K.G. from Washington State writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I live in Washington State, owner of a condo for 10 years. Last year had no problems with HOA getting copies of documents that I had requested. This year I have requested the same documents, via certified letter, and the HOA has not responded. What recourse do I have? Thank you,
Mister Condo replies:
K.G., I am surprised that your HOA hasn’t responded to your certified letters. You didn’t mention if has been 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months since you sent the request so let’s go over a few scenarios. If has been two weeks or less, you should be patient and wait a little longer (maybe 30 days). If it has been more than a month since you made the request and you are certain that you sent the certified letter to the correct address it might be time to take legal action against the association. You are entitled to inspect the records of the association and the association is allowed to charge you an inspection fee for preparing the records or copies of the records if you so desire. They cannot simply refuse your request without consequence should you decide to pursue the matter further. My advice is to be patient until it is no longer time to be patient. Then speak to a locally qualified attorney about what your next steps are. You may very well need to sue the association to force them to produce the records. Good luck!