I recently received an email from a board member of one of the resident owned communities we represent. One of the members of this ROC had requested a list of all of the "summer addresses" of the residents in the community. The board member wanted to know whether the ROC had to provide the member with those addresses and whether it was appropriate to mail that member a list containing those addresses.
- Florida Statutes Section 718.111(12)(a)7, which applies to condominium associations, and Section 719.104(2)(a)5, which applies to cooperative associations, are identical and provide that the association shall maintain "a current roster of all unit owners and their mailing addresses, unit identifications, voting certifications, and, if known, telephone numbers". The statutes provide that this roster is part of the association’s "official records". The applicable provision of Chapter 720 governing mandatory homeowners associations almost mirrors its Chapter 718 and 719 counterparts.
- Based on language of these statutes, and the "catch all" provisions in Sections 718.111, 719.104, and 720.303 (4), which include almost every other written record in the association’s possession that is in any way connected with the operation of the community, once a member gives the association his or her "summer. address," that address becomes part of the association’s official records and any other member can request to inspect and copy that address.
- The association is not required to mail the roster to requesting member. The association’s obligation in response to an appropriate record inspection request is simply to allow the member to inspect and copy those records. However, I see no problem with the association mailing the roster to a member as long as any other member requesting the roster is notified of this option. In other words, all members requesting the roster should be treated equally. Obviously, if the roster is consistently kept current, the association can minimize time and inconvenience to its office staff by simply mailing the roster to the member and the member can be charged a reasonable cost for copying the list.
ROC members should understand that whatever addresses and telephone numbers they give to the association will have to be produced to another member that properly requests them. ROC managers and board members should immediately contact the attorney representing their community upon receiving a request to inspect or copy records.