financial information

Have you checked your Covenants ?? Here in FL they have so many days to oblige to a request by a homeowner. You, as board member, should not have to wait.

What "financials" did you request from the MC. Why did you go there for information? Did you want to look at the check ledger?

Your treasurer should have all the information that you would need to get a picture of the financial situation of the HOA.

Request those from that person - although at EACH board meeting, the treasurer should be giving monthly report, AND a year-to-date revenue/expenditure vs. the budgeted amount AND a balance sheet listing all accounts.

What more did you want to see?

You are entitled to see the documents. You can review them at Mgmt’s office, by email or snail mail. If the BOD is failing to turn over HOA documents you can file a complaint with the Attorney General, that is one of the few HOA items the AG will get involved with.
http://ag.ca.gov/consumers/general/homeowner_assn.php

That may get their attention. I believe they have 10 days to come up with the documents for the current year. Civil Code §1363(f), Civil Code §1365.2, Corp. Code §8311, Corp. Code §8333

Management is allowed to make a profit, they can charge a nominal fee in addition to mailing and reproduction costs, small claims court is your option if you feel the fee is out of line. There should be no charge to just look at them.

Under CA Civil Code 1363.05 Any gathering of a majority of board members to discuss the business of the association is a meeting and in CA meetings must be open.

Jane

So, Id' like to ask: what are HOA "documents" and what does "public exposure" means?

Does that mean looking at the check ledger? going over the finances, line by line? looking at signed contracts? having access to minutes? getting a full disclosure financial report at the annual meeting?

I can't imagine a resident wanting to look at the snow plow contract, when the required bids were stated in the mintues, along with the motion to hire and the president directing the road chairperson to sign the contract.

I am onne of the board members so I think I should be able to see them. I have serious concerns that we have way over spent our budget for this year and still have 3 months to go.
The treasurer only reads off what the management company gives her. which unless you have a background in accounting makes very litte sense to most.
I want the members to know where the funds are going. Most assume our association is financially sound but we are far from that.
I know this will shake things up a bit so I am trying to make sure all my information us current and correct. I want hard copies in front of me so when questions are asked I will be able to answer.

Absolutely, - call the treasurer and tell her/him you are going to request all those financial reports (I listed above) - copies for EACH of the members of the board.

She can't provide them?

Recall her.

Of course, board members should have access to all the information they believe they need to exercise their responsibilities.

When a board members is getting a "run around" over availability of financial information, I would be suspicious that there is a problem that is being covered up.

You can gain more insight by examining the financial information provided to members. It is the members (owners) who provide all the money to fund the owners association. They should know how their money is being spent.

If the owners are "kept in the dark", your association likely has a deeper problem. It is time for an audit according to AICPA CIRA.

I support the advice from SusanW1.

Susan,

I can't believe you suggest recalling the treasurer if she can't provide copies of all the financial statements. Traditionally, it's the property manager who takes care of paying the bills and preparing the monthly f/s. The treasurer doesn't do anything except read the financial report at the monthly board meeting. In fact, the treasurer may not even know how to "read" the financial statement; the treasurer (and board) may have to rely on the P.M. to explain it to her!!

My advice would be to get rid of the P.M. if she/he is unwilling to provide copies to the board members. As a board member, Jose shouldn't have to jump through the hoops that a member requesting assn records would have to.

Here in Florida, under the new 2008 HOA statutes, any reasonably requested records have to be given to any legal member of the community within 10 business days of the request.

Furthermore, financial records cannot be "kept" from any board member or legal member of the community for that matter. If the board is telling them not to give them to you, then they're just asking for a lawsuit.

Jose,

Our management company provides a financial for all board members at every monthly board meeting.

David,
Thank you for your response.
Although I have cited the specific provisions, my requests are argued (taking months to get) or ignored completely. I have spoken to the Office of The Ombudsman however, the person that was helping us in the past, is no longer there. The newer replacement does not seem to have as much experience nor knowledge.
Do I need to do a full blown complaint or are there other avenues to try? From what I understand even filing a complaint, it can take 2 years.

David,
Thank you so much, I had not thought about contacting her direct about this. A neighbor and I attended a seminar she spoke at in South Riding. I had asked a couple of questions and was told that I may need to seek legal action. Her firm supplied bound copies of the Property Owners and Condominium Act.

Susan, Jose may be running into what is happening here at our association. The Treasure is in name only. We haven't had a treasures report at a meeting for the last 5 years that I know of. This is one thing I am trying to change.