Your HOA's Records Are Its Defense: What to Keep, What to Hand Over, What to Protect

A homeowner disputes a fine. Another asks where the reserve money went. A third wants "everything" about last year's paving contract. In each case, the board's best protection is a records system it can actually open. Done well, it turns a dispute into a short conversation. Done badly, it loses the argument and, in some states, adds penalties. One caution first: requirements vary widely by state and by your governing documents. The state rules below are examples, not a map of your rules. This is general information, not legal advice, so have your association's attorney confirm what you adopt.

Start with what to keep for the long haul, and treat retention periods as floors. Many boards simply keep these forever, because they are cheap to store and painful to reconstruct. That list is the governing documents and every amendment (Texas, for example, lists the formation certificate, bylaws, covenants and all amendments as permanent for larger associations, and a sample schedule from the Community Associations Institute, or CAI, also treats governing documents as permanent); recorded plats; meeting minutes (California keeps member and board minutes open to inspection indefinitely, and Texas sets a seven-year minimum); tax returns and audit or financial statements, where the IRS generally says three years, but six if a large amount of income was left off, and indefinitely if no return was filed, with employment tax records kept at least four years, so ask your CPA which applies to you; and reserve studies, where it is smart to keep every version, since each shows what the board knew and when.

Other records can be kept for a defined number of years. Bank statements, canceled checks and paid invoices are one example: CAI's sample schedule holds bank statements and canceled checks one year in the current file and then seven in storage, and Texas sets seven years for financial books and records. For contracts, Texas says four years after a contract of a year or more expires, and CAI's sample says seven years in storage. Insurance policies are seven years in storage in the same sample. Ballots and proxies are commonly kept a year after the election, as California requires and as a state version of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act provides, though you should keep them longer if a vote is challenged. Treat the CAI schedule as a starting point for your accountant and attorney to adjust, not a rule. And because retention periods are often tied to the time limits for filing lawsuits, ask your attorney before shredding anything connected to a dispute or a threatened claim.

Next, know what owners can inspect and how fast. These are examples only, so check your own state. In Florida, records must be available within 10 business days of a written request, the board cannot demand a reason, and owners may photograph or scan records with their own devices at no charge. If the board misses the deadline after a certified-mail request, the law presumes willful noncompliance and the owner can recover damages. In Texas, the request must be in writing, sent by certified mail to the address on the association's management certificate, and the association has 10 business days to respond or to say in writing when it will. In California, the deadline is 10 business days for records from the current fiscal year and 30 calendar days for the previous two, and members can name a representative in writing. In practice, log the date each request arrives, answer in writing, and ask for more time before the deadline passes, not after.

You can also withhold some records, and the same categories recur across states. Attorney-client privileged material and work product is the main one; California also lists litigation documents and confidential settlement agreements. Personnel files are commonly protected, although pay is a different matter, and some states require compensation information to be shown by job title rather than by name. Other owners' private data is protected too: Social Security and bank or card numbers, medical records, and in some states payment history, violation history and contact details beyond an address. Executive session minutes are withheld in California, and a state version of the model act allows withholding records about contracts still being negotiated and about existing or potential litigation. Redact instead of refusing the whole request, and if you deny or redact, record the reason. California, for example, requires you to give the legal basis in writing when asked.

What you can charge is also set by state, so tell the owner the cost in writing first. Florida allows up to 25 cents a page on the association's copier, and labor only if retrieval and copying take a long time, capped by statute and never for small requests. California allows the direct and actual cost of copying and mailing, stated up front and agreed by the member, with a capped hourly fee for redacting certain financial records. Texas requires the board to adopt and record a copying policy before charging anything, and its charges cannot exceed state-set limits.

Records also have to survive a change of officers. They belong with the association, not in one volunteer's personal inbox. A California association attorney advises that departing board members promptly return keys, access cards, laptops, digital files and email accounts, and that the incoming board change access codes and passwords. Confidentiality also continues after the term ends, especially for executive session matters and owners' personal details. A workable handoff is to walk through the archive together and sign an inventory, hand over every login and then change them, leave a one-page index of what exists and where, and remind outgoing officers that confidentiality continues.

Store records where the next person can find them. CAI notes that many associations assign records to the secretary, with a manager or others supporting. Whoever holds the job should keep signed and recorded originals in a locked, labeled place, scan the important items and keep copies in two places, and use association-owned accounts rather than personal ones, with updated devices and strong passwords. Some association attorneys recommend a written electronic storage policy, especially for records containing personal information. Keep owner-private, personnel and privileged files apart from ordinary records and limit who can open them. Review once a year, shred what has expired, and log the date.

The whole policy fits in five lines. First, our retention schedule lists the permanent items, the multi-year items and the one-year items, approved by our attorney and CPA. Second, the secretary keeps the archive, and two other officers know where it is and can open it. Third, owner requests are logged on receipt and answered in writing within the legal deadline. Fourth, privileged, personnel and owner-private records are redacted or withheld and the reason is recorded. Fifth, outgoing officers return all records and credentials within a set number of days, and nothing is destroyed while a dispute is open.