As a Florida condominium owner, you have a legal right to inspect and copy almost all of your association's official records. The board must make them available within 10 working days of your written request, at a location within 45 miles of the property or in the county where the condo sits. If it does not, the law presumes the association willfully broke the rules, and you can collect $50 per calendar day in damages.
This right lives in Florida Statute 718.111(12). It is one of the strongest tools a condo owner has, stronger than what your neighbors in an HOA get. For condominiums, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), through its Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes, actively enforces records violations. An HOA owner mostly has to sue in court. You may not have to.
What counts as an official record
Section 718.111(12)(a) defines official records broadly. It includes the declaration, bylaws, articles, rules, meeting minutes, contracts, insurance policies, the current roster of unit owners and their addresses, and the association's accounting records. HB 1021, effective July 1, 2024, expanded the accounting records to spell out that "all invoices, transaction receipts, or deposit slips that substantiate any receipt or expenditure of funds by the association" are official records you can see. The same law added "a copy of all building permits" to the list. So bids, invoices, receipts, deposit slips, and permits are now clearly yours to inspect.
A short list of things are protected and off limits under 718.111(12)(c): attorney-client privileged communications about pending litigation, medical records, personnel records of employees, and personal identifying information like Social Security numbers and certain contact details owners have asked to keep private. Everything else is fair game.
What the board must do
When you send a written request, the association has 10 working days (not calendar days) after it receives your request to make the records available. It must let you inspect them, and it must let you make or receive copies. HB 1021 also now requires the association to maintain records in an organized manner and, for many requests, to provide a checklist of the records it made available and the records it withheld. An association with 25 or more units must also post many of these records on a secure website or app by January 1, 2026, under 718.111(12)(g).
The association can charge you the actual cost of copying, and it can adopt reasonable written rules about the frequency, time, location, notice, and manner of inspections. What it cannot do is refuse, stall past 10 working days, or hide records that are not on the protected list.
How to tell if they broke the law
You likely have a violation if any of these happened:
- You made a written request and 10 working days passed with no meaningful access.
- The board demanded a "reason" for your request. You do not owe one.
- The board refused to show invoices, receipts, deposit slips, contracts, or building permits (all now clearly official records).
- The board charged far more than the actual cost of copies, or invented a fee to see records.
- A 25-plus-unit association has no owner website with the required records posted.
Under 718.111(12)(c), failure to provide access within 10 working days creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply. That matters, because willful noncompliance opens the door to minimum damages of $50 per calendar day for up to 10 days, beginning on the 11th working day after the request, so up to $500, plus your reasonable attorney fees if you have to enforce the right.
Step by step: how to get your records
- Send a written request. Use certified mail or email so you have proof of the date. Be specific about what you want. Use the (/documents/records-inspection-request) template so nothing is missing and the clock starts cleanly.
- Start the clock. Count 10 working days (business days) from the day the association received it. Keep your proof of delivery.
- Inspect and copy. Show up (or send a designee) at the agreed time. Photograph or copy what you need. Note anything missing.
- Send a demand if they stall. If 10 working days pass, send a short written notice that the deadline has passed, that a rebuttable presumption of willful noncompliance now applies under 718.111(12)(c), and that you intend to pursue the $50 per day statutory damages.
- File a DBPR complaint. For a condo, this is your real leverage. File complaint form 33-032 with the Division of Florida Condominiums. Records access is squarely within DBPR's post-turnover jurisdiction (financial issues, elections, and records). DBPR must contact the association within 30 days. See (/documents/dbpr-complaint-guide).
- Escalate to arbitration or court. A records dispute can go to DBPR nonbinding arbitration or pre-suit mediation under 718.1255, and then to county or circuit court, where you can seek the statutory damages and attorney fees. Small claims court handles disputes up to $8,000.
What you can do next
Send a clean written request today using the (/documents/records-inspection-request). If 10 working days pass without access, file DBPR complaint form 33-032 (/documents/dbpr-complaint-guide) and reference the $50 per day penalty in 718.111(12)(c). Keep every date and receipt. That paper trail is what holds the board to the deadline and backs up your statutory damages.