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Over the many years I have been writing this column, the clear No. 1 ranked dispute between homeowners and their associations regards records and information access. These disputes are never productive, and generally are avoidable. Here are some tips for HOAs regarding producing requested records and some tips for requesting homeowners.
The law has improved dramatically in recent years in this regard. Civil Code 5200 provides a very clear list of what are “association records” which members may request. However, battles continue, and unfortunately HOAs sometimes control the flow of information from critics, and some homeowners use records demands as a weapon. When a board is under severe criticism it is a natural impulse to be defensive and close ranks, but the board cannot refuse a legitimate document request just because it expects the information to be used against it. The more a board stalls or resists providing reasonably requested documents, the higher the suspicion of the requestor that the board “has something to hide.” In my experience, that is almost never the case — but ego and pride is usually the problem.