HOA Records Retention: What to Keep Before You Switch

The short answer

1. An HOA keeps its records as long as its state law and governing documents require, and switching software does not change that. Texas, Florida and California write the periods into statute.
2. Switching systems does not move the duty. An owner can still ask for an old record, and the clock to produce it keeps running.
3. You do not have to load every past year into the new system. Export a readable copy before the old account closes.

Your old HOA software account can close on a Tuesday. Texas still tells a property owners' association of more than 14 lots to keep its minutes seven years and its bylaws permanently (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(m)), and nowhere in that list does it mention a software subscription.

The account closes; the association's duty does not. So when a board changes systems, the real question is not "can we move everything?" It is "when an owner asks for something from 2021, can we hand it over?" This piece is general information, not legal advice: your governing documents and your association's attorney decide what applies to you.

The rule: The duty belongs to the association

Two places set what your association must keep, and for how long: your governing documents and your state's law.

Some states also tell the board to write its own rule down. Texas requires an association of more than 14 lots to adopt a document retention policy (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(m)). Every Texas association also needs a recorded copying policy, or it may not charge an owner for copies at all (§ 209.005(i)). Florida requires written rules on how official records are kept and for how long (Fla. Stat. § 720.303(4)(c)).

If your board has never adopted one, that is the first gap to close.

The six drawers: What a records duty usually covers

Florida's statute has one of the fullest public lists of an HOA's "official records" (Fla. Stat. § 720.303(4)(a)). Your state's may be shorter, but start with these six drawers:

What to find before anything is switched off.

1. Governing documents: Declaration, bylaws, articles, every amendment, current rules.
2. Minutes: Every board and members' meeting.
3. Money: Receipts, expenses, tax returns, financial reports, and every owner's account.
4. Contracts: Every current agreement, and bids received.
5. Insurance: Every policy the association holds.
6. Owners and votes: The roster, ballots, proxies and sign-in sheets.

How long: Four states, four answers

Texas sets a full schedule for associations of more than 14 lots (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(m)): certificates of formation, bylaws, restrictive covenants and all their amendments permanently; financial books and records seven years; current owners' account records five years; contracts of a year or more four years after they end; minutes of owner and board meetings seven years; tax returns and audit records seven years.

Florida sets at least seven years for official records unless the governing documents say longer, and at least one year for bids and voting papers (Fla. Stat. § 720.303(4)(a)).

California keeps minutes of member and board meetings open to inspection permanently, and most other records for the current fiscal year and the two before it (Cal. Civ. Code § 5210(a)).

North Carolina's planned community act sets no period of its own: records must be "reasonably available" to owners "as required in the bylaws and Chapter 55A" (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-3-118(a)), and Chapter 55A, the nonprofit corporation act, keeps members' and board meeting minutes as permanent records (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55A-16-01(a)). For most other records, the bylaws decide.

The full picture for each state is in our guides to Texas, Florida, California and North Carolina.

The owner's clock: It runs whatever system you are on

Keeping a record is half the duty; producing it on request is the rest, and the deadlines are short.

In Texas, after an owner's written request sent by certified mail, the association has until the 10th business day to produce copies or offer inspection dates, or must send written notice naming a date within 15 business days of that notice (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(e) and (f)). In Florida, records must be made available within 10 business days of a written request (Fla. Stat. § 720.303(5)(a)), and missing it on a certified-mail request creates a presumption the failure was willful, with minimum damages of $50 a day for up to 10 days (§ 720.303(5)(b) and (c)). In California, it is 10 business days for this fiscal year's records and 30 calendar days for the two years before (Cal. Civ. Code § 5210(b)).

None of those clocks pause for a software change.

The good news: Texas lets an association produce records "in hard copy, electronic, or other format reasonably available" to it (§ 209.005(h)). Florida allows electronic access (§ 720.303(5)(a)), and California lets owners receive records electronically (Cal. Civ. Code § 5205(h)). In each of those states an electronic copy can answer a request, so long as it opens and, in California, cannot be altered. The law asks for the record, not the old login.

Cut-over day: Export before you switch off

Before the switch date, do this once, in order:

One evening before the old account closes.

1. List: Walk the six drawers and write down where each one lives today.
2. Export: Each record as a PDF; each owner ledger as a spreadsheet and a PDF statement.
3. Open: Open every export on a computer without the old system.
4. Store: Keep two copies in places the board controls, not one volunteer's laptop.
5. Write: Record in the minutes where the archive lives.

Only what is still open moves into the new system: balances, open items, the people. Closed years go into the archive. That is a cut-over date, not a migration.

Your check: Could your board do this tonight?

• We know which statute sets our retention periods.
• We have adopted a written retention policy, or we know we need one.
• We know where every one of the six drawers lives today.
• Each export opens without the old software.
• Two copies sit where the board controls them.

Records are half of a switch. The other half is the open work:

HOA Handover Checklist: The Five Open Items Boards Lose

The free gift below is a one-page retention policy your board can adopt at its next meeting. If you would rather your minutes, documents and owner accounts already lived in one place the board controls, that is what Rebel HOA is built for: book a walkthrough.

Frequently asked questions

How long does an HOA have to keep its records? It depends on your state and governing documents: seven years for Texas financial records and minutes (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(m)), at least seven years for Florida official records (Fla. Stat. § 720.303(4)(a)), and, in North Carolina, the bylaws plus permanent meeting minutes under the nonprofit act (N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 47F-3-118(a), 55A-16-01(a)).

Do we have to move every old record into our new HOA software? None of the four state statutes in this piece names a particular software system. The association must keep each record for the required period and produce it on request, and Texas, Florida and California each allow electronic copies (Florida also says official records must be kept within the state). A readable archive the board controls keeps you able to do that; the new system only needs what is still open.

Can we delete records once the retention period has passed? Check your adopted retention policy and governing documents first, and have your association's attorney confirm before anything is destroyed, especially a record tied to a dispute, claim or lawsuit. Florida makes it a first-degree misdemeanor to knowingly and intentionally destroy accounting records during the period they must be kept, with intent to harm the association or its members (Fla. Stat. § 720.303(5)(e)).