help with information request

If I was on the receiving end of such a communication I would reject it and ask that it be sent in writing. Then I would reply in writing, not email.

Why do you oppose email in this instance? Even the court system in Iowa, submits their rulings by e-mail. I was recently chosen for Federal jury duty for November and a lot of information is by e-mail. It seems to be a common method of communication now days. Even the important life stuff😊

That's a really long email, so a better approach might be to determine what's the most vexing of all this stuff and request documentation related to that.
Sending all this stuff to all the homeowners may be for naught - not because it isn't important, but because a lot of people don't read - or refuse to, and then you've wasted time and money. Even if you sent it via email, some homeowners might not have access (there are still a few out there), and you'd need a ton of attachments, which once again, people may or may not open.

A better approach might be to determine what bothers you the most and request documentation related to that issue. Some of what you're requesting should probably be on the website anyway, such as the draft budget for 2018 and board meeting dates, so you can probably take that off. For example, are you concerned about the erosion project because you think it's unnecessary or the board hasn't done enough comparison shopping regarding a contractor? What have they said when you expressed your concerns (emails are nice, but perhaps you should have also attended a few meetings to hear the conversations so you can understand the thinking behind the decisions being made). Once you've gleaned through that issue, you can work on the others or perhaps you and the other 14 or so homeowners can pick an issue, send letters requesting documents related to that issue and then all of you can get together and compare notes.

Allen,

Keep in mind that the applicable statute doesn't require the Association to provide you copies. If they do provide you copies, they may charge for them (not only the cost of the copy itself but the labor to make the copy). The statute provides that members have a right to review the records of the Association.

As others have said, this is a long email.

Personally, I would have worded the whole letter differently.

I would have worded it citing applicable sections of the governing documents and applicable sections of applicable State statutes. This shows that you have done your research.

To address specific issues within your request (and expecting that you are an HOA and not a COA):

Item 1 - It's possible that Board meetings are only planned a month in advance.
Per VA § 55-510.1, meetings of the Board are to be published and A lot owner may make a request to be notified on a continual basis of any such meetings. Hence I would have asked why the meetings are not being published and that you desire to be notified directly of all meetings as outlined within the statute.

Item 2 - Did you attend the annual meeting? IF you did, was there a sign in sheet? There should have been, but might not have been a sign-in sheet. Per VA § 13.1-845, applicable if your Association is incorporated as a nonprofit (most are but check to be sure), a members list is to be made available for inspection. VA § 55-510 and VA § 13.1-933 provides for inspecting and copying records of the Association.

Item 3 - Members are not entitled to draft anything unless they are in attendance of the Board meeting where a draft budget is being sent out. Members are entitled to approved drafts (i.e. proposals) or approved documents.

Item 4 - Members are entitled to signed contracts. Per VA § 55-510 and VA § 13.1-933 some records may be withheld. Translation, they don't have to provide you with copies of reports or opinions form inspections - as those are used in negotiations. Had you been in attendance of a board meeting when those were handed to board members, then per VA § 55-510.1 at least one copy of all agenda packets and materials furnished to members of an association's board of directors or subcommittee or other committee thereof for a meeting shall be made available for inspection by the membership of the association at the same time such documents are furnished to the members of the board of directors or any subcommittee or committee thereof.

Item 5 - You likely could have gotten this information from other sources. Typically, the Association attorney is also the registered agent. The registered agent of a corporation can be found on the VA State Corporation Commission. Additionally, asking for this information can have one infer that there is pending litigation which means most records can be withheld (as it relates to pending litigation) until the discovery process.

Item 6 - Membership list. Keep in mind that you are entitled to membership lists. This is normally only the name and mailing address of the member. Phone numbers and emails are not normally released.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS PRIOR TO EXERCISING THEM.

If you haven't sent the email - there is time to make changes. Additionally, per statute, request for records technically need to be sent via U.S. Mail.

If you have sent the email - expect some push back (mainly in the tone of what your wrote - which can place one in a defensive state).

Hope this helps,

Tim

I oppose email in this instance because things like this tend to get "lost". The court systems in many states do use email, but it's all properly authenticated through authorized systems that are clearly defined. What authentication exists on this sort of thing? I think there is none. Who do the email addresses of the senders belong to? Proof of that? Sending communications through the US Mail is a long established practice and, in my opinion anyway, not sending this detailed demand in writing smacks of laziness. In Florida, the condo and HOA laws allow associations to send certain notifications to the owners (other states may be different). We do that for some things. The law does not permit owners to request, for example, access to the official records of the association by email. Certified mail, return receipt requested must be used to make such a request. What happens if the recipient(s) claim they never received the email? You can't prove anything using email. It's not a secure medium for communications. There's no guaranteed delivery. There's no evidence of delivery even if it does end up in the correct recipient's email inbox.

I wouldn't trust such a momentous demand letter to email and, in my opinion, anyone who does so is foolish. It's bush league.

This posting is very interesting as I have been dealing with much the same in our HOA. Only a couple of comments as many have given excellent responses before me.

In GA we do have a GA Code that addresses HOA members having access to certain but not all documents, mostly the financials, contracts, minutes of meetings, etc. As I recently dealt with requesting a number of documents I would suggest that all correspondence be sent via Certified Mail, Return Receipt to the HOA's registered agent. In our case the management company. Copies might be sent to the individual BOD members. I recently discovered that my requests had only been seen by the Management Co. and the HOA President. The other BOD/HOA officers had never seen the letters.

After the Registered Agent received the letter I finally got a few of the documents I had requested. They showed exactly what I had suspected. We have spent of $50K on a project that was approved by members at $16.7K. Some of us are looking at the next step, one of which is to replace the entire BOD in December and other actions.

Emails are nice and quick but they can be easily deleted or "lost". If you are having issues then stick to certified mail. IMO it's the best way to go.
DennisG

Allen is on a witch hunt.

John,

We don't know that for a fact. As I pointed out to Allen earlier, the language used and the records being requested certainly gives an impression it's a which hunt.

However, as we all know with the tree issue I recently dealt with, it could be a valid concern, a simple lack of communication from the Board or priority issues and Allens emotions about the issue is high. We all know that when emotions enter into a conversation, it's difficult to actually discuss the issue logically or realistically until the emotions have subsided.

Therefore, I wouldn't say that Allen is or isn't on a witch hunt.
I would say that the proposed (well, I hope it's proposed) email is worded in such a way that it gives that impression.

If you’ve asked for the information but haven’t received it or a reason it hasn’t been given, it’s time for step two – rally together your neighbors (you’re off to a good start if there are 13-14 other concerned homeowners), call for a special meeting where you will discuss the board’s conduct – and whether a recall vote should be taken to get them the hell out. Why that hasn’t happened after many months, who knows, but better late than never.

Start with checking your documents to see what’s required – usually, a certain percentage of homeowners must sign a petition calling for a meeting and then the board must schedule the meeting. If they refuse to, the neighbors may need to consult a private attorney to compel them to do so. You’ll also need to have homeowners at the ready to take over if you succeed in voting these folks out (and yes, you may need to be one of them).

Once these folks are gone you can start taking a long look at the finances,, election documents, etc., and then determine what changes need to be made. You’re correct that nothing the board does should ever be done in secret – all of you own the common areas together and pay for their upkeep, so you have every right to know where the money’s going and why.

Now regarding some of your issues, here’s one person’s opinion:

Are you concerned about the election because of possible bad behavior like ineligible people being allowed to vote, lack of quorum (in which case the meeting and election can’t be held), use of unsigned proxies, proxies being disallowed for no reason? It’s one thing to get the information you’ve asked for, but you need to consider what you’re looking for, otherwise it’s just a bunch of paper.

There’s nothing wrong with using an official form for the email – in fact, if things escalate, that could work in your favor (e.g. they say you didn’t ask for X, you’ll have a copy of the form that proves you did)

Unless your documents say otherwise, homeowners don’t necessarily have the final word on budgets – you have a board that’s supposed to be making those decisions. In my association, for example, the homeowners weigh in if the assessments for next year will increase over a certain percentage from the current year – that would likely require a review of the budget with an explanation as to why the increase is necessary.

That said, it IS a good idea to present the final budget to homeowners, explaining what’s new and the goals for next year. When I was treasurer of my association, this is what we would do when we sent out an itemized budget for the upcoming year, along with a budget recap for this year.

Looking at signed contracts is fine, but once again, what’s the issue? Are you concerned the board didn’t do its due diligence in obtaining bids or checking their backgrounds or references? Is there a concern that a board member (or several) had/have a conflict of interest? Was everything done with a simple handshake and there are no written contracts anywhere? Determine what you’re concerned about and that will help you determine if you need to look at EVERYTHING or just a few documents.

That also goes for the attorney’s fee. For example, are you concerned the board running to the attorney for EVERYTHING rather than using common sense or at least checking the documents, previous meeting minutes, etc. Since the communication between the attorney and the board is privileged, homeowners aren’t entitled to the details of those conversations anyway – remember the attorney works for the association as a whole, not just the board, although the board instructs the attorney as to what they want him/her to do. If/when you can get a new board, it can talk to the attorney and perhaps set out some ground rules regarding contact. In my association, we had one person (usually me or the president) designated to contact the attorney with questions, most of which concerned our delinquencies. It helped save time and money, not to mention ensure consistency (board members were always copied on whatever the attorney said)

That is standard.


In this case, expecting that the denial was in writing, I would ask once more for the information citing the governing documents and statutes. If denied again, I would take that denial and file a complaint with the ombudsman. However, keep it specifically for the election.


Good. Many issues have been turned on technicality.


Within HOAs and COAs, the membership elects a Board of Directors to make the decisions for the Associations. The Board appoints Officers to implement those decisions.

If you want to have input, to be honest, you need to attend the Board meetings and speak during the open session. One can read the minutes of past meetings but by then the decisions have already been made and feedback is likely too late.


It is. Statutes support this. However, it's only the approved and signed contracts.
Follow procedure and request copies of all contracts entered into in 2017 (keeping in mind that multi-year contracts might not have been renewed this year). If denied, ask again citing governing docs and statutes. If denied, make a complaint to the Ombudsman.

In fact, if you really want to get the Boards attention, have several homeowners ask for this information individually. If denied, have them ask again individually. If denied have them make individual complaints to the Ombudsmans office.


Yep, there are some on the Board that want to run everything by an attorney. There are others who don't want to run anything by an attorney. In this case, seeing the expenses is irrelevant, although it is provided (as you point out) in the monthly reports. The Board has the authority to seek legal advice when they see fit. If the members don't like the expenses associated with this, the fix is to gather support and replace the Board members who will do the work with less legal advice. This is done either by recall or simply not reelecting them at the next election.


In my opinion, yes. I suspect in your Boards opinion, the answer is yes.
What info and how much is debatable. This is why statutes specify what is allowed. Anything more is the option of the board to release unless a court orders otherwise.

I was in a similar situation when the Board chose to rehab a traffic island.
We heard two opinions from members who happened to be at two different meetings when this was being discussed. One member wanted a forest. The other member wanted a playground. The Board decided we could ask 30 people and get 30 different opinions. The Board chose, what we thought, was a middle of the road design that could be added to over the years. The first step was to clear cut the remaining trees on the island (many already diseased or dead). We didn't explain what we were doing to the membership because we had already worked on this for 4 months and wanted to move on. That was our mistake. The membership in that area went, in my opinion, ballistic. To this day, emotions are still high for a few members and they are still not listening to what the Board is trying to say. End result - all members but me was replaced and, to be honest, I only stayed on the board by 4 votes.

Allen,

Let me clarify something.

Even if you are representing several members, to the Board you are simply one voice.
One voice is easy to ignore.
If everyone you are representing made the request on their own, then there are several voices.
Several voices are not easy to ignore and will most likely get things addressed.

Perhaps that varies by State.

In Virginia, per § 55-510/a>, only contracts that are in or under negotiation may be withheld. Executed contracts are to be provided for review if asked.

The only gray area would be any retainer of legal counsel. That one may or may not fall under the heading of attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product. I simply do not know.