOA shouldn't worry about having them out in the open. I would avoid the social security number thing though, as I suspect we will soon have tougher legislation about that soon.

good point roger, which goes back to the poster who said they refer to lot numbers, not people.

solid idea!