Can records be shared with non-owners.

Started by BenR2 • 6 replies • 487 views

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BenR2 (Florida)
Posts: 16

Posted:

I live in a condo association in FL.

We recently had a board recall ballot sent out.
And the person has been removed.

One of the owners requested to see a copy of the ballots and was also given the checklist used.
So the checklist has all the Condo Units listed and who turned in a ballot.

The owner posted a picture of that checklist to a Facebook Group for our community that renters and owners are members.

Was it wrong for that person to do what he did, in legal terms.
I'm trying to search the 718 Statutes but haven't found it yet.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

I'm also having trouble finding information about this. For every item I found that talks about confidential ballots, I found another one that says such ballots are open for inspection by owners. Having said that, I think there is a legal difference between making information available and actually publishing it in a different format.

In general, renters and other outsiders are not entitled to view information about association business. This is one of the many reasons our attorneys strongly discourage the use of Facebook and other social media: the association is legally liable for anything posted on an official forum such as a community Facebook page. They recommend having informational only pages - and if you allow owners to post, you need to have vigorously enforced terms of service agreements and vigilant moderating/removal of problematic posts.

Was any harm done in this case? I'm trying to think of ways a non-owner could use the information against the association or against one of its members. I suppose it's possible that a tenant could use it somehow in a conflict with their landlord, which *maybe* could get the association into legal trouble for interfering in a private contract, but that's pretty far-fetched.

If I were on your board, I'd be recommending locking down your Facebook page and removing the offending post, because owners can't be relied upon to zip lip when they should.

BenR2 (Florida)
Posts: 16

Posted:

In FL for our Condo Association the owner or registered agent are the only ones that can request to inspect or copy.

But the owner can also designate a friend, business partner lawyer, etc to go in there place.

there is nothing a non-owner could do with this list..

It had 146 out of 281 names checked off.
Which means at least 141 of those names had to be for the recall to get it done.

The president is saying that people are afraid of being bullied.
My opinion is every owner can request this same document. So I don't think it is wrong what was done.
But I believe our President who is an (#$%$#) is going to speak to the lawyers.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

It's good to get a lawyer's opinion. One of the best services our attorneys offered was the free 15-minute phone call for general questions like this. With legal stuff, common sense won't always get you where you need to go - there can be "gotchas" that most people won't think of but that can trip you up.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

So assuming someone shared information they should have not shared, how shall we punish them?
Guillotine...guillotine I say.

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

Yes, records can be shared with non-owners. It's not great policy but never assume discretion with HOA business. It's too "leaky" to even get upset over.

MarshallT (New York)
Posts: 414

Posted:

While this is not an ideal situation, it doesn't appear that the person did anything wrong.

No one's personal information was shared or revealed.

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