California HOA Member Records Inspection Law (Civ. Code § 5205)

Civil Code § 5205, part of the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act's Article 5 record-inspection cluster (§§ 5200-5240), requires every California homeowners association to make its records available to any member, or the member's written-designated representative, for inspection and copying. The request must be in writing, and inspection happens at the association's business office within the development; if the association has no on-site office, the parties agree on a location, or the association may simply deliver the documents to the member instead.

Section 5210 sets the clock: records prepared during the current fiscal year must be produced within 10 business days of the association's receipt of the request, and records from the previous two fiscal years within 30 calendar days. Minutes of committees with decisionmaking authority must go out within 15 calendar days of approval. The inspection window covers the current fiscal year plus the previous two, except that minutes of member and board meetings stay open to inspection permanently.

Section 5200 defines what boards must produce: interim financial statements (balance sheet, income and expense statement, budget comparison, general ledger), executed contracts, written board approvals of vendor invoices, tax returns, reserve account records, non-executive-session agendas and minutes, membership lists, check registers, the governing documents, and inspector's reports under § 5551. A narrower category, enhanced association records, covers invoices, receipts, canceled checks, purchase orders, bank and credit card statements, service statements, and reimbursement requests; boards may charge up to $10 per hour, capped at $200 per written request, to redact those before release. Ordinary copying and mailing costs are billed at direct, actual cost, disclosed and agreed to by the member before copying begins. A member may instead choose electronic delivery, which limits the charge to the direct cost of producing that format. Election ballots and voter envelopes may be inspected but never copied, and election materials must be kept for one year after the vote.

A board that refuses or unreasonably delays a written records request risks a civil suit under Civil Code § 5235. A court that finds the denial unreasonable must award the member's reasonable costs and attorney's fees, and may impose a civil penalty of up to $500 for each separate written request denied. Claims within the small claims jurisdictional limit can be filed there directly, without an attorney, making enforcement accessible to individual owners rather than only to those who can afford litigation.