The financial responsibilities of HOA boards

HOAs are not for profit corporations per FL law and are intended to operate on a breakeven basis with sufficient financial planning to avoid either a recurring deficit (later funded by increased member assessments)or an uncecessary surplus. 

Here is the entire statute ruling how HOA directors must operate in Florida:

Florida 617.0830 General standards for directors.

(1) A director shall discharge his or her duties as a director, including his or her duties as a member of a committee:

(a) In good faith;

(b) With the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances; and

(c) In a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation.

(2) In discharging his or her duties, a director may rely on information, opinions, reports, or statements, including financial statements and other financial data, if prepared or presented by:

(a) One or more officers or employees of the corporation whom the director reasonably believes to be reliable and competent in the matters presented;

(b) Legal counsel, public accountants, or other persons as to matters the director reasonably believes are within the persons’ professional or expert competence; or

(c) A committee of the board of directors of which he or she is not a member if the director reasonably believes the committee merits confidence.

(3) A director is not acting in good faith if he or she has knowledge concerning the matter in question that makes reliance otherwise permitted by subsection (2) unwarranted.

(4) A director is not liable for any action taken as a director, or any failure to take any action, if he or she performed the duties of his or her office in compliance with this section.*

Now Consider this:   Medley is operating at a substantial DEFICIT -- 

Would an "an ordinarily prudent person" spend money on discretionary expenditures including:

• ~$9,000 for a pool chair lift that's not required by ADA (when a less expensive alternative is available and favored by disabled residents)
• A $170,000 Special Assessment that was entirely spent on legal expenses (ignoring the planned objective studies and audits)
• Expensive discretionary landscape replanting (not maintenance) around the pool deck area for $6,055;  In front of the clubhouse for $7,383; Planting 3 trees outside our dog park fence for a cost of $1,757.  
• Continue funding 'free' coffee at a cost of up to $2,000 per month from all of us (when the majority of residents surveyed already responded No)
• Ignore Hidden Creek CDD charging Medley residents for 90% the Lagoon Shore gatehouse that we don't even need since we have our own gates.   (Shouldn't that contract have been reviewed and renegotiated by our board members who also sat on the CDD's board?)
• Ignore our master Southshore Bay HOA charging homeowners $33k for four months of an on-site Community Association Manager that didn't exist. 
• Incurring legal expenses to avoid providing statutorily-required financial disclosures (incurring $50 per day fo homeowners to pay!)
• And then ... propose an annual Clubhouse "mandatory spend" to close the budget gap instead of addressing Medley's overspending.  😣
• All of the above topics have been documented on MedleyMembers.Net/blogs page, at board meetings and on TownSquare. (but as always feel free to reply with corrections.)

(5) INSPECTION AND COPYING OF RECORDS.—

(a) Unless otherwise provided by law or the governing documents of the association, the official records must be maintained within this state for at least 7 years and be made available to a parcel owner for inspection or photocopying within 45 miles of the community or within the county in which the association is located within 10 business days after receipt by the board or its designee of a written request from the parcel owner. This subsection may be complied with by having a copy of the official records available for inspection or copying in the community or by making the records available to a parcel owner electronically via the Internet or by allowing the records to be viewed in electronic format on a computer screen and printed upon request. If the association has a photocopy machine available where the records are maintained, it must provide parcel owners with copies on request during the inspection if the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages. An association shall allow a member or his or her authorized representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, tablet, portable scanner, or any other technology capable of scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of the official records in lieu of the association’s providing the member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of such records. The association may not charge a fee to a member or his or her authorized representative for the use of a portable device.

(b) The failure of an association to provide access to the records within 10 business days after receipt of a written request submitted by certified mail, return receipt requested, creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with this subsection.

(c) A member denied access to official records is entitled to the actual damages or minimum damages for the association’s willful failure to comply with this subsection. The minimum damages are to be $50 per calendar day up to 10 days, the calculation to begin on the 11th business day after receipt of the written request.

(d) Any director or member of the board or association or a community association manager who knowingly, willfully, and repeatedly violates paragraph (a), with the intent of causing harm to the association or one or more of its members, commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “repeatedly” means two or more violations within a 12-month period.

(e) Any person who knowingly and intentionally defaces or destroys accounting records during the period in which such records are required to be maintained, or who knowingly or intentionally fails to create or maintain accounting records that are required to be created or maintained, with the intent of causing harm to the association or one or more of its members, commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(f) Any person who willfully and knowingly refuses to release or otherwise produce association records with the intent to avoid or escape detection, arrest, trial, or punishment for the commission of a crime, or to assist another person with such avoidance or escape, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.