HB 1043 – 2023-24
Concerning association records in common interest communities.
The legislation, effective on July 23, 2023 but signed by the governor on May 11, 2023, mandates Homeowners Associations (HOAs) to distribute a list of member emails, aiming to enhance communication among members and promote democratic engagement. In accordance with this requirement, a request for the email list was formally made to the Surfside HOA on September 26, referencing bill 1043. I was denied but the office did initially provide this list on Septemebr 28 to a member, who subsequently returned after a board member demanded it be returned. It was returned without use. Despite the clear directive of bill 1043, the Surfside HOA’s board and president have withheld access to the email list since September 26,2023, contravening the legislation’s stipulations.
Sponsors: McEntire, Leavitt, Walsh
The text for the bill is listed below but the lines that matter are relative to release of member emails are as follows:
An association must retain the following:
(c) The names of current owners addresses used by the association to communicate with them and the number of votes allocated to each lot;
Records retained by an association must have the following information redacted or otherwise removed prior to disclosure:
(i) Unlisted telephone number or electronic address of any owner or resident;
The president of Surfside argues that the phrase “unlisted telephone number or electronic address of any owner or resident” should be interpreted to mean all electronic addresses. However, this interpretation is challenged by a letter from a legislator involved in drafting the bill, clarifying that homeowners associations (HOAs) are required to provide an email list of members, excluding those who have requested their phone numbers or emails to be unlisted. The specification of “unlisted” at the beginning of the clause clearly applies to email addresses, suggesting that if the legislative intent was to exclude all email addresses, it would have been stated separately. This interpretation by the Surfside president is further discredited when considering the opinions of various AI Natural Language Processing products, which align with the legislator’s clarification. In legal contexts, the intent of the legislature is paramount, not the interpretations of individuals or their legal representatives.
To confirm the meaning you can ask the meaning of the lines in the bill if the lines means all emails need to be redacted or just unlisted ones through any of the natural language processors to interpret the meaning. The output of three major NLPs on the market.
Query
Does the following lines mean all emails or only unlisted emails need to be redacted:
Records retained by an association must have the following information redacted or otherwise removed prior to disclosure:
(i) Unlisted telephone number or electronic address of any owner or resident;
Output of NLP 1
The line you’ve provided specifies that “unlisted telephone number or electronic address of any owner or resident” needs to be redacted or removed from records prior to disclosure. This does not mean all emails need to be redacted, but specifically the unlisted electronic addresses.
Output of NLP 2
The lines only refer to unlisted emails and phone numbers.
The text says “Unlisted telephone number or electronic address” which means only information that is specifically marked as unlisted by the owner or resident needs to be redacted.
Output of NLP 3
The specified lines indicate that certain information must be redacted or removed from records retained by an association before they are disclosed. Let’s break it down:
- Unlisted telephone number: This refers to phone numbers that are not publicly listed in directories. If an owner or resident’s phone number is unlisted, it should be redacted.
- Electronic address: This includes email addresses. If an owner or resident has an unlisted email address, it should also be redacted.
In summary, both unlisted telephone numbers and unlisted electronic addresses need to be redacted from the records before disclosure.
Bill text extracted from the bill listed
https://apps.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1043&Initiative=false&Year=2023
May 11 Governor signed.
Chapter 409, 2023 Laws. (View Session Law)
Effective date 7/23/2023.
CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1043
Chapter 409, Laws of 2023
68th Legislature
2023 Regular Session
COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITIES—RECORDS
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 23, 2023
Sec,3
RCW 64.38.045 and 1995 c 283 s 9 are each amended to 9 read as follows
The association or its managing agent shall keep financial and other records sufficiently detailed to enable the association to fully declare to each owner the true statement of its financial status. All financial and other records of the association including but not limited to checks bank records and invoices in whatever form they are kept are the property of the association. Each association managing agent shall turn over all original books and records to the association immediately upon termination of the management relationship with the association or upon such other demand as is made by the board of directors. An association managing agent is entitled to keep copies of association records. All records which the managing agent has turned over to the association shall be made reasonably available for the examination and copying by the managing agent.
At least annually the association shall prepare or cause to be prepared a financial statement of the association. The financial statements of associations with annual assessments of $50000 or more shall be audited at least annually by an independent certified public accountant but the audit may be waived if 67 percent of the votes cast by owners in person or by proxy at a meeting of the association at which a quorum is present vote each year to waive the audit.
The funds of the association shall be kept in accounts in the name of the association and shall not be commingled with the funds of any other association nor with the funds of any manager of the association or any other person responsible for the custody of such funds.
An association must retain the following:
(a) The current budget detailed records of receipts and expenditures affecting the operation and administration of the association and other appropriate accounting records within the last seven years;
(b) Minutes of all meetings of its owners and board other than executive sessions a record of all actions taken by the owners or board without a meeting and a record of all actions taken by a committee in place of the board on behalf of the association;
(c) The names of current owners addresses used by the association to communicate with them and the number of votes allocated to each lot;
(d) Its original or restated declaration organizational documents all amendments to the declaration and organizational documents and all rules currently in effect;
(e) All financial statements and tax returns of the association for the past seven years;
(f) A list of the names and addresses of its current board members and officers;
(g) Its most recent annual report delivered to the secretary of state if any;
(h) Copies of contracts to which it is or was a party within the last seven years;
(i) Materials relied upon by the board or any committee to approve or deny any requests for design or architectural approval for a period of seven years after the decision is made;
(j) Materials relied upon by the board or any committee concerning a decision to enforce the governing documents for a period of seven years after the decision is made;
(k) Copies of insurance policies under which the association is a named insured;
(l) Any current warranties provided to the association;
(m) Copies of all notices provided to owners or the association in accordance with this chapter or the governing documents; and
(n) Ballots proxies absentee ballots and other records related to voting by owners for one year after the election action or vote to which they relate.
Subject to subsections (6) through (8) of this section and except as provided in (b) of this subsection all records required to be retained by an association must be made available for examination and copying by all owners holders of mortgages on the lots and their respective authorized agents as follows unless agreed otherwise:
(i) During reasonable business hours or at a mutually convenient time and location; and
(ii) At the offices of the association or its managing agent.
The list of owners required to be retained by an association under subsection (4)(c) of this section is not required to be made available for examination and copying by holders of mortgages on the lots.
Records retained by an association must have the following information redacted or otherwise removed prior to disclosure:
(a) Personnel and medical records relating to specific individuals;
(b) Contracts leases and other commercial transactions to purchase or provide goods or services currently being negotiated;
(c) Existing or potential litigation or mediation arbitration or administrative proceedings;
(d) Existing or potential matters involving federal state or local administrative or other formal proceedings before a governmental tribunal for enforcement of the governing documents;
(e) Legal advice or communications that are otherwise protected by the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine including communications with the managing agent or other agent of the association;
(f) Information the disclosure of which would violate a court order or law;
(g) Records of an executive session of the board;
(h) Individual lot files other than those of the requesting owner;
(i) Unlisted telephone number or electronic address of any owner or resident;
(j) Security access information provided to the association for emergency purposes; or
(k) Agreements that for good cause prohibit disclosure to the members.
In addition to the requirements in subsection (6) of this section an association must prior to disclosure of the list of owners required to be retained by an association under subsection (4)(c) of this section redact or otherwise remove the address of any owner or resident who is known to the association to be a participant in the address confidentiality program described in chapter 40.24 RCW or any similar program established by law.
Except as provided in (b) of this subsection an association may charge a reasonable fee for producing and providing copies of any records under this section and for supervising the owner’s inspection.
An owner is entitled to receive a free annual electronic or paper copy of the list retained under subsection (4)(c) of this section from the association.
A right to copy records under this section includes the right to receive copies by photocopying or other means including through an electronic transmission if available upon request by the owner.
Surfside Washington News 