HOA Records Which Must Be Maintained and Produced

House Bill 1237 (“HB 1237”), the HOA records bill, has been prepared to be sent to Governor Hickenlooper for action. Based upon the bipartisan support the bill has enjoyed, we fully expect the Governor to sign HB 1237 into law. Once that happens, the bill will become effective on January 1, 2013. 

In addition to the advice Suzanne Leff gave in her blog on Monday, this short series of blog entries will provide guidance to managers, management companies and HOA board members on what you need to know to be prepared to comply with the new law. 

 

Beginning on January 1st, here is a list of the records which HB 1237 requires associations to maintain and produce to owners upon request:

 

●Records specifically defined in the association’s declaration or bylaws;

Records the association is required to disclose within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year as required by CCIOA;

●Detailed records of receipts and expenditures affecting the operation and administration of the association;

●Records of claims for construction defects and amounts received pursuant to settlement of those claims;

●Minutes of all meetings of its owners and board, a record of all actions taken by the owners or board without a meeting, and a record of all actions taken by any committee of the board;

●Written communications among, and votes cast by, board members that are: (i) directly related to an action taken by the board without a meeting pursuant to the Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act; or (ii) directly related to an action taken by the board without a meeting pursuant to the association’s bylaws;

●A list of the names of all owners and the physical mailing addresses at which the association communicates with them, showing the number of votes each owner is entitled to vote;

●The association’s current declaration, covenants, bylaws, articles of incorporation, rules and regulations, responsible governance policies and other policies adopted by the board;

●Financial statements for the past 3 years and tax returns of the association for the past 7 years;

●A list of the names, email addresses and physical mailing addresses of the current board members and officers;

●The most recent annual report (if any) delivered to the Secretary of State;

●Financial records sufficiently detailed to enable the association to provide an owner with a written statement stating the amount of unpaid assessments currently levied against the owner’s unit;

●The association’s most current reserve study (if any);

●Current written contracts to which the association is a party and contracts for work performed within the past 2 years;

●Records of board or committee actions to approve or deny any requests for design or architectural approval from owners;

●Ballots, proxies and other records related to voting by owners for 1 year after the election, action or vote;

●Resolutions adopted by the board relating to the characteristics, qualifications, limitations, and obligations of members;

●All written communications within the past 3 years sent to all owners.

 

While this list represents records routinely maintained by associations, we recommend that managers, management companies and HOA boards use the bullet points as a checklist to determine whether you are currently maintaining these records and are prepared to produce them beginning in January.  

 

Stay tuned to this blog for more entries in this series relating to: (1) records which may be withheld from production to owners; (2) records which must be withheld from production to owners; (3) procedures for homeowners to request records; and (4) what associations may charge owners for producing records.