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Documents You Will Want at Turnover | Legal Insights Blog

Our blog and quarterly events addressing the issues affecting condo association and HOA boards.

Documents You Will Want at Turnover

Far too often, developer-controlled boards of directors provide elected owner-controlled boards of directors with little or no documentation when turning over control of the association to the owners. Under Ohio law, however, developers have a duty to provide certain documents to the new board. These documents include books, records, meeting minutes, the declaration, the bylaws, the drawings, any articles of incorporation, and, except in the situation when an existing community is being converted to a condominium, documents, information, and sources of information regarding non-proprietary and non-copyrighted plans and specifications for buildings, other improvements, and structures located on the condominium property. If a developer fails to provide the required documents, the association may take legal action against the developer to force compliance.

These documents are essential to an association for a few reasons, among which include (1) cost savings to the association, and (2) they provide information that an association needs if a construction defect or warranty issue arises. In regard to cost savings, some of the documents are expensive to get on your own. Accordingly, if a developer provides the documents, it saves the association money. In regard to construction defect or warranty information, the documents contain information necessary to determine when the statutes of limitation for certain construction defect, warranty, and other claims begin to run. Also, the documents identify when the statute of repose begins to run. In Ohio, the statute of repose bars any construction defect claim after 10 years from a certain date, so knowing when the 10-year clock starts to run is imperative.

In short, an owner-controlled board of directors should demand the following from the developer at or near turnover:

  1. all books, records, and meeting minutes;
  2. all condominium documents, including the declaration and all amendments to the declaration, the bylaws, the drawings, and any articles of incorporation;
  3. all other documents that should normally be kept by a board of directors, such as resolutions, contracts with its management company, utility providers (e.g., water, electricity, telecommunications, cable, Internet), and other service providers;
  4. a copy of the development plans and, if possible, a list of all contractors and sub-contractors that participated in the design and construction of the project;
  5. all certificates of occupancy that the developer recorded;
  6. copies of all insurance policies in effect during the developer’s control;
  7. all invoices received, and bills paid, for routine maintenance during developer’s control; and
  8. copies of all warranties, including structural and mechanical warranties, for the units and all appliances or other consumer products utilized in the units.

Please contact Williams & Strohm, LLC if you need help obtaining these documents.

Charles T. Williams

Charles T. Williams

Charles T. Williams (retired) is the firm’s founder. A native of Columbus, Ohio, and a veteran of the Vietnam war, Mr. Williams earned his law degree from Boston College Law School. During his years of providing legal counsel, he was widely recognized as one of Ohio’s foremost attorneys to practice homeowner association law and condominium law.