Review of Financial Records
QUESTION: You mention the right of an Association to charge for copies, but our Association has a Management Company that demands a $55 per hour fee to be paid by a member who wants to examine the financial records of the Association. The fee for inspection is not mentioned in the contract between the Management Company and the Condo Assn. Rather, the right of members to inspect is listed as a basic service and the only mention of a charge is for copies at 15 cents per page, which is appropriate. It seems to me that both the Statute and our Bylaws (which gives members the right to inspect financial records) is being circumvented by the imposition of a charge.
RESPONSE: You did not indicate whether this was a Condominium or Property Owners Association so references to each Act are included as follows:
CONDO ACT: B. Subject to the provisions of subsection C, all books and records kept by or on behalf of the unit owners' association, including, but not limited to, the unit owners' association membership list, addresses and aggregate salary information of unit owners' association employees, shall be available for examination and copying by a unit owner in good standing or his authorized agent so long as the request is for a proper purpose related to his membership in the unit owners' association, and not for pecuniary gain or commercial solicitation. This right of examination shall exist without reference to the duration of membership and may be exercised (I) only during reasonable business hours or at a mutually convenient time and location and (ii) upon five days' written notice reasonably identifying the purpose for the request and the specific books and records of the unit owners' association requested.
D. Prior to providing copies of any books and records, the unit owners' association may impose and collect a charge, reflecting the reasonable costs of materials and labor, not to exceed the actual costs thereof.
Virginia Code § 55-79.74:1
PROPERTY OWNERS ACT: B. Subject to the provisions of subsection C, all books and records kept by or on behalf of the association, including, but not limited to, the association's membership list and addresses, which shall not be used for purposes of pecuniary gain or commercial solicitation, and aggregate salary information of employees of the association, shall be available for examination and copying by a member in good standing or his authorized agent so long as the request is for a proper purpose related to his membership in the association. This right of examination shall exist without reference to the duration of membership and may be exercised (i) only during reasonable business hours or at a mutually convenient time and location and (ii) upon five days' written notice reasonably identifying the purpose for the request and the specific books and records of the association requested.
D. Prior to providing copies of any books and records to a member in good standing under this section, the association may impose and collect a charge, reflecting the reasonable costs of materials and labor, not to exceed the actual costs thereof.
Virginia Code § 55-510
It would seem clear from the statutory language that the management company may not assess a fee for allowing the inspection where no copies are available. However, I do not believe that this would prohibit the management company from charging the Association rather than the member for the staff time involved as a contractual matter. If the owner requesting inspection was creating a real burden by constant inspection demands, the Association may consider whether an assessment against the owner for the fees incurred by it from its management company were appropriate.