Court Says HOA Had no Discretion to Withhold Records Owners Were Entitled to See and Association was Subject to Penalties for Failing to Timely Provide Access to the Requested Records

This case involved a dispute between two homeowners (“Owners”) and their homeowners association  (“Association”) over Owners’ right to receive records that they requested from the Association that were not provided to them. Owners were concerned that the Association was not adequately maintaining the common areas that it was responsible for maintaining, and that it was not enforcing the CC&Rs against other homeowners who were violating them. In an effort to investigate their concerns, Owners requested various records from the Association, including insurance policies, and records reflecting expenditures for the maintenance and upkeep of individual lots and common areas. In response to the request, the Association provided Owners with some of the records that had been requested, but omitted numerous others. After additional unsuccessful attempts to get the records that were not provided, Owners filed suit against the Association seeking injunctive relief to compel the Association to provide them with financial statements, including canceled checks and bank statements, reflecting payments for repairs and maintenance of the common areas, and insurance policies for two specific years. In their action, Owners also sought statutory damages and an award of attorney’s fees pursuant to Florida statutes.

The trial court denied Owners’ request for the injunction compelling Association to produce the items in question after finding: