Smile...You're Being Recorded!
Arizona law gives homeowners the right to record all open board meetings.
Persons attending may tape record or videoptape those portions of the meetings of the board and meetings of the members that are open. The board of directors of the association may adopt reasonable rules governing the taping of open portions of the meetings of the board and the membership, but such rules shall not preclude such tape recording or videotaping by those attending.
A common tactic employed by numerous boards is to require a homeowner to give advance notice of their desire to record a meeting at least 24 hours before the meeting. Another common ploy is to require anyone who records or videos a meeting to give a copy to the board or face stiff fines. In our opinion, these are not the "reasonable rules" that the statute has in mind. Do you know for sure you are going to attend the next board meeting? Do you know for certain that you want to record or video that meeting? Very often the need to record does not arise until at the board meeting.
Is Your HOA Suing You?
Is your HOA or condominium suing you?
Maybe you think -- or even know -- that you're current on your assessments. Or maybe you might be a little behind in your payments...but certainly not by that much! So why is your HOA suing you -- or threatening to sue you -- for so much more?
Arizona's Open Meeting Laws
It is really quite a simple and easy concept to understand: The board of directors generally must operate in open meetings. They cannot act in secret or transact business in closed meetings (except in very narrow circumstances).
The statute states:
Pay Your Assessments...Even if your HOA Refuses to Accept Them
So you find yourself behind in your HOA assessments. The HOA lawyers are circling. Maybe they've threatened a lawsuit or already filed it? You call the HOA to try to find out how much you owe, but they just send you to the attorneys. You call the attorneys and leave countless messages. Or maybe they speak to you, but the amount they tell you that you owe is a lot more than you owed...because the HOA has added late fees, collection fees, and a ton of attorneys' fees to your account. It feels like an excessive amount to charge for a letter or two. You want to bring your account current, if only to avoid foreclosure, but you don't have the outrageous amount they're demanding that you pay. So what do you do?