Question: In a recent column, you said that an owner wanting to inspect association records has to make a written request. Does a request by e-mail satisfy the law? (B.H. by e-mail)
Answer: While the Florida Condominium, Cooperative, and Homeowners’ Association Acts all require that owners submit “written” requests to inspect records, there is no definition in any statute defining what “written” means, nor do the statutes specifically address how the “written” request is to be delivered to the association.
The law does allow boards of directors to adopt reasonable rules regarding the frequency, time, location, notice, and manner of record inspections and copying. I am of the opinion that, in these rules, the board can establish the manner in which written records requests are to be delivered to the association.
Absent a rule identifying the acceptable forms of delivery, my advice is that e-mail requests for records, at least if addressed to an appropriate association official, be treated as an official records request.
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