If you’re one of those people who finds checking things off a list or making a chart oddly satisfying, then House Bill 1021 (“HB 1021”) is the new legislation for you. As you may have already heard, HB1021 made sweeping changes to the condominium law landscape. Perhaps none of these changes will be felt quite as much as the new procedures required for Official Records Requests.

In many cases, up until now, official records requests may have been handled with varying degrees of formality. Now, a standardized procedure has been signed into law requiring a checklist that must be sent with the requested records. Beginning in July 2024, per Chapter 718.111(12) a check list requiring certain information shall be attached to any response to a records request. The specificity of the checklist will vary slightly based on each request and response, but should include general information such as (i) a description of the types of records that have been requested, (ii) a notation indicating whether those records have been made available or if they are available from the website, (iii) comments explaining what records were not included and why, and (iv) an accounting for the date the records were requested and the date on which the response was provided. The response time permitted for responses to records requests will remain 10 working days.

In addition to the Records Request Checklist, the Bill also creates other significant changes to the Association’s obligations to maintain records and respond to records requests.

First, condominium associations are now required to maintain copies of (i) all building permits for ongoing construction and (ii) satisfactorily completed board educational certificates as official records of the association for seven (7) years. Additionally, the scope of “accounting records” under Section 718.111(12)(a)11 now includes all invoices, transaction receipts, or deposit slips that substantiate any receipt or expenditure of funds by the association.

Because all of these records can be voluminous, the Bill requires the Association to maintain the records in an “organized manner that facilitates inspection of records by a unit owner”, and to keep certain personal unit owner information (such as emails and facsimile numbers) private and not to sell such information to third parties. See § 718.111(12)(b), Fla. Stat. (2024). Lastly,). Finally, acknowledging that sometimes the records just aren’t in the Association’s possession, the Bill provides that if the official records are either lost, destroyed, or otherwise “unavailable”, then the Association has a “good faith obligation to obtain and recover those records as is reasonably possible.”

One of the goals of this new legislation is to create greater transparency between the association and its members. However, in doing so it also creates a far greater obligation on property managers and directors than we’ve seen in recent history.

To minimize the burden on the board and management it is paramount that you work with your Association’s attorney to develop policies, procedures, and forms to create a standard and streamlined approach to responding to records requests. Finally, it is important to remember that a complete and compliant response starts with well-maintained and organized records. For all of our directors and managers that are organization junkies, this is your time to shine. May your responses be thorough, and your organized records be clutter-free.