If you are a member of a Community Association in Florida (a Condominium Association, Cooperative Association, or Homeowners Association), then you have the absolute right to access your Association’s “Official Records.”
Florida Statutes (§718.111 for Condominiums, §719.104 for Co-ops, and §720.303 for Homeowners Associations) provide that a member of an Association has a right to have the Association’s Official Records made available to the member, upon the member submitting a written request for access. It must be noted, that the request must be in writing (and this may include e‑mails), and that the records should be made available to the Association member within five (5) working days after receipt of the written request. This does not mean that your Association must research and copy the records for the Association member and send the copies to the member making the request – the Statute requires the Association provide “access”. The member, at his expense, would have a right to copy any of the Official Records during or after the Official Records inspection. Recent amendments to the law permit a member (or the member’s representative) to use a “portable device,” such as a smartphone, tablet or portable scanner, to make copies during a records inspection.
Your Association must be aware of the “$500 pay day,” that is provided as a penalty for failure to comply with an Official Records request! If the Association does not provide access to the records within ten (10) working days after receiving a written request for access, the penalty provision of the law kicks in, and there is a “rebuttable presumption” that the Association willfully failed to comply with the statute. The Association may be liable for damages of $50 per calendar day (up to a maximum of $500) for each day (starting on the 11th business day) it fails to comply with a written request. For a Homeowners Association, the penalty only applies if the request is made by certified mail. Further, should the Association member sue the Association for failure to provide access to its Official Records, the member may be entitled to recover attorney’s fees and court costs from the Association.
What constitutes an Association’s “Official Records” is set forth in the Statute, however, the categories of records required to be retained and provided for inspection and copying is very broad, with exclusions made primarily for attorney-client privileged documents, personal or medical records of a member of the association, and the personnel records of the Association or Management Company employees.
Don’t be caught off guard! Pay careful attention to any written request made by an Association member for access to your Association’s Official Records. Failure to do so may result in a member who is denied access demanding his “$500 payday,” from your Association.