How to use our site

Watch our how-to video!

HOA Member Services

Watch our explainer video!

Books and Records

The “Books and Records” category contains articles of information that pertains to topics that are relevant to a homeowner association’s books and records.

Association Directors Have Greater (But Not Unlimited) Inspection Rights Than the Members

/ Books and Records
The directors of a homeowners association ("Association" ) have greater rights relative to the inspection of the Association's books, records, and properties then the rights of the Association's owner/members. The actual scope of inspection rights is contained in state statutes and the Association's governing documents (typically the bylaws), so dealing ...
Read More

ASSOCIATIONS MUST MAINTAIN PROPER MINUTES

ASSOCIATIONS MUST MAINTAIN PROPER MINUTES The only way to properly memorialize what transpired at meetings of owners, association directors, or committees is through the preparation of minutes of the meetings that are conducted. This content is for Subscribers. To continue reading, you must have a Subscription with HOA Member Services ...
Read More

CONTRACT FORMATION IN HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATIONS

CONTRACT FORMATION IN HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATIONS With the exception of emergency repairs and dealing with nominal maintenance issues where management personnel may have general authorization to make expenditures up to a certain amount (i.e. $500 or $1,000), Association representatives who solicit bids and negotiate with third parties concerning contracts must be ...
Read More

Does Your HOA Have a Records Retention and Destruction Policy? It Should

/ Books and Records
Does Your HOA Have a Records Retention and Destruction Policy? It Should The ongoing operations of a homeowners association involve the receipt and creation of huge volumes of varying types, sizes and shapes of documents. The proper management of those documents can become quite complex and the task is compounded ...
Read More

HOA Can Withhold Information from Owner

/ Books and Records, Case Decisions
HOA Can Withhold Information from Owner This case involved a dispute between a condominium owner (“Owner”) and the condominium association of which Owner is a member (“Association”), a nonprofit corporation, over Owner’s rights to access various records pertaining to Association’s financial dealings under both the Nonprofit Corporation Act of 2010, ...
Read More

HOA Directors Must Perform Periodic Inspections of Common Area Components

HOA Directors Must Perform Periodic Inspections of Common Area Components A homeowners’ association, acting through its board of directors, is responsible for the maintenance, repair, and replacement, when needed, of the common area components that are located within the community. This content is for Subscribers. To continue reading, you must ...
Read More

HOA Member’s Demand for the Association’s Membership List Requires a “Proper Purpose”

/ Books and Records
HOA Member’s Demand for the Association’s Membership List Requires a “Proper Purpose” A topic that is frequently the subject of controversy between a homeowners’ association and an individual homeowner is the right of the homeowner to inspect and/or obtain a copy of the Association’s list of members (“Membership List”). The ...
Read More

Important Things to Know About Homeowner Requests to Inspect and Copy HOA Records

/ Books and Records
Important Things to Know About Homeowner Requests to Inspect and Copy HOA Records Homeowners associations are frequently involved in contentious issues with homeowners over the producing of copies of association books and records that have been requested by a homeowner. Notwithstanding the fact that state statutes and an association’s governing ...
Read More

Inspecting HOA Books and Records

Inspecting HOA Books and Records This case involved a dispute between a condominium owner (“Owner”) and his condominium owners association (“Association”) over Owner’s right to inspect and copy HOA books and records pertaining to a special assessment in the amount of $165,000 that Association proposed to repair roof leaks, maintain ...
Read More

Is Your HOA Fulfilling Its Responsibilities Re Minutes of Meetings?

/ Books and Records
Is Your HOA Fulfilling Its Responsibilities Re Minutes of Meetings? State laws and the governing documents for all homeowners associations require the preparation and proper maintenance of minutes of all meetings of the association’s board of directors and members. Maintaining proper minutes is critical to the operations of a homeowners ...
Read More

Is Your HOA Properly Documenting its “Executive Session” Board Meetings?

/ Books and Records
Is Your HOA Properly Documenting its "Executive Session" Board Meetings? An “executive session” board meeting is basically a board meeting that is not open to attendance by the homeowners. State statutes that mandate board meetings be open to attendance by all homeowners typically include provisions that allow for and specify ...
Read More

Is Your HOA Properly Retaining and Storing its Records?

/ Books and Records
Is Your HOA Properly Retaining and Storing its Records? Every homeowners association needs to have established procedures to ensure the safe storage and retrieval of HOA records and documents. Those procedures start with the establishment of a secure location for the association’s headquarters and maintenance of records. The developers of ...
Read More

Is Your Homeowners Association Filing Required Tax Returns?

/ Books and Records
Is Your Homeowners Association Filing Required Tax Returns? Homeowners association directors are responsible for the proper management of their homeowners association irrespective of whether the association has retained a professional property manager to assist in the management of the association. The management responsibilities of an association’s directors includes the filing ...
Read More

Maryland Court Clarifies Extent of HOA Books & Records a Homeowner is Entitled To

/ Books and Records, Case Decisions
Maryland Court Clarifies Extent of HOA Books & Records a Homeowner is Entitled To This case involved a dispute between a homeowners’ association (“Association”) and the owner of a condominium unit (“Owner”) that was part of the Association over water damage caused to the Owner’s unit from roof leaks that ...
Read More

Member Request for HOA Documents

/ Books and Records
Member Request for HOA Documents HOA members have the right to inspect the association's books and records. The procedure requires the submittal of a request by member. The association then responds to the request by providing the member with an estimate of the cost for the requested copies or by ...
Read More