{"id":2671,"date":"2023-05-26T17:18:18","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T21:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/?p=2671"},"modified":"2023-05-26T17:18:18","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T21:18:18","slug":"long-hoa-retain-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/?p=2671","title":{"rendered":"How long should your HOA retain its records?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You are elected Secretary of your homeowners\u2019 association<\/a>. Congratulations! Someone hands you the minute book, owner roster, and the governing documents<\/a>. You think, hey this is not overwhelming at all. Then the retiring Secretary mentions in passing that \u201cIf you\u2019re home tomorrow I\u2019ll deliver the boxes.\u201d You ask \u201cWhat boxes?\u201d \u201cOh, all of the HOA\u2019s records are boxed up and have been in my garage \u2013 I\u2019ll bring them by,\u201d replies the retiring Secretary.<\/p>\n

What do you do with the boxes? What records and documents do HOAs need to keep? How long do you need to keep them? How should they be stored? This blog post provides some basic guidance on best practice tips for community association record retention.<\/p>\n

\"HOA<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Community associations are small businesses and we use many of the same considerations that we use for businesses in determining the records to keep. Documents typically fall into the following categories:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Financial and Accounting<\/li>\n
  2. Personnel<\/li>\n
  3. Governance and Corporate<\/li>\n
  4. Legal<\/li>\n
  5. Insurance<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Various factors come into play when determining how long you retain certain records. For financial records, state and federal law and guidance from the Internal Revenue Service should be consulted. Although you should confirm with your HOA’s financial and accounting professionals, the Virginia Society of CPA\u2019s (\u201cVSCPA\u201d) provides guidance<\/a> for determining how long you should maintain certain financial and accounting records:<\/p>\n

    Financial and Accounting Records<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Retention Period \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Type of Record<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    PERMANENT<\/td>\nBalance Sheets; financial statements; check register; cash disbursement and receipt record; income tax returns; payroll tax returns; profit and loss statements; journal entries; general ledger.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7 YEARS<\/td>\nAccounts payable; accounts receivables; bank statements and reconciliation; vendor invoices; petty cash records; purchase orders; expense reports; charge slips.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    4 YEARS<\/td>\nFICA\/Income tax withholdings.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    3 YEARS<\/td>\nBank deposit slips and budgets.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Personnel Records<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    PERMANENT<\/td>\nRetirement plans agreements, W-2 forms.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    10 YEARS<\/td>\nWorker\u2019s Compensation benefits, employee withholding exemption certificates and payroll records.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7 YEARS<\/td>\nAttendance records; medical benefits; performance records; personnel files; payroll checks and time reports.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    For governing documents and documents specific to the administration and operation of the community association, state and federal law should be consulted, as well as checking with any requirements of your insurance policy. As a general rule, communities should consider the following schedule for record retention:<\/p>\n

    Governance and Corporate Records<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    PERMANENT<\/td>\nGoverning documents, including Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, Bylaws, Articles of Incorporation and any supplements, modifications or amendments. Deeds, Plats, and Easements. Rules and Regulations and any amendments.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    PERMANENT<\/td>\nMinutes from Board meetings, and Annual and Special Member Meetings. Board resolutions.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    PERMANENT<\/td>\nArchitectural approvals.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    PERMANENT<\/td>\nOwner Rosters.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7 YEARS<\/td>\nElection records.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    5 YEARS<\/td>\nGeneral correspondence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    <\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    <\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Legal Records<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    PERMANENT<\/td>\nLegal opinion letters.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    PERMANENT<\/td>\nReserve Studies.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7 YEARS (after last action\/final payment)<\/td>\nCollection letters, debtor correspondence, payment ledger, notices, certified mail receipts, judgments, foreclosure notices, summons for interrogatories or garnishment. Enforcement correspondence and records.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7 YEARS<\/td>\nCompleted Service Contracts.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7 YEARS<\/td>\nClaims of injury, property damage or alleged violations of the law, including accident reports, demand letters, Fair Housing claims.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Insurance<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    7 YEARS<\/td>\nInactive Insurance Policies, settled claims files.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    Storing all of these files becomes another issue for common interest communities. Depending upon the community\u2019s size and age, your HOA may need to invest in paperless alternatives and storage facilities. In any case, it is important to discuss these topics with your financial professionals and community association law firm to ensure that your HOA has a proper record retention policy.<\/p>\n

    Tarley Robinson, PLC, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    Williamsburg, Virginia<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    You are elected Secretary of your homeowners\u2019 association. Congratulations! Someone hands you the minute book, owner roster, and the governing documents. You think, hey this is not overwhelming at all. Then the retiring Secretary mentions in passing that \u201cIf you\u2019re home tomorrow I\u2019ll deliver the boxes.\u201d You ask \u201cWhat boxes?\u201d \u201cOh, all of the HOA\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,57,75,25,141],"tags":[331,388,244,387,386],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2671"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2684,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions\/2684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tarleyrobinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}