Requesting Documents

Started by WandaB2 • 8 replies • 389 views

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WandaB2 (Florida)
Posts: 15

Posted:

Can a member send a request at the beginning of the year, requesting specific future documents?
Example: Minutes of Meeting, Monthly Inspection reports

Per Florida Statue 720, we are required to send via certified mail, any and all documentation request.

720.303 (5) INSPECTION AND COPYING OF RECORDS.—The official records shall be maintained within the state for at least 7 years and shall be made available to a parcel owner for inspection or photocopying within 45 miles of the community or within the county in which the association is located within 10 business days after receipt by the board or its designee of a written request. This subsection may be complied with by having a copy of the official records available for inspection or copying in the community or, at the option of the association, by making the records available to a parcel owner electronically via the Internet or by allowing the records to be viewed in electronic format on a computer screen and printed upon request. If the association has a photocopy machine available where the records are maintained, it must provide parcel owners with copies on request during the inspection if the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages. An association shall allow a member or his or her authorized representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, tablet, portable scanner, or any other technology capable of scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of the official records in lieu of the association’s providing the member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of such records. The association may not charge a fee to a member or his or her authorized representative for the use of a portable device.

(a) The failure of an association to provide access to the records within 10 business days after receipt of a written request submitted by certified mail, return receipt requested, creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with this subsection.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Typically these documents are available after they have been completed. Which meeting notes can take 30 days or more to become official. So why asking now for something that will be available at it's proper timeline?

Former HOA President

BarbaraT1 (Texas)
Posts: 821

Posted:

You can’t send records that don’t exist.

WandaB2 (Florida)
Posts: 15

Posted:

Thank you.

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,046

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By WandaB2 on 01/25/2022 9:17 AM
Can a member send a request at the beginning of the year, requesting specific future documents?
Example: Minutes of Meeting, Monthly Inspection reports

Per Florida Statue 720, we are required to send via certified mail, any and all documentation request.

720.303 (5) INSPECTION AND COPYING OF RECORDS.—The official records shall be maintained within the state for at least 7 years and shall be made available to a parcel owner for inspection or photocopying within 45 miles of the community or within the county in which the association is located within 10 business days after receipt by the board or its designee of a written request. This subsection may be complied with by having a copy of the official records available for inspection or copying in the community or, at the option of the association, by making the records available to a parcel owner electronically via the Internet or by allowing the records to be viewed in electronic format on a computer screen and printed upon request. If the association has a photocopy machine available where the records are maintained, it must provide parcel owners with copies on request during the inspection if the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages. An association shall allow a member or his or her authorized representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, tablet, portable scanner, or any other technology capable of scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of the official records in lieu of the association’s providing the member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of such records. The association may not charge a fee to a member or his or her authorized representative for the use of a portable device.

(a) The failure of an association to provide access to the records within 10 business days after receipt of a written request submitted by certified mail, return receipt requested, creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with this subsection.

My understanding of this is any owner has the right to inspect and copy records, but there is no obligation for the association to send them. As I read it, clause (a) above just says the association has 10 days to respond to a request to inspect records, not that they have to send anything.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

I went to a seminar that our HOA attorney gave last week and he mentioned the records law in Florida statute 720. Any document (except private documents like personnel records) has to be provided by an HOA to an owner, including bids, contracts, etc.if requested. However, the HOA can put reasonable restrictions on how many documents or how many times an owner can request. So for example, an HOA can tell an owner they can see 10 documents per quarter.

I can't believe that a blanket "I want to see every document for the next year" is going to fly.

AugustinD
Posts: 3,698

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By LoriM15 on 01/25/2022 2:47 PM
I went to a seminar that our HOA attorney gave last week and he mentioned the records law in Florida statute 720. Any document (except private documents like personnel records) has to be provided by an HOA to an owner, including bids, contracts, etc.if requested. However, the HOA can put reasonable restrictions on how many documents or how many times an owner can request. So for example, an HOA can tell an owner they can see 10 documents per quarter.

I think you are referring to this section of FS 720:

The association may adopt reasonable written rules governing the frequency, time, location, notice, records to be inspected, and manner of inspections, but may not require a parcel owner to demonstrate any proper purpose for the inspection, state any reason for the inspection, or limit a parcel owner’s right to inspect records to less than one 8-hour business day per month.

I do not interpret this passage the way LoriM15 does.

AugustinD
Posts: 3,698

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By AugustinD on 01/25/2022 3:05 PM

Or I guess what LoriM15 posted is what her HOA attorney said.

I say an owner can request as many times as the owner wants, and as many records as the owner wants, but the requests better not be some kind of fishing expedition, burying the manager, in an effort to produce gosh-knows-what.

I suppose what "reasonable" is depends on what the Court says tomorrow.

BarbaraT1 (Texas)
Posts: 821

Posted:

The bottom line is - a homeowner requesting future meeting minutes is requesting a document that doesn’t currently exist.

It sounds like what the owner wants is to be provided certain documents as they are produced, without having to request them each time. The easiest way for the board to accomplish that is to routinely publish meeting minutes and financial reports on a secure website, so homeowners can view them without the rigamarole of making a request each month.

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