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NO…………. YOU CAN’T SEE EVERY OFFICIAL RECORD.
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published December 8, 2014
When
I teach the topic of association records at our Condo Craze
Board Certification seminars, I try to make the topic pretty
simple. In sum, if
the record relates in any way to the operation of the
association, it is an official record of the association and
must be maintained. Arbitration
cases have interpreted this statutory provision very broadly.
So, if it’s a record that could possibly be considered
a record that relates to the operation of the association, it
probably is, and it should be maintained.
A
few years ago, my law firm’s operating account was stolen
from. The thief used
fake checks that had my account number on them and the number of
the checks were right in line with the number we were actually
up to. At some
point, a few people were arrested and last week I testified as a
witness before a jury regarding the matter.
It felt a little weird being asked the questions instead
of asking the questions in the courtroom.
In
any event, the whole scenario made me think about the fact that
while associations are required to maintain so many official
records, not all of these official records are allowed to be
seen by the unit owners, precisely to prevent what happened to
me; forgery and identity theft.
Here
are the records that cannot be accessed by unit owners:
1. Any record protected by the lawyer-client privilege as described in
s. 90.502 and any record protected by the work-product privilege, including a
record prepared by an association attorney or prepared at the
attorney’s express direction, which reflects a mental
impression, conclusion, litigation strategy, or legal theory of
the attorney or the association, and which was prepared
exclusively for civil or criminal litigation or for adversarial
administrative proceedings, or which was prepared in
anticipation of such litigation or proceedings until the
conclusion of the litigation or proceedings.
2. Information obtained by an association in connection with the
approval of the lease, sale, or other transfer of a unit.
3. Personnel records of association or management company employees,
including, but not limited to, disciplinary, payroll, health,
and insurance records. For purposes of this subparagraph, the
term “personnel records” does not include written employment
agreements with an association employee or management company,
or budgetary or financial records that indicate the compensation
paid to an association employee.
4. Medical records of unit owners.
5. Social security numbers, driver license numbers, credit card numbers,
e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, facsimile numbers,
emergency contact information, addresses of a unit owner other
than as provided to fulfill the association’s notice
requirements, and other personal identifying information of any
person, excluding the person’s name, unit designation, mailing
address, property address, and any address, e-mail address, or
facsimile number provided to the association to fulfill the
association’s notice requirements. Notwithstanding the
restrictions in this subparagraph, an association may print and
distribute to parcel owners a directory containing the name,
parcel address, and all telephone numbers of each parcel owner.
However, an owner may exclude his or her telephone numbers from
the directory by so requesting in writing to the association. An
owner may consent in writing to the disclosure of other contact
information described in this subparagraph. The association is
not liable for the inadvertent disclosure of information that is
protected under this subparagraph if the information is included
in an official record of the association and is voluntarily
provided by an owner and not requested by the association.
Make
no mistake. If the
association asks a unit owner for information deemed
confidential under the statute, that information is supplied to
the association, and then the association releases that
confidential information to a third party, the association can
be sued should the unit owner who provided the information
suffer damages.
Associations and managers are warned to be careful.
Florida
leads the nation in identity theft claims.
Please do all you can to limit everyone’s losses.
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About
HOA & Condo Blog
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Eric
Glazer graduated from the University of Miami School of
Law in 1992 after receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has
practiced community
association
law for more than 2
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decades
and is the owner of Glazer and Associates, P.A. a seven eight
attorney law firm with offices in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and
Naples.
The
firm also has satellite offices in Tampa and Fort Myers.
Since 2009, Eric has been the host of Condo Craze and
HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show on 850 WFTL.
See:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
He
is the first attorney in the State of Florida that designed a
course that certifies condominium residents as eligible to serve
on a condominium Board of Directors and has now certified more
than 8,000 Floridians all across the state. He is certified as a
Circuit Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has
mediated dozens of disputes between associations and unit
owners. Eric also devotes significant time to advancing
legislation in the best interest of Florida community
association members.
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