"records" of the association

What about social media postings by Board members in their official capacity as Board members? Are these records of the association that I can request?

That might depend on who's sponsoring the site. If its a Facebook page established by the association, you might be able to request it, but how long is that stuff available after being posted? Once someone reposts it, the comments could take on a life of their own, to say nothing of the people who screenshot the comments before they were deleted. That's why nothing on the internet ever dies.....

I am of the opinion that emails are off limits for the most part as "records" of the HOA for general viewing of regular members. One of my reasons is that we have discussed how email addresses are not considered "shareable" in many HOA's. If someone opts out of allowing their email address to be used or shared, then sharing their correspondence via record request seems a violation. Their address is most likely going to be on that. They are only allowing the Board or PM to know that information.

My opinion is that records of the HOA basically includes: Expense Reports, meeting notes, and contract/insurance information. Collection reports we kept ONLY with the Board BUT we would let you know about YOUR account or collections in General. That is because it was the board's responsibility to make the liens/foreclosures on those who were not paying. We also would tell the membership what actions we were taking.

So not sure why the need for so much information like emails etc... That is a step too far in my opinion. That is micromanaging by proxy.

If you're off the board, now, MichaelT, why didn't you verify who's paying dues & who isn't while you were on it? That info is available to directors.

Oh, I know where it was when I departed. We had about $7000 in money owed to the HOA, which was down from $40,000 3.5 years ago. I was told that $40,000 in money owed was amazingly low, but somehow, managed to bring it down to $7,000.

I have strong reason to believe that some of the Board will stop paying dues. In fact, about 2 years before I joined the Board, one of the Board members owed several thousand to the Board. Of course, I am sure he was opposed to the Board taking action against him. I don't want to see our association go through this again.

Check your monthly financials to see what changes, if any, occur.

Yes, same with mine.

My question is - how as a homeowner do I verify that Board members are paid up on their dues? Obviously if a bunch of friends get together on the Board and all decide amongst themselves to stop paying dues, then no one is the wiser.

I actualy disagree with this as a Washington HOA Attorney said that they are requestable documents and not private.

Unpaid property taxes aren't the same and you know it. As for what the attorney said about all association records being fair game, attorneys can and have been wrong. If you're off the board, you're going to have to find proof these board members have or are considering giving breaks to people. They may have been a do nothing bunch, but I would hope they aren't that stupid - there are bills that have to be paid.

I know some people would like to know who's not paying assessments, but what would you do with this information? After 5 years as board treasurer and dealing with a huge delinquency problem, I wouldn't have hesitated to disclose that informative if it resulted in immediate payments. Unfortunately, that would only lead to gossip and too many people wouldn't bother digging a little deeper to see if some had genuine financial problems like job loss vs. someone else who's a deadbeat.

And as I said earlier, there are state and federal laws regarding disclosure of one's debts and I'm not interested in facing a ton of fines or worse for violating them. If you don't care about that, do your thing.

I used to say if you really want to know, pay off one or several accounts and I'll tell you what you want to know. Here are account numbers and the current amount owed - pick one and as soon as your check clears, I'll spill the tea. Good luck in getting your money back

A Director would/should have access to all records.

A member would/should have access to most records.

In Washington State, per RCW 64.90.495, the following records may be withheld from inspection by members:

3) Records retained by an association may be withheld from inspection and copying to the extent that they concern:
(a) Personnel and medical records relating to specific individuals;
(b) Contracts, leases, and other commercial transactions to purchase or provide goods or services currently being negotiated;
(c) Existing or potential litigation or mediation, arbitration, or administrative proceedings;
(d) Existing or potential matters involving federal, state, or local administrative or other formal proceedings before a governmental tribunal for enforcement of the governing documents;
(e) Legal advice or communications that are otherwise protected by the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine, including communications with the managing agent or other agent of the association;
(f) Information the disclosure of which would violate a court order or law;
(g) Records of an executive session of the board;
(h) Individual unit files other than those of the requesting unit owner;
(i) Unlisted telephone number or electronic address of any unit owner or resident;
(j) Security access information provided to the association for emergency purposes; or
(k) Agreements that for good cause prohibit disclosure to the members.

Now, if one were to bring legal action, most of these records might be available via discovery through the courts.

Regarding delinquencies - see (h)

If a HOA is ONLY a non-profit corporation then it would lend to the logic that if the total money collected doesn't match total money spent, then that should give you a rough idea of number of non-payers. Although one does have to also factor in the expenses of legal process of collection. It can cost around $500 for a lien. 3 times that much for a Foreclosure. However, that should be on record that the HOA is taking those actions and being listed on the expense report.

So why need to worry about the collections unless you have the power to enforce collections? The HOA board is in that position. If someone is behind in dues makes them "not in good standing" for SOME HOA's NOT all. It has to be written in the documents if it does. If not, then they can still run for a board position. Matter of fact even WITH that rule in place one can run for a board position. Who is going to vote for someone who doesn't pay their dues?

Hi,

Generally you cannot request to see records of some other member's personal info. So you can't ask to see a neighbor's delinquent accounts. You also can't ask for personal contact information unless the owner has consented to having it made available in some type of resident phonebook or content list.

Emails between board members would be considered association records, but emails between boards and managers or other owners would generally not be available to members to review. This might help answer more of your questions. https://www.condocontrol.com/template/requesting-condo-hoa-documents/

My understanding is that the fact that an owner is delinquent is not private. How the Board responds to that fact is private.

I'll check an an attorney.

It makes sense, just like property taxes. We as homeowners have the right to know if the Board is paying dues. If we didn't, then the Board could successfully avoid paying dues for many years and no one would be the wiser.

When I joined the HOA, the delinquency list was at $50,000, or $182 per home, which is huge. One homeowner hadn't paid the entire time since she bought a house, which was 10 years. The Board was lax on collecting dues, and we had to write off one home that owed the association nearly $6,000, an amount equivalent to 8 years dues. The owner was foreclosed upon and declared bankruptcy, which apparently meant he didn't have to pay.

The previous Board President, who appears to be making a comeback tour, complimented herself regularly at how great it was that they only had $50,000 in money owed by homeowners to the HOA.

One Board member owed nearly $1,500 in dues, or about 2 years worth. He was ineligible to be on the Board due to amount that he owed, but of course, homeowners didn't know this.

At the time I joined, I learned there was a long-standing policy that all late fees, interest, and penalties would be waived if a severely delinquent homeowner got caught up. So someone could skip paying dues for 5 years, make a big payment, and the Board would waive thousands of dollars of fees. Of course, legal fees were not waived, so this only worked as long as they weren't sent to legal for collections. Many large past due accounts were never transferred to legal.

I absolutely need to be a watchdog and ensure that we are collecting from all homeowners, not granting special exceptions to Board members who are friends, and not granting exceptions to regular homeowners who have friends in the right circles. I plan to keep a close eye on HOA operations even while not on the Board.

No, it's in our CC&Rs.