So, You Received a Written Inquiry

So, your community association received correspondence that requests answers to certain questions. You may have just received what is also referred to as a “written inquiry.” What to do?

First and foremost, you should always ensure that the Board of Directors and legal counsel of your community association are promptly advised of the receipt of a written inquiry. As explained in this article, receipt of a written inquiry can trigger time sensitive legal obligations that can expose the community association to penalties.

If your community association is a condominium association, you should refer to Chapter 718 of Florida Statutes, which is also known as the “Condominium Act” and which governs condominium associations in Florida. Specifically, Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(a)(2) provides as follows:

2. When a unit owner of a residential condominium files a written inquiry by certified mail with the board of administration, the board shall respond in writing to the unit owner within 30 days after receipt of the inquiry. The board’s response shall either give a substantive response to the inquirer, notify the inquirer that a legal opinion has been requested, or notify the inquirer that advice has been requested from the division. If the board requests advice from the division, the board shall, within 10 days after its receipt of the advice, provide in writing a substantive response to the inquirer. If a legal opinion is requested, the board shall, within 60 days after the receipt of the inquiry, provide in writing a substantive response to the inquiry. The failure to provide a substantive response to the inquiry as provided herein precludes the board from recovering attorney fees and costs in any subsequent litigation, administrative proceeding, or arbitration arising out of the inquiry. The association may through its board of administration adopt reasonable rules and regulations regarding the frequency and manner of responding to unit owner inquiries, one of which may be that the association is only obligated to respond to one written inquiry per unit in any given 30-day period. In such a case, any additional inquiry or inquiries must be responded to in the subsequent 30-day period, or periods, as applicable.

Based on the foregoing, the applicability of Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(a)(2) and your statutory obligation to respond to a written inquiry in accordance with the procedures therein may depend on a number of factors such as, whether the recipient of the written inquiry is a residential condominium, whether the written inquiry was sent by a unit owner, and whether the written inquiry was sent “by certified mail”. If you answered “yes” to all of the foregoing, Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(a)(2) may apply to your written inquiry and you may be statutorily obligated to respond to same in accordance with said statute.

If your community association is a Cooperative, you should refer to Chapter 719 of Florida Statutes, which is also known as the “Cooperative Act” and which governs the cooperatives of Florida. The Cooperative Act contains a similar provision to that of the Condominium Act, Fla. Stat. § 719.106(1)(a)(3), which provides as follows:

3. When a unit owner files a written inquiry by certified mail with the board of administration, the board shall respond in writing to the unit owner within 30 days of receipt of the inquiry. The board’s response shall either give a substantive response to the inquirer, notify the inquirer that a legal opinion has been requested, or notify the inquirer that advice has been requested from the division. If the board requests advice from the division, the board shall, within 10 days of its receipt of the advice, provide in writing a substantive response to the inquirer. If a legal opinion is requested, the board shall, within 60 days after the receipt of the inquiry, provide in writing a substantive response to the inquirer. The failure to provide a substantive response to the inquirer as provided herein precludes the board from recovering attorney’s fees and costs in any subsequent litigation, administrative proceeding, or arbitration arising out of the inquiry. The association may, through its board of administration, adopt reasonable rules and regulations regarding the frequency and manner of responding to the unit owners’ inquiries, one of which may be that the association is obligated to respond to only one written inquiry per unit in any given 30-day period. In such case, any additional inquiry or inquiries must be responded to in the subsequent 30-day period, or periods, as applicable.

The same analysis for condominiums above would apply to the analysis for a written inquiry received by a cooperative.

On the other hand, if your community association is a homeowners’ association, unlike condominium associations and cooperatives, you cannot depend on the applicable statutes for guidance. Chapter 720 of Florida Statutes, which is also known as the “Homeowners’ Association Act” and which governs Florida homeowners’ associations, contains no provisions regarding written inquiries. So, you may conclude that you are not required to respond to the written inquiry you received.

However, that is not the end of the matter. Regardless of whether you are a condominium association, a cooperative, or a homeowners’ association, you should always consult the Governing Documents of your community association regarding written inquiries. Governing Documents may contain their own requirements and procedures regarding the receipt of written inquiries, even in a homeowners’ association that is not statutorily required to respond to same.

Furthermore, your community association should consider responding to a written inquiry even if not legally required. Written inquiries may be a chance for the association to proactively respond to and address a unit owner issue at an early stage and before any sort of escalation.

You should always consult legal counsel with respect to a written inquiry so as to ensure compliance with Florida law and that your community association’s interests are well served. Written inquiries addressed to a community association may contain requests that may fall within the scope of statutes not addressed in this article or which otherwise may require attention, such as requests to inspect records or a demand for pre-suit mediation.

As always, if you have any questions regarding the above, please consult with your legal counsel.