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KimB1 (Florida)
Posts: 81
Posted:
I have been unable to locate any Florida laws (current or pending) pertaining to receiving a backup of financial data in order for a group of owners to perform a self review.

A formal request request was made to the board requesting to receive an electronic back-up of our financial database (quickbooks). We want to expedite a self-review, rather than having to sift through many pages of printed reports to ensure database changes do not occur. We know backups are a 2-3 minute process that should already exist and be performed regularly. But the board has exceeded the 10 day period with excuses and delays.

We are a FL HOA, that is self managed, with no internal controls or segregation of dutites. And we are well aware of the consequences of being mismanaged and funds being mishandled.
I seek only for references to legislation, statutes that could compel the board to comply with my explicit request. Please help. Thank you.
LindaC3 (Florida)
Posts: 526
Posted:
KimB1............. As a member of an HOA in Florida I do not believe there are any current or pending laws with regards to what you are seeking.....Do you have an accountant that performs your year end financial reviews ??? You may have to spend time manually going thru the financials in order to do your self review.If I come across any info that may be of help to you I will post to the group....LindaC
RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067
Posted:
Kim, I know of no statute which requires an HOA to provide digital copies of a financial data base. To do a financial review you can request copies of the general ledger. PLUS I suggest you get copies of bank (and other financial instiution) statements for an independent comparision. Digital backups do not ensure there are no data base changes or a second data base does not exist.
BradD2 (Florida)
Posts: 418
Posted:
Kim, you can request a copy of the records but I don't think you can request a copy of the system. The first issue you will run into is licensing. That is a purchased product that runs anywhere from $140 to $700 depending on the version and year. I just can't see a judge authorizing that.

You can request specific records but be prepared to pay for it as that will be an expense they will probably stick you with.
KimB1 (Florida)
Posts: 81
Posted:
We have Quickbooks licences and programs that we use for our businesses so a backup can be restored and reviewed easily. We have a group of individuals that are qualified to review the books, I have a detailed review plan to lead the review and not get lost in details. It's a new thing to the board and board members in general have never reviewed detailed transactions in 10+ years. And only 1 or 2 treasurers have been in control of funds. $250K in/out each year needs a second set of eyse. All we need is the database backup copy and the board to comply.
BradD2 (Florida)
Posts: 418
Posted:
That sounds good but I don't think that you can legally require them to do it. FS 720.303.5 says

5) INSPECTION AND COPYING OF RECORDS.--The official records shall be maintained within the state and must be open to inspection and available for photocopying by members or their authorized agents at reasonable times and places within 10 business days after receipt of a written request for access. This subsection may be complied with by having a copy of the official records available for inspection or copying in the community. If the association has a photocopy machine available where the records are maintained, it must provide parcel owners with copies on request during the inspection if the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages.

(a) The failure of an association to provide access to the records within 10 business days after receipt of a written request creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with this subsection.

(b) A member who is denied access to official records is entitled to the actual damages or minimum damages for the association's willful failure to comply with this subsection. The minimum damages are to be $50 per calendar day up to 10 days, the calculation to begin on the 11th business day after receipt of the written request.

(c) The association may adopt reasonable written rules governing the frequency, time, location, notice, records to be inspected, and manner of inspections, but may not impose a requirement that a parcel owner demonstrate any proper purpose for the inspection, state any reason for the inspection, or limit a parcel owner's right to inspect records to less than one 8-hour business day per month. The association may impose fees to cover the costs of providing copies of the official records, including, without limitation, the costs of copying. The association may charge up to 50 cents per page for copies made on the association's photocopier. If the association does not have a photocopy machine available where the records are kept, or if the records requested to be copied exceed 25 pages in length, the association may have copies made by an outside vendor and may charge the actual cost of copying. The association shall maintain an adequate number of copies of the recorded governing documents, to ensure their availability to members and prospective members. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, the following records shall not be accessible to members or parcel owners:

1. Any record protected by the lawyer-client privilege as described in s. 90.502 and any record protected by the work-product privilege, including, but not limited to, any record prepared by an association attorney or prepared at the attorney's express direction which reflects a mental impression, conclusion, litigation strategy, or legal theory of the attorney or the association and was prepared exclusively for civil or criminal litigation or for adversarial administrative proceedings or which was prepared in anticipation of imminent civil or criminal litigation or imminent adversarial administrative proceedings until the conclusion of the litigation or adversarial administrative proceedings.

2. Information obtained by an association in connection with the approval of the lease, sale, or other transfer of a parcel.

3. Disciplinary, health, insurance, and personnel records of the association's employees.

4. Medical records of parcel owners or community residents.


This statute mentions photocopying and a photocopy machine; it is talking about paper records. It also mentions "if the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages". I am pretty sure your request is outside this statute.
DwightT (Idaho)
Posts: 664
Posted:
I think part of the problem may be in your asking for a backup copy of the database. Depending on how the records are kept in Quickbooks, giving you a complete copy of the database may give you access to more details than you are entitled to. For example, there may be specific payroll info or individual member details stored in the database, and the HOA shouldn't give you access to that info. It's been some time since I've looked at the Quicken line, but you might be able to request an export of the general ledger. That should let you do an audit without exposing individual restricted data.

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