Florida Law · Records & Transparency · Updated for HB 913 (2025)

HOA Records Retention Policy: A Florida-Specific Guide Under § 718.111(12) and § 720.303(5)

Florida law treats records access with unusual specificity: a defined records list, a 10-working-day response rule, and statutory damages of $50 per day for non-compliance. The board that builds a clean records practice protects itself from one of the most litigated owner-side claims in Florida community-association practice.

The Two Statutes That Frame Florida Records Access

Florida community associations operate under two parallel records frameworks:

• Florida Statutes § 718.111(12) — the official-records framework for condominium associations under Chapter 718.
• Florida Statutes § 720.303(5) — the official-records framework for homeowners associations under Chapter 720.

The two frameworks are similar in structure but differ in specifics. Condominium associations operate under the more prescriptive § 718.111(12) framework, with HB 913 (2025) expanding the transparency requirements further. HOAs operate under a similar but somewhat lighter-touch framework. This article addresses both, with specific attention to the condominium framework given its detail and the recent HB 913 changes.

Florida records-access compliance is calendar-driven, statute-defined, and remedied with concrete damages. There is almost no room for improvisation.

What the Condominium Framework Requires: § 718.111(12)

Mandatory Records List

Section 718.111(12) requires condominium associations to maintain a defined list of official records. The list includes:

• The recorded declaration of condominium and all amendments.
• The recorded bylaws and all amendments.
• The articles of incorporation and all amendments.
• The current rules and regulations of the association.
• Plans, permits, warranties, and other documents from the developer.
• Minutes of all meetings of the association, the board of administration, and unit owners (and committees with delegated authority).
• The current roster of all unit owners, mailing addresses, identifications of units, unit numbers, and unit-owner-elected email addresses (where applicable).
• All current insurance policies of the association.
• A current copy of any management agreement, lease, or other contract to which the association is a party.
• Bills of sale or transfer for all property owned by the association.
• Accounting records for the association, including: accurate, itemized, and detailed records of all receipts and expenditures; a current account and periodic statements for each unit owner identifying assessments and other charges; all tax returns, financial statements, and financial reports; and any other records required by the statute or the bylaws.
• Ballots, sign-in sheets, voting proxies, and all other papers relating to voting by unit owners (retention period of one year from the date of the election, vote, or meeting).
• All rental records (when the association is acting as agent for rental of units).
• Records of any complaints filed with the association, and the resolution thereof.
• Records of milestone inspection reports and Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) materials — required post-2022 reforms and reinforced by HB 913 (2025).

The list is comprehensive and detailed. Associations should index their records system to mirror the statutory list, ensuring each category is identifiable and producible.

Owner Access Rights

The official records must be made available within 10 working days after receipt of a written request. Records must be:

• Open for inspection by unit owners or their authorized representatives at reasonable times.
• Made available within 45 miles of the condominium or within the same county.
• Made available in electronic form upon request, where applicable.

Failure to provide the records within 10 working days creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply. This is a meaningful evidentiary burden — the association must affirmatively rebut the presumption to avoid the damages framework described below.

Damages for Non-Compliance: The $50 Per Day Framework

A unit owner denied access to official records is entitled to actual damages or minimum damages of $50 per day for the association’s willful failure to comply. The minimum damages run for up to 10 days, beginning on the 11th working day after the request was received. A prevailing unit owner is also entitled to recover reasonable attorney’s fees in an enforcement action.

The combined effect is significant. A non-responsive board facing a records-access lawsuit can be liable for $500 in statutory damages plus actual damages plus attorney’s fees that frequently run $5,000–$15,000 or more — for a records request the manager could have handled with a 30-minute production effort.

What May Be Withheld or Redacted

Not every record is subject to disclosure. Section 718.111(12) identifies categories that may be withheld or redacted:

• Records protected by the lawyer-client privilege and the work-product privilege.
• Information obtained in connection with the approval of the lease, sale, or other transfer of a unit (where the association has approval authority).
• Personnel records of association or management-company employees.
• Medical records of unit owners.
• Social security numbers, driver license numbers, credit card numbers, electronic mailing addresses (in some contexts), telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, emergency contact information, addresses outside the condominium property, and other personal identifying information.
• Records related to the discipline of any unit owner (other than minutes of duly noticed disciplinary hearings).
• Records, information, or other materials connecting an individual unit owner to the unit owner’s personal records.

The board may redact protected information from records that are otherwise producible. The board may not refuse to produce a record entirely because it contains some redactable information; the producible portion must be made available.

What the HOA Framework Requires: § 720.303(5)

Mandatory Records List for HOAs

Section 720.303(5) (with cross-reference to other Chapter 720 provisions) requires HOAs to maintain official records similar to the condominium list:

• The current articles of incorporation, bylaws, and declaration (with amendments).
• Current rules of the association.
• Minutes of meetings of the board, committees with delegated authority, and members.
• The current roster of members and their mailing addresses.
• Insurance policies.
• Contracts to which the association is a party.
• Accounting records, including detailed records of receipts and expenditures, periodic statements for each member, tax returns, financial reports.
• Ballots, voting records, and proxy records.
• Records of complaints and their resolution.

HOA Access Rights and Timing

Section 720.303(5) requires the association to make the official records available for inspection within 10 business days of receipt of a written request. The damages framework, while not as elaborately stated as the condominium framework, includes prevailing-party remedies and fee-shifting under broader Chapter 720 provisions. Practical compliance approaches are similar: respond within 10 business days, produce or extend with notice, redact protected information.

HB 913 (2025): Online Records Access Expansion

HB 913, signed June 23, 2025 and effective July 1, 2025, expanded online records-access obligations for Florida condominium associations. Key features:

• Associations with 25 or more units (and increasingly under HB 913 framework) are required to maintain a website or mobile application with a defined set of records available to unit owners.
• Records that must be posted online include the recorded governing documents, current rules, minutes (typically the most recent 12 months), the current annual budget, financial reports, contracts, certain insurance information, and the building reports (milestone inspection summaries, SIRS).
• The online posting supplements but does not replace the on-request access framework.
• The expansion is part of the broader post-Surfside transparency push, intended to give owners and prospective buyers easier visibility into association operations.

Associations subject to the online-records requirement should audit their websites against the statutory list at least quarterly. The cost of the audit is small; the cost of being out of compliance during a DBPR complaint is substantial.

The Records Request Workflow

1. Receive the written request. Date-stamp it. The 10-working-day clock starts on receipt.
2. Review for sufficiency. Is the request in writing? Does it identify the records? If unclear, contact the owner for clarification — but the clock continues running on the original request.
3. Identify the records. Pull each requested category from the association’s records system.
4. Review for redaction. Apply the statutory redaction categories. Document the basis for each redaction.
5. Produce within 10 working days. Deliver the records to the owner in the format requested (electronic where applicable, paper otherwise), at the location specified or by reasonable arrangement.
6. If extension is needed, communicate in writing. The statute does not provide an extension mechanism as clearly as Texas’s 15-day extension under § 209.005, so any extension should be by agreement with the requesting owner and documented.
7. Log the request and response. Maintain a records-request log capturing every request, date received, date produced, records produced, redactions applied, and fees charged.

Fees and Costs

The association may charge for the actual cost of copying or production. The fee structure must be reasonable and applied consistently across requests. Charges for staff time should reflect actual costs and not be punitive. The DBPR has published guidance on reasonable fee structures.

Best practice is to adopt a written fee schedule, publish it on the association’s website or in the records library, and apply it uniformly. An ad-hoc or inconsistent fee schedule invites a separate dispute on top of the records dispute itself.

Records Retention Periods

Best practice is electronic storage with secure cloud backup. The marginal cost of permanent retention is essentially zero in a cloud environment; the cost of being unable to produce a record when needed is meaningful.

Storage and Access Format

Florida law does not mandate a specific storage format. Records may be maintained in paper, electronic, or hybrid form. The trend — reinforced by HB 913 — is toward electronic storage with online access for owners.

Best practices:

• Cloud-based document management with role-based access controls.
• Backup and disaster-recovery procedures.
• Version control for governing documents and policies (current version always identifiable).
• A standing transition plan for changes in manager or secretary.
• For HB 913 online-records compliance: a website or mobile app with the statutorily required records list, audited quarterly.
• Records should not depend on a single individual’s personal device or email account.

Common Procedural Failures

Sample Records Request Response Framework

Florida-Specific Compliance Calendar

1. Quarterly: Audit the association’s online records presence (for associations subject to HB 913 framework). Confirm governing documents, current rules, recent minutes, current budget, financial reports, contracts, and building reports are posted and current.
2. Quarterly: Audit the records-request log for response-timeline compliance.
3. Annually: Review and update the records-retention policy.
4. Annually: Confirm the records storage system (cloud or other) has been backed up and is accessible.
5. On change of manager: Verify records transfer is complete and accessible to the new manager.
6. On change of board officer: Confirm institutional knowledge transfer and access controls update.
7. Post-election: Confirm election records are maintained per the 1-year minimum (with longer practical retention recommended).
8. Post-meeting: Add approved minutes to the records system within 30 days.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the $50 per day damages framework?

A unit owner denied access to official records is entitled to actual damages or minimum damages of $50 per day for the association’s willful failure to comply. The minimum damages run for up to 10 days, beginning on the 11th working day after the request was received. A prevailing unit owner can also recover reasonable attorney’s fees.

Can we charge for staff time to compile records?

Yes, within a reasonable fee structure. Fees should reflect actual costs and be applied uniformly under a published fee schedule. Excessive or arbitrary charges can produce separate disputes.

Can records be made available only by appointment?

The statute requires that records be available at reasonable times. Appointment-only access is generally permissible if the appointment can be scheduled within the 10-working-day window. Schedules that effectively delay access beyond the window are procedurally problematic.

What if an owner asks for thousands of pages?

Engage with the owner constructively to refine the request to a manageable scope where possible. Where the request is genuinely broad, communicate the production timeline transparently and consider production in batches. If a written agreement to extend the timeline can be reached, document it; the statute’s 10-working-day rule does not have a clear extension mechanism without owner agreement.

Do we have to produce attorney-client communications?

No. Attorney-client privileged communications and attorney work product may be withheld. The withholding should be documented in the response.

What about other owners’ personal information?

Social security numbers, credit card numbers, drivers’ license numbers, certain personal contact information, medical records, and similar identifying information should be redacted before production. The redactions are statutorily required, not optional.

Are we required to maintain a website?

For Florida condominium associations with 25 or more units (and increasingly under HB 913 framework for smaller associations), yes — the website or mobile app is a statutory feature, not a marketing asset. The specific records required to be posted are listed in § 718.111(12).

What if the records were destroyed (fire, flood, software loss)?

The board must reasonably attempt to recover or recreate the records. The fiduciary duty includes making best efforts to preserve records, which is one reason cloud backup is now operational standard. A genuinely lost record, with documented best efforts, is different from a record the association cannot find because of administrative neglect.

Can the manager refuse a records request?

No. The manager acts on behalf of the association. The association must respond. If the manager has been instructed not to respond, the legal responsibility flows to the board.

Key Takeaways

• Florida Statutes § 718.111(12) (condominiums) and § 720.303(5) (HOAs) establish detailed records-access frameworks with statutory damages for non-compliance.
• The condominium framework includes a 10-working-day response rule, a rebuttable presumption of willful failure for late responses, $50-per-day minimum damages (10-day cap), and fee-shifting for prevailing unit owners.
• The HOA framework is similar but somewhat lighter, with prevailing-party remedies and fee-shifting under broader Chapter 720 provisions.
• HB 913 (2025) expanded the online-records requirement for condominium associations. Boards should audit their websites against the statutory list at least quarterly.
• The redaction categories under § 718.111(12) are statutorily defined. When records contain a mix of producible and redactable content, redact rather than refuse.
• Storage best practice is electronic with cloud backup. Records should not live on personal devices.
• Adopt and publish a reasonable fee schedule. Apply it consistently.
• The cost of compliance is small; the cost of a $50-per-day plus fee-shifting lawsuit is meaningful. Compliance is the dominant strategy.

Disclaimer. This article is published by the Common Interest Community Standards Council for educational and informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Statutory references and procedural frameworks are intended to support informed governance, not to substitute for advice from qualified Florida legal counsel. Boards and managers should consult their association’s attorney about the application of any statute, governing-document provision, or records decision to their specific circumstances. CIC-SC, its authors, and its members assume no liability for actions taken in reliance on this content.