HOA is refusing me access to a recorded meeting

JaneD7 (Georgia)
Posts: 2

Posted:

My HOA is refusing me access to a recorded online meeting and IMO threatened legal action if I request access again. Our covenants state we are to have access to meeting minutes. Is there case law to support this?

DeanJ
Posts: 1,786

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JaneD7 on 01/27/2025 2:14 PM
My HOA is refusing me access to a recorded online meeting and IMO threatened legal action if I request access again. Our covenants state we are to have access to meeting minutes. Is there case law to support this?

Yes, in most states you have a right to minutes - after those minutes have been reviewed and approved by the board. That usually occurs during the next meeting. A recording of the meeting is not minutes.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

With Dean, the HOA must provide Owners with a copy of the written open board meeting minutes upon your written request. Dean continues with when this usually happens: after the Board has approved the minutes at a board meeting.

Some states, though, like Calif., permit owners--upon their written request-- to have copies of DRAFT minutes 30 days after the relevant board meeting.

So far as I know, no state requires a boar to give owners a voice recording of a board meeting.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

I did not find an HOA statute for Georgia.

Expecting your Association is incorporated (most are but check to be sure), I don't think you have a right to the video without going through the courts.

14-3-1602. Members’ right to copy and inspect records.
(a) A corporation shall keep a copy of the following records:
(1) Its articles or restated articles of incorporation and all amendments to them currently in effect;
(2) Its bylaws or restated bylaws and all amendments to them currently in effect;
(3) Resolutions adopted by either its members or board of directors increasing or decreasing the number of directors or the classification of directors, or relating to the characteristics, qualifications, rights, limitations, and obligations of members or any class or category of members;
(4) Resolutions adopted by either its members or board of directors relating to the characteristics, qualifications, rights, limitations, and obligations of members or any class or category of members;
(5) The minutes of all meetings of members, executed waivers of notice of meetings, and executed consents, delivered in writing or by electronic transmission, evidencing all actions taken or approved by the members without a meeting, for the past three years;
(6) All communications in writing or by electronic transmission to members generally within the past three years, including the financial statements furnished for the past three years under Code Section 14-3-1620;
(7) A list of the names and business or home addresses of its current directors and officers; and
(8) Its most recent annual registration delivered to the Secretary of State under Code Section 14-3-1622.

(b) A member is entitled to inspect and copy, at a reasonable time and location specified by the corporation, any of the records of the corporation described in subsection (a) of this Code section if the member gives the corporation written notice or a written demand at least five business days before the date on which the member wishes to inspect and copy.

(c) A member is entitled to inspect and copy, at a reasonable time and reasonable location specified by the corporation, any of the following records of the corporation if the member meets the requirements of subsection (d) of this Code section and gives the corporation written notice at least five business days before the date on which the member wishes to inspect and copy:
(1) Excerpts from minutes of any meeting of the board of directors, records of any action of a committee of the board of directors while acting in place of the board of directors on behalf of the corporation, minutes of any meeting of the members, and records of action taken by the members or the board of directors without a meeting, to the extent not subject to inspection under subsection (a) of this Code section;
(2) Accounting records of the corporation; and

(3) Subject to Code Section 14-3-1605, the membership list.
(d) A member may inspect and copy the records identified in subsection (c) of this Code section only if:
(1) The member’s demand is made in good faith and for a proper purpose that is reasonably relevant to the member’s legitimate interest as a member;
(2) The member describes with reasonable particularity the purpose and the records the member desires to inspect;
(3) The records are directly connected with this purpose; and
(4) The records are to be used only for the stated purpose.
(e) The corporation may impose reasonable restrictions on the confidentiality, use, or distribution of the records described in subsection (c) of this Code section.

(d) A member may inspect and copy the records identified in subsection (c) of this Code section only if:
(1) The member’s demand is made in good faith and for a proper purpose that is reasonably relevant to the member’s legitimate interest as a member;
(2) The member describes with reasonable particularity the purpose and the records the member desires to inspect;
(3) The records are directly connected with this purpose; and
(4) The records are to be used only for the stated purpose.

(e) The corporation may impose reasonable restrictions on the confidentiality, use, or distribution of the records described in subsection (c) of this Code section.

(f) This Code section does not affect:
(1) The right of a member to inspect records under Code Section 14-3-720 [deals with general membership voting] or, if the member is in litigation with the corporation, to the same extent as any other litigant; or
(2) The power of a court, independently of this chapter, to compel the production of corporate records for examination.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

You should also remember the law is still evolving on this issue so there may not be a yes or no answer right now. As Dean and Kerry noted, the minutes have to be approved by the board before they become official (and thus available to homeowners upon request), but a recording, online or otherwise, is not the same thing.

It may also depend on the type of meeting – was this an annual or special homeowners meeting, a regular board meeting, or an executive session? Homeowners typically don’t have access to the details of executive sessions because they’re reserved for sensitive issues, such as litigation by or against the association. Regular board meeting minutes should state when the meeting was held, what was discussed (e.g. legal action against homeowners delinquent in assessments), and what the board decided (e.g. foreclose).

Finally, there may be the matter of why you want the recording. If you want to know what was discussed, you should be able to obtain the agenda and the official minutes at a later date. If you’re concerned someone said something untrue or derogatory about you, it may be easier and faster to ask someone who attended.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius