Books & Records
Dear Mr Piper:
I reviewed your post and am concerned about the implications and claims that you have made. I am hoping that your situation is either a misunderstanding or a simple issue of not following proper procedures.
I reviewed the section of the Bylaws that you referenced and it clearly states all books of account and minutes of meetings of the Members, of the Board and of any and all committees shall be available for inspection and copying by any Member of the Association.
The only requirement for you to inspect said records, is that you must state your purpose in writing and your purpose must be reasonably related to your interest as a Member.
This restriction is very opened ended and is consistent with the rights afforded you under Section 8330 of the California Corporations Code.
If you did the following two things, you should have been granted access:
1)You should have supplied the custodian of the records with a reasonable purpose for reviewing the records and your reason should indicate how your request relates to your interests as a Member of the MPHA.
2) Your request should have been in writing.
If you did these two things, the custodian of the records has the right to require you to first pay for the cost of photocopying the records and they can also set forth the hours and days of the week that record inspections are allowed.
If you followed the above procedures, paid the appropriate money, at the time and day that such inspections are allowed, then you have a case to be made.
If so, I would encourage you to write a letter to the board, Mr Dan Teter, and to Mr. Joel Kriger, indicating that you beleive that they are in violation of section 8333 and state the facts including the procedures that you followed.
If you do not receive a satisfactory response or gain access, you have a couple of choices:
1) You could contact an attorney to represent you and hopefully your legal representative will help you to gain access to these records; or
2) You could bring whatever evidence you have to the next board meeting. (i.e. a written response denying you access and signed by either a board member of a representative of the Mgt company; This would be another method to enlighten your fellow Members of the situation; and then,
3) I would encourage you to make an effort to get elected to the board and encourage other responsible Members, with Intergrity, to do likewise, so that we can have board members in place that take a leadership position and that also have a clear understanding of the CC&R's, the California Corporatons Code, and the responsibility to abide by both and enforce both in accordance with the law.
Good luck
By Dan Yates