Document Turnover at Transition
Document turnover at transition is covered in Section 55-79.74G of the Condominium Act and Section 55-509.2 of the POAA. The triggering event is that the majority of the members of the board are owners of improved lots and the developer is no longer the holder of the majority of the votes in the association. In the Condominium Act, the triggering event is the election of the unit owner board after units representing three-fourths of the common element interests have been transferred to buyers.
The developer must promptly turn over the following items to the new board:
1. All association books and records held by or controlled by the declarant, including, without limitation, the following items: minute books and all rules, regulations and amendments thereto which may have been promulgated;
2. A statement of receipts and expenditures from the date of the recording of the condominium instruments to the end of the regular accounting period immediately succeeding the first election of the board of directors by the unit owners not to exceed sixty days from the date of the election, such statement being prepared in an accurate and complete manner, utilizing the accrual method of accounting;
3. A copy of the latest available approved plan and specifications for all improvements in the project or as-built plans, if available;
4. All association insurance policies which are currently in force;
5. Written unexpired warranties of the contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and manufacturers, if any;
6. Any contracts in which the association is a contracting party, if any; and
7. A list of manufacturers of paints, roofing materials and other similar materials if specified for use on the condominium project.
There is one notable exception, if the association has been managed professionally (and the developers have no financial interest in that management company), then the management company must provide the items listed as 1, 2, 4 and 6 above.
Admittedly, this is not an exhaustive list -- when this law was written and promoted in 1996 by the Virginia Legislative Action Committee of CAI. We proposed a few additional items but the builders lobby succeeded in getting a few of our items deleted as being overly burdensome. I recommend that you add to your list of requested items any items which will likely be of assistance to the new board.