Understanding Your Legal Rights to HOA Records in Florida

Since July 2024, owners within homeowners associations (“HOAs”) have seen a significant boost in their rights through amendments to Chapter 720 of the Florida Statutes, otherwise known as Florida’s Homeowners Bill of Rights (the “Act”). For example, Florida’s House Bill (“HB”) 1203, effective July 1, 2024, encourages greater transparency between residents and HOAs by requiring HOAs with 100 or more parcels to make some of their most important official records available on their websites, including: (1) the HOA’s governing documents; (2) all contracts to which the HOA is a party; (3) the HOA’s annual budget, financial reports, and monthly income and expense statements; (4) the HOA’s current insurance policies; and (5) any documents that could implicate a conflict of interest between HOA directors and their duties of loyalty to residents.

In furtherance of this goal to promote more transparency, recent Florida caselaw reinforces the HOAs’ obligation to maintain and provide access to all official records that must be kept under Section 720.303 of the Act. In Pecchia v. Wayside Estates Home Owners Association, Inc., 388 So.3d 1136 (Fla. 5th DCA 2024), two residents of a small, self-managed HOA were concerned that their HOA was not adequately maintaining the common areas or enforcing violations of the governing documents against homeowners. These residents determined that their HOA had lowered annual assessments and spent less money on maintenance in the community despite deteriorating property conditions. As a result, they submitted a written request to inspect certain official records, including their HOA’s insurance policies from the past 2 years as well as records reflecting maintenance expenditures for both individual lots and the common areas. Over a month later, the HOA responded by providing photocopies of some of the requested documents, but many requested documents that were required to be kept under Section 720.303 were still missing. In particular, the residents claimed they were entitled to the missing insurance policies as well as financial statements, including canceled checks and bank statements showing the HOA’s payments for repairs and maintenance of the common areas.

The residents then sought a court order mandating that the HOA provide access to these records. At trial, the court ruled that the HOA had provided “sufficient” documents in response to the residents’ request. The trial court did not rule on the residents’ entitlement to the insurance policies but found that they were not entitled to access the missing bank statements and cancelled checks. When the residents appealed this decision, the appellate court focused strictly on the language of Section 720.303(4), which contains an extensive list of records that constitute an HOA’s official records. This language states that HOAs shall maintain all of their insurance policies for at least 7 years in addition to financial and accounting records, which include: (1) accurate, itemized, and detailed records of all receipts and expenditures; (2) all tax returns, financial statements, and financial reports; and (3) any other records that “identify, measure, record, or communicate” financial information. Based on its interpretation of the word “shall,” the appellate court found that HOAs do not have discretion to determine which of the required documents to maintain for inspection. As such, the appellate court reversed the earlier decision, found in the residents’ favor, and ruled that they were entitled to access the missing policies and bank statements.

Prior to this ruling, HOA members already had a broad right, in theory, to access official records that they could exercise by making a written inspection request under Section 720.303. Given the tremendous amount of trust residents place in HOAs to protect their property values and maintain community amenities, it is understandably critical that HOA members be granted full access to these records so that their HOAs are held accountable if these obligations are not properly met. However, as we see in practice, not all HOAs are equally as forthcoming or efficient in their responses to these requests. Part of the issue lies in the relatively limited power the Act gives HOA members to enforce these rights, as most HOA members are typically only entitled to a $50.00 daily penalty, up to a $500.00 maximum, if their HOAs fail to provide timely or complete responses. With this ruling, HOAs are now on notice that any legal action to obtain access to these records could carry much more significant consequences for them, including reimbursement of residents’ attorneys’ fees and costs.