HOA RECORDS: LEGAL STATUS, CUSTODIANSHIP, AND CONTINUITY REQUIREMENTS

SUMMARY OF UNDERSTANDING HOA RECORDS

1. Definition of Official Association Records

“Official Association Records” are documents created, received, or maintained in the course of administering the Association’s affairs. These records are the legal property of the Association and must be preserved in their entirety. Such records include, but are not limited to:

• Governing Documents — Declarations, Bylaws, Amendments, and Resolutions
• Board Meeting Minutes and all attachments
• Financial Records — bank statements, reconciliations, ledgers, budgets, invoices
• Official Correspondence — notices, board communications, member notices
• Policies and Procedures
• Ballots and Voting Records

These documents constitute the Association’s permanent legal history.

2. Custodianship of Records

The Secretary is typically the Association officer responsible for maintaining and preserving the Association’s official records unless the governing documents or Board designate another custodian.. This role includes:

• Maintaining the complete, continuous historical record
• Preserving all documents created by prior officers
• Ensuring no records are removed, altered, or separated
• Maintaining the Association’s official archive in accordance with governing documents and state law

The Secretary is not the “owner” of the records; the Secretary is the trustee responsible for their preservation.

3. Continuity of Records

Association records must remain continuous and intact across successive Boards and officers. Subsequent officers may not:

• Remove prior records
• Alter or rewrite prior minutes
• Delete addenda or procedural notices
• Discard financial documents
• Create a new or revised version of the Association’s history
• Suppress or conceal official documents

Such actions violate fiduciary duty, statutory record‑keeping obligations, and the Association’s governing documents.

4. Director Access to Records

All directors have equal and independent rights to access all Association records. Directors may share records with one another for the purpose of fulfilling their fiduciary duties.

However:

• Directors may not distribute official records to members outside the statutory request process
• Directors may not withhold records from the Secretary
• Directors may not create private or alternate versions of official documents

All official records should be maintained in the Association’s official records repository or archive maintained by the designated records custodian.

5. Member Access to Records

Members have the right to access Association records through the statutory request process. Requests must be directed to the records custodian (typically the Secretary or designated officer). Directors may not bypass this process by privately distributing records to individual members.

6. Prohibition on Alteration or Removal

Once a document becomes part of the Association’s official record by being published or archived, it is permanent. No officer or director may:

• Remove it
• Edit it
• Replace it
• Reinterpret it
• Destroy it
• Separate it from the record book

Doing so constitutes improper governance and may expose the Association to legal and financial risk.

7. Purpose of Record Integrity

Maintaining complete and accurate records ensures:

• Transparency
• Accountability
• Legal compliance
• Financial integrity
• Protection of the Association and its members
• Continuity across Boards

Record integrity is not optional; it is a legal requirement.

8. Posting Links to Official Records

When official Association records (or links to those records) are posted in any location accessible to members — including:

• the HOA website
• a director’s website
• a member-created informational website
• an official or unofficial Facebook group
• any platform used for HOA communication

— the posting constitutes authorized dissemination of official records.

Accordingly:

• The link cannot be removed for reasons unrelated to privacy, security, statutory compliance or site re-organization.
• The link cannot be suppressed because of disagreement with the content.
• The link cannot be censored by an individual director acting unilaterally.
• Members do not need to request records that have already been made available.
• Removal of such links can constitute improper restriction of access and could violates transparency obligations.