FL- New HOA Board Asking for ID's from Entire Community

We have all been asked to provide our ID's to new board

A good portion of homeowners have already lived here for years, several decades.

There is a huge concern about identity theft.

We are not comfortable giving out copies of our Driver's License with birthdays, license #, etc.

The office is not secure and there is no safe. This is also not a safe area in general.

Several people on the board are not trustworthy. Are we legally required to comply with this demand? This is not an apartment complex and the board are not our landlords. We own our houses and the property on them.

And ask them why they need the information and how it will be protected. Remind them the association can be held liable if the information is misused (and the penalties will be steep). Unless and until they answer those questions, the answer should be no.

And why are you putting up with "untrustworthy" board members? If a number of you feel that way, rally together, vote them out and replace them with people you can trust (including you, perhaps?)

What is their definition of identification?

I'm with Sheila on this, I wouldn't give anything until they come up with satisfactory answers to the questions she posed.

Answering your direct question above, I doubt that there is any law compelling you to provide them that information, so no, you are not "legally" obligated. HOAs have governing docs which form a contract between the owners. If those documents require you to provide ID, then you would be contractually obligated to do so. I think it would be very unusual for your governing docs to have a requirement like this.

I would tell them unless they can answer the questions to your satisfaction, including a compelling reason to need the ID, that you are not planning on providing it. Unfortunately there are plenty of boards who have no idea what they are doing, and they could threaten to fine or take other action, whether they really have the authority to do it or not.

If they persist, you might want to get some neighbors to chip in and get a lawyer to review your situation and offer an opinion. If the opinion favors your case, have them send a demand notice to the board on your behalf to cease their demands.

I believe many Covenants do require the association maintain an up to date list of owners and residents. I see no problem with such a list containing name, address, phone number and that only. That is far from identity theft.

TimB4,

slight typo

leave in the underlined word 'the'

There is NO HOPA or HUD ownership requirement nor actual permanent residence requirement.

There IS a financial responsibility (pays the bills) and 'occupy' on a regular and periodic basis requirement ~ good luck in court with disproving a HUD permitted 'self certification'.