<p dir="ltr">If there's no settled law on whether the tapes are "records" I would take the position they are "records" and follow the procedure for record inspection requests in the statute. The HOA will then have to decide if it's willing to fight your client and risk paying the statutory damages for failure to timely provide the records and attorney's fees which I believe the statute allows as well. You probably need the owner's cooperation though since I do not believe tenants have a right to inspect records. It is likely the owner will not want to get involved though to avoid problems with the HOA approving their tenants in the future. If the value of the property stolen is small then it may not even be worth it. I'd tell my tenant client to move if they prefer not to live with difficult people running the HOA. Why continue to live with people who run their HOA that way? <br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Sent from my mobile device</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Feb 18, 2016 8:01 AM, "Anthony J. Horky" <<a href="mailto:ahorky@horkylaw.com">ahorky@horkylaw.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Hello all. I am hoping someone can shed some light on the following issue for me regarding a tenant and an HOA. Thank you in advance for your time and thoughts. <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">I have a client who rents a single family home in an HOA governed community. The HOA has video cameras and tapes cars coming into and out of the community. One night a gate is left open, someone enters and breaks into several cars, including the cars owned by the tenants of my client. Stealing personal property therein. HOA refuses to allow my client/owner to review or copy the tapes, stating it will not without a subpoena or court order. Law enforcement has been slow to respond. HOA documents are silent on this issue. Because HOA approval is necessary for lease renewals, my client is sensitive to turning this into a lawsuit simply to obtain the videos. <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Questions: Doesn’t an owner have the same right to review a video tape that it does to review the HOA records? Are the tapes “records” of the HOA? Without filing a lawsuit and serving a subpoena, does an owner have rights to this information?<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Regards, <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;border:none"><tr><td width="117" valign="top" style="width:87.7pt;border:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><u></u><img width="116" height="61" src="cid:image003.png@01D16A22.6954EA20" align="left" hspace="12" alt="AJH Logo mark"><u></u><b><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></b></p></td><td width="466" valign="bottom" style="width:349.7pt;border:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"><p><b><span style="color:black">Anthony J. Horky, Esquire<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p><span style="color:black">Anthony J. Horky, P.A.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p><span style="color:black">2255 Glades Road, Suite 324A<u></u><u></u></span></p><p><span style="color:black">Boca Raton, Florida 33431<u></u><u></u></span></p><p><span style="color:black">T: <a href="tel:561.989.3206" value="+15619893206" target="_blank">561.989.3206</a><u></u><u></u></span></p><p><span style="color:black">F: <a href="tel:561.952.0096" value="+15619520096" target="_blank">561.952.0096</a> <u></u><u></u></span></p><p><span style="color:black"><a href="http://www.horkylaw.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">www.horkylaw.com</span></a><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p></td></tr><tr><td width="583" colspan="2" valign="top" style="width:437.4pt;border:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">This message and the documents attached to it, if any, are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is attorney-client privileged or confidential, and/or may contain attorney work product. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please delete all electronic copies of this message and its attachments, if any, destroy any hard copies you may have created and notify me immediately at: </span><span style="color:black"><a href="mailto:ahorky@horkylaw.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:blue">ahorky@horkylaw.com</span></a></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">.</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">-------------------------------------------------------</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Tax Advice Disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS under Circular 230, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments), unless otherwise specifically stated, was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (1) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (2) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any matters addressed herein.</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p></td></tr></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p></div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
landten mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org">landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org</a><br>
<a href="http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/landten" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/landten</a><br></blockquote></div>