production of documents

In florida if an hoa member requests records or documents and does not recieve them in a certain amount of time then the member is awarded some amount of compensation I am not sure of the particulars, it doesnt matter,my question is this,what if the assoc. says we dont have them,cant find them, they were lost.does this affect a members ability to get the awards discribed in the statute?

Tom S: Can you cite the Florida law that states certain documents must be mailed? There is a bill pending in Maryland, HB 42, that says the same thing. People who work can't give up work time to go to a management company office, many times miles away, to look at and copy Board Minutes and Financial Documents. There is nothing in HB 42 about compensation if this is not followed.

Ok, this one I know the answer, I went throught this as a homeowner.Florida State statute 720.303
The board has 10 days after written request to let you view the files. You can request copies, but you might have to pay for them, up to .50.
You cannot view/request anything under the disclosure act, like attorney's files, medical files etc. Also, the assocaition only has to keep the documents 7 years. They CAN limit the frequencey of viewing, but the limits have to be in your CCR's.

Having said all that, if they deny your viewing pleasure, after written request and 10 days past, you aare eligible for $50 a day up to 10 days. Which is nothing in comparison to the attorneys fees you will accrue....

Krystal,
Very good work. Looks like you can take over for me on this site.You have it right on the money.

dear donna, i dont know why somthing is on your chest i just asked a simple question but you seem to be reading things into it that are not there.you ask "what am i trying to get off the assoc." the answer is in my question (the documents and records i need) i dont know what you mean about situations on this site it is mearly a question. further if the situation could be worked out between the member and the bod i would not have posed the question on this site
EXAMPLE: when one member of my assoc. reqested documents, records that he was clearly entitled to as a member he was refused stonewalled ect. and had to obtain a court order when he prevailed in his case he was awarded attorneys fees plus 5000$ for the cost of having to get the court order for the documents which he should have gotten to begin with. this of course was paid by the members because we have a bod that do not realize that the membership is financialy responsible for the things they do and say. futher i already know what documents i am entiteld to view,so do you know the answere to my question or know where i might find it. thank you

And don't forget, even if you win, you will still be paying for the BOD's attorney when you pay for your assesments/dues. So really think about it.

Dear Tom,

I certainly did not mean to offend you but your post is troubling. I asked what type of documents are you trying to view? You said that you "need them" That does not help in finding the correct response for you.

The State Statutes say that you are able to view all records for the association . Below is how to do it. I want to help but you need to tell us what YOU are trying to get from the records. The answer from your BOD is not okay.Your other members case is not relevant to yours.

(5) INSPECTION AND COPYING OF RECORDS.--The official records shall be maintained within the state and must be open to inspection and available for photocopying by members or their authorized agents at reasonable times and places within 10 business days after receipt of a written request for access. This subsection may be complied with by having a copy of the official records available for inspection or copying in the community. If the association has a photocopy machine available where the records are maintained, it must provide parcel owners with copies on request during the inspection if the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages.

(a) The failure of an association to provide access to the records within 10 business days after receipt of a written request creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with this subsection.

(b) A member who is denied access to official records is entitled to the actual damages or minimum damages for the association's willful failure to comply with this subsection. The minimum damages are to be $50 per calendar day up to 10 days, the calculation to begin on the 11th business day after receipt of the written request.

(c) The association may adopt reasonable written rules governing the frequency, time, location, notice, records to be inspected, and manner of inspections, but may not impose a requirement that a parcel owner demonstrate any proper purpose for the inspection, state any reason for the inspection, or limit a parcel owner's right to inspect records to less than one 8-hour business day per month. The association may impose fees to cover the costs of providing copies of the official records, including, without limitation, the costs of copying. The association may charge up to 50 cents per page for copies made on the association's photocopier. If the association does not have a photocopy machine available where the records are kept, or if the records requested to be copied exceed 25 pages in length, the association may have copies made by an outside vendor and may charge the actual cost of copying. The association shall maintain an adequate number of copies of the recorded governing documents, to ensure their availability to members and prospective members. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, the following records shall not be accessible to members or parcel owners:

1. Any record protected by the lawyer-client privilege as described in s. 90.502 and any record protected by the work-product privilege, including, but not limited to, any record prepared by an association attorney or prepared at the attorney's express direction which reflects a mental impression, conclusion, litigation strategy, or legal theory of the attorney or the association and was prepared exclusively for civil or criminal litigation or for adversarial administrative proceedings or which was prepared in anticipation of imminent civil or criminal litigation or imminent adversarial administrative proceedings until the conclusion of the litigation or adversarial administrative proceedings.

2. Information obtained by an association in connection with the approval of the lease, sale, or other

TomS11: You need to be more specific re your own situation here. Are you a member of a Homeowners' Association or a Condo Association? Did you receive official CC&Rs at time of settlement on your unit? In these lie the answers to what 'you' as a member of an association are required to do and what you are entitled to. In most cases, buyers are able to review the official restriction documents prior to purchase; otherwise, how does one know if they can agree to them? Do not know what your term "mandated awards" means.

hello group, looks like we are in for agood day of football. any way the situation with my hoa is this i know and my bod knows that the docs i am asking them to produce are simply minutes of regular open bod meetings. they and the staff at our on site managment office are fully aware that i am legaly intiteld to copies of those minutes which are between four and nine months old. further it is my position that it is none of thier buss. why i need them,they are just supposed to produce the apoun request as per the statute. I have always been involved in and supported my assoc. volunteering my time on commities,offical and ad hoc and have an interest and understanding of our hoa and its procedures that is better than most. I belive that the our present bod are harmful to our community in that they have adoped an adverserial relationship in thier dealings with the membership. this is the kind of leadership, or lack of that fosters the apathy that permeates most hoas, and turns good members into litagants. Our present bod are the kind of people who belive that the ends justfies the means. I could write volumes and tell you all stories that would sound like fition and curl your hair ,but dont get me started. Any way if I do pursue a legal course i will probebly do it pro se. Belive me it is the last thing i want to do

I think for all of us the laws need to change and actully have some teethput into them. This will rid us of board members who are never held to account, who are irresponsible and are continualy indemnified dy d+o insurance even when they are dead wrong and violate the docs. When tou think about even polititions at the highest level of government are held to standards and are more accountable than our hoa bods. Hoas are basicly the wild west

Donna,
we seem to be going around around a lot of bushes. again it dose not matter what in the minutes i am looking for. i just want them and they are supposed to produce them.
and of course there is somthing harmfull to them in those minutes,thaT IT SHUOLD BE OBVIOUS IS WHY THEY ARE NOT PRODUCING THEM.
I dont need any thing solved what i need is an answer to my question and nothing else, now here goes,does any one know if i would still get the awards under the statute concerning prodution of docs,if the bod trys to use the exuse that they cant find the docs that i am intitled to?

Tom, with all due respect to you and your request, you may be going about it in a manner that will not get you what you want.

You state, ..."I am legaly intiteld to copies of those minutes which are between four and nine months old"; also, "it is none of thier buss. why i need them,they are just supposed to produce the apoun request as per the statute."

I am not familiar with your state Statute or your own Assn. documents; however, a resident MUST follow the process as outlined in order to be granted a review of Assn. documents. And, further, they don't have to comply to your request if its not in line with what is stated. You are only beating a dead horse as well as revving yourself up to take a course of action which will benefit no one.

Have you written them to request a review of docs and received a response to this end?