Records that are legally public to members

I am a member seeking certain information regarding my association.
What documents can I legally have access to.
It seems like any paying member of an association should have access to:

Past Years Budgets, Results
Banking Ledgers
Status of Dues for Units
Fines levied against members

thank you

Thanks Tim

This is a condo HOA btw, yes, we are incorporated

Your information helped, thx

I'm wondering, Scott, why you want to inspect: "Status of Dues for Units...Fines levied against members" ? This info generally is private and not availalble to any members except Board members. But states' statutes do vary, so perhaps Wisc. gives you access to your neighbor's financial ' affairs.

Many HOAs do report on the % of lots that are delinquent and how much that totals. Would that help you?

Kerry

I would prefer not to get into the specifics but it's my belief that fines are not being applied consistently...rarely...unless the president of the HOA has a personal issue with the person/situation.

Scott

I agree Scott, however, you can name names only if it is done "in house" via HOA newsletter or at board meetings. Where our HOA ran into problems was not naming EVERY offender (selectively naming names and or addresses) and placing those names in "public" view on a bulletin board that is accessible not only to our members but to the general public.

The offended parties were able to sue for defamation and slander as this type of information should not be made available to the "general public"

Best way is to use the unit number, and place it in minutes and or newsletter and keep it viewable to member eyes only, not to the entire city

When I was treasurer of my board (and newsletter editor), I would disclose the number of units that were delinquent, total amount owed by number of days (30, 60, 90, 120 and 120+). My association doesn't have a fining system because Indiana has case law that states HOAs can't fine because they aren't government agencies (most get around that by calling them administrative fees).

No one's ever asked for specifics as to who owes what - I would never provide that information anyway because of the Fair Credit Reporting Act - you can go to the FTC website for more information on its specifics, but it does prohibit disclosing one's credit history to someone who doesn't have a valid reason for it (e.g. a landlord checking the credit of a potential tenant is OK). Otherwise, it really isn't anyone's business how much their neighbor owes, unless the board isn't doing anything to collect, and the board should be able to provide a summary of the actions the association attorney has taken, such as X number of lawsuits are pending or X number of liens have been filed.

As for fines, I would hope your HOA discloses the most common violations, how many homeowners were cited, total amount of fines assessed and paid, and the number of violations that have been resolved or are still pending. It should already be telling homeowners how complaints are received and investigated, how homeowners are notified and the appeals process. If you think you're being singled out because the HOA president doesn't like you, start with your own issue and then ask your neighbors if they've had the same problem. Then all of you can go to a board meeting and demand answers - if there's an indication the violation process isn't being done according to the rules, the entire board needs to address that or risk getting recalled.

By the way, for those of you who want to know which of your neighbors owe the Association, I'll ask what I've asked two or three times before on other posts on this subject - what exactly will you do with the information? If your actions don't result in the HOA getting its money, it won't matter if you know your next door neighbor paid or not. However, if you lived in my association when I was treasurer and you told me you would pay someone's account off in full, I would have been happy to tell you all about him/her/them - AFTER the check cleared AND sent the homeowner a notice of what you did! How and when you get your money back or not would be your problem.

Public shaming really doesn't work anymore, not in these days of everyone loudly announcing TMI about themselves and everyone else or bankruptcy attorneys talking about how you can get out of debt - everyone seems to be looking for a way to get out of meeting their legal responsibilities. Giving your neighbor the stink eye because he/she hasn't paid won't work either - in fact, you may wind up with a black eye or worse if you confront them!

In Virginia, new condo owners are provided with the registered Declaration and By-laws, and are required to abide by all stipulations, but the By-law are administered by the Board of Directors--so... Owners must be notified of board meetings, unless the meetings are for bid approval and legal issues.

Forgot to add that for Virginia HOAs, all meetings of the Board must have prior notice to the membership. I thought it was the same for Condo's as well but have not researched the condo statutes. Therefore, I certainly defer to Amy on that.

If you feel that this is the case, an unfair application of your docs based on favoritism, you have two choices that I see:

-get on the board so that you can change it if it is happening;

-go straight to court

Otherwise, what do you hope to see happen if you were to get your hands on the smoking gun?

I am going to court, aside from what I feel is an unfair treatment because of an incident that happened previously with my son, the reason and amount I am being fined are just not right.

I'm sorry at this time I can't share details since I believe this forum is also used by the board member and while my case is still in progress I'd rather not share for legal reasons.

I will come back in a month after my court date when I expect to have this resolved to explain.

I do appreciate all the tips and information...it's a very active forum !