To destroy or not/ digital recordings

Started by NancyB11 • 8 replies • 1495 views

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NancyB11 (Washington)
Posts: 11

Posted:

My WA state HOA records BOD meetings for reference when preparing the minutes. I have read that after the Board approves the written minutes the recording must be erased. Does anyone know where I can find the RCW pertaining to this?

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

It depends on if recorded media can be considered you official meeting notes. Don't see anything wrong with erasing the meetings after their purpose is done. The written word is usually considered the approved manner of official notes. They are the ones signed off on. If something came up in court, it wouldn't be the video but the official notes that would represent the HOA. It's always good to have a policy of maybe keeping them for 6 months to a year just in case clarification needs made. However, after a new board is elected, they aren't really needed.

Former HOA President

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Good practice would be to erase the tape after minutes are approved. Otherwise, the tapes are considered part of the Association records and can be inspected by members or considered discoverable for any legal actions.

There is no requirement, other than an Associations policy, which I know of that would address how to deal with audio and/or video recordings made by the Board.

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

I see little reason to destroy the recordings and a lot of good reason to keep them.

Since I do not know much about WA law, my reasoning is based on AZ law. State law here says that members must be permitted to attend board meetings and be permitted to speak on each matter before a vote is taken. Suppose I sue my association claiming that I was denied the opportunity to speak. If you have the recording, you can prove me wrong. If you tell the court that, "We made a recording but we erased it," you not only cannot disprove my allegations but you look like you are hiding something.

Besides, if the recording is being made at association expense then it is an association record even if it is not the official meeting minutes.

PaulT6 (California)
Posts: 409

Posted:

Our HOA records the Board meetings. I am told the only reason is for our Excutive Assistant to verify information when writing the minutes. Then the recording is deleted. When I asked why the recordinds were not kept for a longer duration I was told "we want only one source of information", meaning the minutes. I don't know if there is any State Law governing the use of recordings.

Paul T

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

All

It is cheap and easy to keep recordings. I can also understand that if someone goes on a "witch hunt" they could request copies and that could be an expensive, time consuming task.

A an advocate of openness but a realist about things, I would keep the recordings and make a Rule and Regulation that one can have a copy for the mere sum of $50.00 per meeting.

The Minutes should be published for all to see.

I think this all meets my openness standard and keeps the witch hunters/conspiracy thinkers at bay.....LOL

NancyB11 (Washington)
Posts: 11

Posted:

That is exactally how I/we feel and it makes very good sense. I just thought it was "law" to destroy them after the minutes were written & approved, but as I stated I don't seem to find one which covers this. Thanks for the input everyone.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Quote:

I just thought it was "law" to destroy them after the minutes were written & approved, but as I stated I don't seem to find one which covers this.

There are no specific laws that cover this, for associations. This isn't television. Honestly its better to destroy them after minutes have been approved, and not used as a record. Just think of storing these for years, decades. If your HOA was started 30 years ago, you would have reel to reel, 8 tracks, cassette tapes, and now cdroms, etc all piling up in many, many many boxes. Some may be destroyed by age, heat, etc. It would be a nightmare to keep around.

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SteveM9 on 09/14/2012 5:22 PM
There are no specific laws that cover this, for associations. This isn't television. Honestly its better to destroy them after minutes have been approved, and not used as a record. Just think of storing these for years, decades. If your HOA was started 30 years ago, you would have reel to reel, 8 tracks, cassette tapes, and now cdroms, etc all piling up in many, many many boxes. Some may be destroyed by age, heat, etc. It would be a nightmare to keep around.

I used to work in data processing and one of big problems was that while the media changed less often than it does for consumer electronics, file formats did change quite often. Data centers are filled with old tapes full of information that can no longer be used because the file format changed but no one thought to update the old records to the new formats.

An association should adopt a policy as to how long records will be kept regardless of the media they are stored on.

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