The short answer
- HOA disputes often start with a records request: in all three state reports we read, records sit at or near the top of what owners bring to the state. Delaware's ombudsperson names a board's refusal to provide books and records as its top complaint category for 2024; Nevada lists records among its top three allegations in the south; in Colorado, records questions were the most common named inquiry.
- Many owners want the documents before they want a fight. In Colorado, 126 inquiries asked about records and 125 asked how to file a complaint.
- The fix is cheap and boring: answer every request in writing, post the standing documents, and hand the files to the next board.
In 2024, Colorado's HOA Information and Resource Center logged 126 inquiries about which records an association must keep and hand over, and 125 asking how to file a complaint.
The distance between those two questions is usually one reply that never came.
The count: What three state offices recorded
Several states run an office that hears HOA complaints and publishes what it heard. We read Virginia's report in an earlier piece. Here are three more, each taken from the agency's own report.
Delaware. The Common Interest Community Ombudsperson's 2024 Annual Report puts it plainly: "Board refusal to provide access to books and records of the community on written request and 5 days' notice remains the top category of complaint." That includes reports of outgoing boards not handing the prior board's records to the newly elected one. The office logged 84 formal complaints and 456 formal email inquiries that year. The next most common complaint was about bylaws, including bylaws "not available to owners."
Nevada. The Real Estate Division's Ombudsman's Office recorded 158 intervention affidavits filed from July 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025. In southern Nevada, one of the top three allegations was NRS 116.31175: the "maintenance and availability of books, records and other papers of association."
Colorado. The HOA Center's 2024 Annual Report logged 3,811 inquiries. "Records Request" was the most common named topic, behind only the catch-all "General Inquiry" (150). Formal complaints came from 300 people.
126 Colorado inquiries in 2024 about which records an association must keep and produce, the most common named topic of the year. — Colorado HOA Information & Resource Center, 2024 Annual Report
The pattern: Owners ask first
Colorado's report adds the detail that matters most. Many of the people asking about records were not after a lawsuit. In the report's words, the consumer "simply wanted to know whether a certain type of record was required to be produced," or how the records section of Colorado's law (C.R.S. 38-33.3-317) applied to their case.
By the time it becomes a formal complaint, the label often changes. "Failure to Produce Records" was 40 of the complaint issues Colorado logged. The biggest category was "Communication with Homeowners/Board," at 207.
Read the two together and a likely sequence appears:
How a records request can turn into a state complaint.
- The ask: An owner wants to see a document.
- The silence: Nobody answers, or the answer is vague.
- The call: The owner asks the state how records requests work.
- The complaint: It gets filed, often as "communication".
Nothing in that chain requires a dishonest board. It only requires a request sitting in one person's inbox.
Who it happens to: Not mostly self-managed boards
Colorado tracks who complaints are about. About 20% of its registered communities say they are self-managed, and about 12% of complaints involved a self-managed community. 77% involved professionally managed ones.
And 74% of complaint categories were lodged against the board, with 26% against a manager or management company. The report explains why: a board that hires a manager is still responsible for the manager's work.
So the lesson is not "hire someone." A managed community lands in the count when nobody owns the answer, the same as a self-managed one.
What these offices cannot do Colorado's HOA Center has no power to investigate or enforce. It informs and counts. Delaware's office reviews complaints and refers some to free mediation (12 referrals in 2024).
What changes next: Small communities may come under the rules
Delaware is looking at small communities. The Ombudsperson's Advisory Council is studying whether to end the exemption that keeps communities of no more than 20 units out of most of the Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. Today its records rule covers the communities that law reaches: an owner gives five days' written notice naming the purpose and the specific records wanted, the association may charge no more than its actual cost for copies, and some records may be withheld, such as personnel files and privileged legal advice (25 Del. C. § 81-318).
Colorado already gave owners remedies, in House Bill 21-1229. Its report points owners to those remedies when an association refuses a proper request.
Three states' new HOA rules take effect January 1, 2027, laid out in New HOA Laws in 2027. For the request itself, our guide to what a board must hand over, and when reads the deadlines from three statutes.
Virginia HOA Complaints Rose 81%. The Top Cause: No Answer.
Your move: Three habits that keep you out of the count
1. Answer every request in writing the day it arrives. Not the documents yet. One line: "Received. Here is who is handling it and when you will hear back." That sentence ends the silence step.
2. Post what owners ask for most, before they ask. Delaware's second most common complaint category was bylaws, including bylaws not available to owners. Colorado's real estate brokers most often complained about getting governing documents during a sale. Put the declaration, bylaws, rules, current budget and last financial statement where every owner can open them.
3. Hand the files to the next board. Delaware's report lists complaints that outgoing boards did not hand over the prior board's records. Make the handover a dated list, signed by both sides, at the first meeting after an election.
The owner who asks to see the books is not your opponent. They are the first person to notice the record is missing.
Bring the free scorecard below to your next meeting and score your board in five minutes. Every "no" is the first thing to fix.
Frequently asked questions
What do HOA owners complain about most to state offices? It varies by state, but records keep appearing near the top. Delaware's ombudsperson named refusal to provide books and records its top complaint category for 2024. Nevada's ombudsman listed books and records among the top three allegations in southern Nevada. In Colorado, communication with the board led complaints, and records requests led named inquiries.
Can a state office force our board to hand over records? Usually not directly. Colorado's HOA Center cannot investigate or enforce. Delaware's office reviews complaints and can refer them to mediation. Owners' remedies sit mostly in each state's statute and in court, so your state's law, your governing documents and your attorney decide.
How fast must an HOA answer a records request? It depends on the state and your documents. In Delaware, an owner gives five days' written notice naming the purpose and the records wanted (25 Del. C. § 81-318). Other states set their own periods. Acknowledging a request in writing the same day costs nothing anywhere.
Are self-managed HOAs more likely to get complaints? Not in Colorado's 2024 count. About 20% of registered communities said they were self-managed, and about 12% of complaints involved one. This is general information, not legal advice.