M.O. from Cook County, Illinois writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
One of the owners in our building took a copy of our financial statements to 2 other buildings. The first building is self-managed and the 3rd has a different management company. Is this legal? I would think that our financial statements are private.
Mister Condo replies:
M.O., I am sorry that you have an uncomfortable situation on your hands. You didn’t mention why the owner shared the financial statements but I assume that they are disgruntled over an expense and is trying to see what the neighboring associations are paying for the same items(s). I am not an attorney and offer no legal opinions here. Unless there is something in your governing documents that prohibits an owner from sharing any association record, I don’t think there is anything illegal here. The information contained on the financial statement is a record of the corporation. While they typically aren’t broadcasted to the world, there isn’t anything in there too terribly private in most cases. However, I would say it is bad form for a homeowner to use his information for any malfeasance or personal gain. You didn’t state that was the case here, just that the information was shared with a very small audience. If the association was harmed in any way, it might be worth a quick call to the association attorney to see if there is a way to have this homeowner “cease and desist”. Other than that, it might make sense for the Board to understand why this homeowner shared the information. If he/she has a legitimate financial concern, it would be good to know what that concern is. All the best!
I can see the issue but there may be a good reason for this. As Mr Condo says it could be to compare prices and that is smart business. This industry is filled with a lot of bad actors and if associations banded together (as some already do) they can work towards receiving value.
If personal information is being shared then that is not good. Why not ask the member who did this to let you know why. You may be pleasantly surprised.