Association records - rules - timely transfer of association money and records to new management company or the association - penalty - civil action - damages - attorney fees
Establishes the rights of unit owners to inspect and copy association records, and lists the records the association must maintain in addition to those required by §38-33.3-209.4(2). Required records include detailed receipts and expenditures, construction-defect claim records, meeting minutes, written communications and votes outside meetings, unit-owner roster with addresses and vote counts, the declaration and other governing documents and responsible governance policies, financial statements for three years and tax returns for seven years, the list of current board members, the §317(1)(h.5) fee-schedule disclosure (transfer fees, record change fees, status letter charges), the §317(1)(h.6) annual disclosures, the most recent reserve study if any, contracts, design/architectural decisions, voting records, and three years of general unit-owner communications. Subsection (4) governs the fee for record copies — actual cost only, no profit. Subsection (4.5) imposes a $50/day penalty (capped at $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater) for failure to allow inspection or copying within 30 calendar days of certified-mail request. Subsection (8) carves associations that include time share units out of (1)(h.5), (1)(h.6), (4), and (4.5). Subsection (9), added by HB 26-1099 effective August 12, 2026, gives a departing management company forty-five days to hand over association money and records, at $250 per business day late and treble damages for a willful violation.
Reviewed · 4 dependent article updates in 12 months · Colorado changes feed
HB 26-1099 (Chapter 42, Session Laws of Colorado 2026) added C.R.S. §38-33.3-317(9). When an association, other than a self-managed association that has not retained a management company, terminates or fails to renew its agreement with its management company, "within forty-five days after the termination or failure to renew the agreement, the former association management company shall deliver to the new association management company or to the association, at no charge to the association, all association property, including money, financial accounts, account books, financial records, insurance policies, contracts, business documents, invoices, receipts, subscriptions, account information, account passwords, keys, and any other property or records of the association, or information concerning the association." The former company need not hand over proprietary software or computer programs if the association's data or records in them are submitted. A former company that fails to comply owes the association interest and late fees on payments made late because of the failure, other damages from the association's lost access, and "two hundred fifty dollars for each business day" it fails to comply. If the violation is found to be willful in a civil action to enforce subsection (9), it is liable for "treble the association's actual damages plus the association's reasonable attorney fees and court costs." These consequences apply unless the association and the former company agree otherwise in writing. Effective August 12, 2026.
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| (1)(h.5) | The HOA must maintain — and disclose to buyers and sellers — a list of every fee or charge tied to the transfer of a unit. Transfer fees, record-change fees, status letter charges, anything else not covered by ordinary assessments. This is the Colorado fee-schedule disclosure that title companies and prospective buyers need to underwrite the closing. |
| (8) | The 2021 records amendments — the list of sale-related fees, the duty to retain the annual disclosure documents, the actual-cost cap on copy charges, and the $50/day penalty for a late production — are owed by every association except one that includes time share units. |
| Ref | Requirement |
|---|---|
| (1)(a)-(c) | The association must keep three foundational record categories: detailed receipts/expenditures (the financial trail), construction-defect claims (and any settlement proceeds), and meeting minutes (board, owner, and committee). These are the "sole records" for retention and production — meaning everything else can be discarded. |
| (1)(g) | The HOA must keep three years of financial statements and seven years of tax returns available for inspection. Anything older may be discarded — the record-retention floor is not the same as a litigation-hold obligation. |
| (1)(h.6) | Every document in the §209.4 annual disclosure package (operating budget, assessment list, financial statements, audit/review, insurance summary, governing docs, minutes, governance policies, and, since August 12, 2026, the most recent reserve study) must be retained as part of the records archive. |
| (4) | The HOA can charge actual cost for record copies — labor, material, copying, mailing, special processing — but cannot charge a profit margin. There is NO statutory dollar cap; the cap is "estimated cost of production." Per §209.5(8)(b), the HOA additionally may not charge a fee for providing an owner with a statement of total amount owed. |
| (4.5) | When an owner sends a certified-mail records request with the fee, the HOA has 30 calendar days to allow inspection/copying. If it fails, the owner can collect $50 per day starting from the 11th business day after the request, capped at $500 OR actual damages — whichever is greater. This is a real penalty with teeth, not a slap on the wrist. |
| (9)(a) | When a Colorado board ends or does not renew its management contract, the old management company has forty-five days to hand everything that belongs to the association — money, financial accounts, books and records, insurance policies, contracts, account passwords, and keys — to the board or the new manager, at no charge. It may keep its own software if it hands over the association's data from it. |
| (9)(b) | A management company that misses the forty-five-day deadline owes the association $250 for every business day it is late, the interest and late fees on any payment the association made late because of the failure, and any other damages the association suffers because it cannot reach its accounts, money, property, or information. If a court finds the failure willful, the company owes three times the association's actual damages plus the association's reasonable attorney fees and court costs. A written agreement between the association and the company can change these terms. |
- Reserve Study Mandates by State: What the Statutes Say (1)(k) Supporting
- Colorado Resale Certificates: What CCIOA Requires (and What It Costs to Skip) (4), (1)(h.5) Primary