owner access to financial information

Started by LeonaG • 11 replies • 888 views

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LeonaG (Oregon)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Greetings! My HOA is a small (75) condo complex near Portland. The board holds a monthly meeting which is designated to begin at 6:00 The new board is telling owners to come to the meeting at 6:30. What happens from 6:00-6:30 is the monthly financial report given by our bookkeeper. I, as well as other owners, have gone through our governing documents carefully, and there is nothing in there about any financial information being 'secret' from the owners (unless according to Oregon law, there is an executive session about a contract, or legal matter). We can also find nothing in Oregon HOA law that would suggest some financial information - like unpaid dues for examples - can be withheld from other owners.

Some of us are very concerned there is an effort to keep owners from hearing about the monthly financial report. Is there someone familiar with Oregon law who could weigh in on this?

Thanks so much!

LG

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

We had open meetings and discussed our financials. However, when it came to the COLLECTIONS part it was strictly board members. We would not reveal the names or addresses of who owed money. We referred to them ONLY as Lot #'s. Collections were handled differently than expenditures due to their sensitive nature.

We also had a 6 month we lien and 1 year behind we CONSIDER foreclosure. So the members knew that we did pursue collections. We just did not believe non-board members needed to know who owed the HOA money because of the sensitive nature and possible payment arrangements we had. We'd reveal the OVERALL money collected.

So your HOA may be discussing some of these collection issues before the meeting. I don't see a real problem unless they are not revealing any information. I also found that the board being on the same page really helps when presenting the information to all the members in an open meeting. We'd often get criticized for not appearing we were on the same page. It was only because not everyone knew the information till the meeting along with everyone else. Made our board look like we were not communicating.

Former HOA President

BenA2 (Texas)
Posts: 1,273

Posted:

I don't know of any state where financial reports are confidential and can be kept from HOA members. It is extremely important that members are allowed to know what the HOA is doing with their money. No confidential information, such as which accounts are delinquent, should be in a financial report.

I hope you get a comment from someone familiar with Oregon HOA laws but the board should be able to state specifically why they are going into executive session and under what authority. I would pose the question to them. If they can't answer, then I would insist that they open the meeting.

AugustinD
Posts: 5,144

Posted:

Here is the Oregon law for condominium record viewing:

https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/100.480

As the others implied, it's pretty generous (as it should be) when it comes to letting members view financial records. The biggest problem with some states' laws is they do not specify a specific timeframe within which the records must be provided. Using California's Davis-Stirling Act as a guide: If more than 10 business days for records from the past year, this is getting unreasonable. If more than 30 calendar days for records over a year old, then this is getting unreasonable. Boards jerk members around often when it comes to records viewing.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

So, to sum up Ben & Augustin, you have every right to read the financials. You probably have to make your request in writing.

But your other question is just as important: Why are the monthly financials discussed and maybe approved in executive session? I doubt OR laws says this can happen. With Bn, you and other owners ought to insist that that board follow OR statutes on this topic.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

It's simple.

Show up at six and see what happens.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

However, to continue my thought, it's possible that the financial report actually names individuals or identifies the actual lot/unit that is delinquent. This would typically be withheld from most requests if the account isn't yours (check the applicable statutes to see).

As Treasurer, I report the number of lots that are delinquent, but I don't identify them by name or lot number.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

We do the same as Tim. Report the % of lots that are delinquent in an open meeting with no other identifying info.

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046

Posted:

We just had this discussion within the past few weeks, but Florida and probably other states with records inspection laws do not include lot number or name of delinquent accounts as confidential info, so any owner can inspect records and see who is late.

That said, we don't name names on reports given at the board meetings or distributed to members, but if any member really wanted to know, they could.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By AugustinD on 05/20/2018 2:56 PM
Boards jerk members around often when it comes to records viewing.

It's the single biggest complaint against condos and HOAs in Florida. Both the condo statute and the HOA statute say the records must be made available within 10 business days after receiving a written request to view them.

LeonaG (Oregon)
Posts: 5

Posted:

Thanks for the feedback! The idea of giving percentages is a great solution.

GlenM4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 141

Posted:

I would ask for a simple version of the reports. This way you still get the basic info with out the names. Maybe something like

income xxx
late dues xxx
Any new liens
any new foreclosures.

ect...
glen

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