M.M. from Florida writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
We have a Director/Officer on our condo Board that stretches his powers above all other Director/Officers. He has requested directly to our accounting firm various personnel salary, bonus and increases for the past few years. He did not request this information first through the manager as an official records request just like any other unit owner. Being a Director/Officer of the board, is he entitled to do this and actually not advise the other Directors/Officers?
Mister Condo replies:
M.M., Board members have access to all association records and typically request certain records to make business decisions, which is why they were elected to the Board. Going through the official records request method that unit owners must follow could hinder the work of the board and many management companies, eager to please the Board, will provide Board members with whatever records they request. I don’t consider that overstretching Board member powers at all. If there is no reason for requesting sensitive records such as salaries and bonuses, you might want to know why these records were sought. However, since the Board is responsible for running the business of the association, such knowledge is critical in making upcoming decisions about such matters. I don’t see any foul here. All the best!