Section 209.005 requires a property owners' association to make its books and records — including financial records — open to examination by an owner. This is the statutory reference: exact deadlines and figures, not a narrative walkthrough. For the practical side of running this process, see Highland's records request checklist linked below.

Requesting records

  • An owner requests records in writing, by certified mail, describing the records sought with sufficient detail, sent to the association's mailing address as shown on its current management certificate — §209.005(e).
  • The association has 10 business days to either produce the records or provide a written statement of the date, time, and place they'll be made available.
  • If the association can't meet that window, it must send written notice within those 10 business days, and the extended deadline is the 15th business day after the date that extension notice is given — it runs from the notice, not from the original request — §209.005(f).

Retention requirements

  • Associations with more than 14 lots must adopt a document retention policy — §209.005(m).
  • Financial records and meeting minutes: retained at least 7 years.
  • Current owner account records: retained at least 5 years.

If a request is denied

  • An owner wrongfully denied access may file a petition with a justice of the peace seeking relief, including court costs and attorney's fees — §209.005(n).
  • Those remedies presuppose a request made the way §209.005(e) requires — certified mail, to the management-certificate address, describing the records — and §209.005(p) adds a second step: written notice to the association, by certified mail or USPS signature confirmation, describing the records requested, no later than the 10th business day before the action is filed. Skipping either step undercuts the claim.