                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

BOOKS, MINUTES, AND RECORDS; INSPECTION (§ 55.1-1945)

A. The declarant, managing agent, unit owners&#8217; association, or person
specified in the bylaws of the association shall keep detailed records of the
receipts and expenditures affecting the operation and administration of the
condominium and specifying the maintenance and repair expenses of the common
elements and any other expenses incurred by or on behalf of the association.
Subject to the provisions of subsections B, C, and E, upon request, any unit
owner shall be provided a copy of such records and minutes. All financial books
and records shall be kept in accordance with generally accepted accounting
practices. The unit owners&#8217; association shall maintain individual
assessment account records. The unit owners&#8217; association shall maintain a
record of any recorded lien at least as long as the lien remains effective.

B. Subject to the provisions of subsection C, all books and records kept by or
on behalf of the unit owners&#8217; association, including the unit
owners&#8217; association membership list, and addresses and aggregate salary
information of unit owners&#8217; association employees, shall be available for
examination and copying by a unit owner in good standing or his authorized agent
so long as the request is for a proper purpose related to his membership in the
unit owners&#8217; association and not for pecuniary gain or commercial
solicitation. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, this right
of examination shall exist without reference to the duration of membership and
may be exercised (i) only during reasonable business hours or at a mutually
convenient time and location and (ii) upon five business days&#8217; written
notice for a unit owner association managed by a common interest community
manager and 10 business days&#8217; written notice for a self-managed unit
owners&#8217; association, which notice shall reasonably identify the purpose
for the request and the specific books and records of the unit owners&#8217;
association requested.

C. Books and records kept by or on behalf of a unit owners&#8217; association
may be withheld from examination or copying by unit owners and contract
purchasers to the extent that they are drafts not yet incorporated into the
books and records of the unit owners&#8217; association or if such books and
records concern:

   1. Personnel matters relating to specific, identified persons or a
   person&#8217;s medical records;

   2. Contracts, leases, and other commercial transactions to purchase or provide
   goods or services, currently in or under negotiation;

   3. Pending or probable litigation. For purposes of this subdivision,
   &#8220;probable litigation&#8221; means those instances where there has been a
   specific threat of litigation from a person or the legal counsel of such
   person;

   4. Matters involving state or local administrative or other formal proceedings
   before a government tribunal for enforcement of the condominium instruments or
   rules and regulations promulgated by the executive board;

   5. Communications with legal counsel that relate to subdivisions 1 through 4
   or that are protected by the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work
   product doctrine;

   6. Disclosure of information in violation of law;

   7. Meeting minutes or other confidential records of an executive session of
   the executive board held pursuant to subsection C of &#xA7; 55.1-1949;

   8. Documentation, correspondence or management or executive board reports
   compiled for or on behalf of the unit owners&#8217; association or the
   executive board by its agents or committees for consideration by the executive
   board in executive session; or

   9. Individual unit owner or member files, other than those of the requesting
   unit owner, including any individual unit owner&#8217;s files kept by or on
   behalf of the unit owners&#8217; association.

D. Books and records kept by or on behalf of a unit owners&#8217; association
shall be withheld from examination and copying in their entirety only to the
extent that an exclusion from disclosure under subsection C applies to the
entire content of such books and records. Otherwise, only those portions of the
books and records containing information subject to an exclusion under
subsection C may be withheld or redacted, and all portions of the books and
records that are not so excluded shall be available for examination and copying,
provided that the requesting member shall be responsible to the association for
paying or reimbursing the association for any reasonable costs incurred by the
association in responding to the request for the books and records and review
for redaction of the same.

E. Prior to providing copies of any books and records, the unit owners&#8217;
association may impose and collect a charge, not to exceed the reasonable costs
of materials and labor, incurred to provide such copies. Charges may be imposed
only in accordance with a cost schedule adopted by the executive board in
accordance with this subsection. The cost schedule shall (i) specify the charges
for materials and labor, (ii) apply equally to all unit owners in good standing,
and (iii) be provided to such requesting unit owner at the time the request is
made.

HISTORY: 1980, c. 738, § 55-79.74:1; 1985, c. 75; 1989, c. 57; 1990, c. 662;
1992, c. 72; 1994, c. 463; 1999, c. 594; 2000, cc. 906, 919; 2001, c. 419; 2011,
cc. 334, 361, 605; 2014, c. 207; 2018, c. 663; 2019, c. 712; 2020, c. 592; 2024,
cc. 55, 349.