Alabama HOA Records and Meetings: 30 Days to Produce, 10 to 60 Days' Notice

The records right sits in § 35-20-13 of the Alabama Homeowners' Association Act. Two things about it are broader than most states. First, the request does not have to come from a member: a "potential purchaser" may make it too, and § 35-20-2(11) defines that as a person holding a contractual right or option to acquire a lot, or a person or entity who intends to execute a mortgage to secure an indebtedness. A buyer under contract can therefore demand the association's books before closing. Second, the association is not forced to photocopy anything. Section 35-20-13(a) lets it provide the material in paper or electronic form or direct the requester to the location of any public record containing it, which in practice sends you to the judge of probate for the recorded covenants.

The deadline is a written request answered within a reasonable time not to exceed 30 days, and the association may charge reasonable associated costs. The ten categories in § 35-20-13(b) are specific: the most recent assessments plus any assessments the board has approved but that are not yet in effect, together with amounts and dates due and payable; the common areas the association owns and the common areas it does not own but which dues go to maintain; the current operating budget, reserve funds if any, and a statement of financial condition for the last fiscal year; documents evidencing insurance coverage provided for all lot owners, including any fidelity bond; documents evidencing loans against the association and any collateral pledged for them; the official name of the association with current contact information for its officers and agent; the current covenants, conditions, and restrictions with every amendment, modification, restatement, or supplement and the current architectural control regulations; any initiation or transfer fee that will be due at closing; a list of all existing common areas; and the case number or other identifying information for any pending lawsuit, judgment, lien, arbitration, or other dispute resolution process to which the association is a party and which appears in a public record.

Financial records carry a second, standing right. Section 35-20-5(c)(3) requires the organizational documents of every association formed under the chapter to provide for the compilation, organization, and maintenance of full and complete financial records "available to any member at a reasonable time and place upon the payment of reasonable associated costs." That runs alongside the 30-day request procedure rather than replacing it, and § 35-20-5(c)(7) separately requires the documents to provide for preparation and submission of the annual budget to the members.

On meetings, the Act itself is thin and points elsewhere. Section 35-20-5(c)(2) requires the organizational documents to contain rules and regulations for the conduct of any meetings of the association, but sets no minimum number of board or membership meetings per year. The gap is filled by corporate law: § 35-20-5(a) requires a homeowners' association created under a declaration on or after January 1, 2016 to be organized as a nonprofit corporation under Chapter 3 of Title 10A "and shall be governed in all respects as a nonprofit corporation." Notice of a members' meeting therefore runs under § 10A-3-2.03, which requires notice stating the place, if any, the day and the hour, and for a special meeting the purpose, delivered not less than 10 nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting, unless the governing documents provide otherwise. If the board has authorized remote participation under § 10A-3A-2.02(d), (e), and (f), the notice must describe the means of remote communication to be used.

The turnover from the developer has its own clock. Section 35-20-9(a) gives the declarant 120 days from the date the members gain the right to elect a board to call a special meeting for that election, by written notice under § 10A-3-2.03. That notice must state the purpose, must provide for nominations of candidates at the meeting on the written consent of at least 10 percent of the membership unless the governing documents say otherwise, and must name all existing directors and those who may continue to serve. Section 35-20-10 then gives the declarant 90 days from the selection of the board to deliver all books, records, and governing documents in the declarant's possession or control, records of outstanding and unpaid assessments, third-party contracts covering operation or maintenance, insurance policies currently in force, the member roster as shown on the records, and any unexpired written warranties from contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, or manufacturers on the common area and its improvements.

There is one route around a stonewalling board. Section 35-20-5(b)(2), as amended by Act 2023-177, requires an association to file with the Alabama Secretary of State both its bylaws or other governing documents and the original covenants, conditions, or restrictions it adopted. Section 35-20-5(b)(3) requires the Secretary of State to maintain a public electronic database, organized by association name and searchable through the Secretary of State's website, from which those documents can be retrieved. The same subdivision warns that documents filed there are not deemed to provide notice under Chapter 4 of Title 35, so the filing is a transparency measure rather than a substitute for the probate records.

The Act attaches no fine, no penalty, and no administrative complaint route to a board that ignores a records request, and it names no Alabama agency with power to order production. Enforcement is judicial. Section 35-20-4(a) supplements the chapter with the principles of law and equity, including the nonprofit corporation law in Chapter 3 of Title 10A and the law of real estate. " A member or a buyer under contract whose written request goes unanswered past 30 days sues in the circuit court of the county where the development lies, typically for an order compelling production and for the consequential loss caused by the delay.

Before filing, two cheaper checks are worth making: the Secretary of State's association database under § 35-20-5(b)(3) may already hold the bylaws and the original covenants, and the judge of probate in the county holds the recorded declaration and every recorded amendment, which § 35-20-13(a) expressly allows the association to point you toward instead of copying. Note also that the 30-day duty is conditioned on payment of reasonable associated costs, so an association may lawfully hold production until a reasonable copying or retrieval charge is paid.