Academy/Minutes & Official Records
Text messages as association records
A group chat can decide as much as a board meeting. Here is how to think about it before a records request forces the question.
No court or statute in this research addresses text messages directly. What generally determines record status is a message's content and business purpose, not which app carries it. Treat a text about association business the way you would any other record, and check your state statute and communications policy for the details that vary.
The medium doesn't decide, the content does
No statute or parliamentary authority in this evidence base addresses text messages the way some states address email. That gap does not mean texts are automatically private, or automatically public. The safer starting point is the same test practitioners apply to email: does the message concern association business, and where does it live? A text about pool hours between two neighbors is different from a text where a director tells the treasurer to approve a payment.
Whether your state treats that second text as an official record varies, and no primary source in this research settles it. Ask your association's attorney, and do not assume the app you used decides the question for you.
What Florida's email rule suggests, and where it stops
The closest analogy in this research comes from Florida commentary on email, not text messages. It draws the line at the address a message was sent to, not who wrote it or what device held it.
"e-mails to an association's email address, the manager's email address or any other email identified as an association email... are considered official records"
Source: Emails as Association Official Records, Florida Condo & HOA Law Blog
The same commentary treats the opposite case differently: an email sent director to director, only to their personal computers, is not written communication to the association and is treated as the personal property of the director whose device holds it. That reasoning is specific to Florida commentary on email. This research found no equivalent statute or case extending it to text messages, in Florida or any other state, so do not assume it applies to your board's group chat.
What to do until your state answers this
Two mistakes are equally risky. Assuming every text about association business is private invites a records fight your board loses later. Assuming every text is automatically an official record invites requests to produce years of casual chatter.
The practical middle ground is a written policy that keeps association business off personal texting whenever possible, and treats anything discussed there as if it could later be requested. If a text becomes relevant to a dispute, do not delete it: a legal hold suspends normal deletion once litigation is filed or reasonably expected, and nothing in this research limits that rule to paper records. When in doubt, move the conversation to an official channel and put the decision in the minutes instead.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A director texts another director from her personal phone: "Let's just approve the roof bid without discussing it at the meeting." Is that text an association record?
An owner emails a complaint to a director's personal account, not the association's official address. Under Florida commentary, whose property does that email become?
No statute in your state addresses text messages directly. What is the safest board practice?
Sources
- Emails as Association Official Records, Florida Condo & HOA Law Blog
- Inspection and Copying of Association Records, Tinnelly Law Group HOA Law Blog
- Record retention for condos and HOAs, CondoControl
Minutes & Official Records
Board communication habits are hard to change after a dispute starts. Set your policy before you need it.
No statute in this research addresses text messages directly, and whether your state or your association's policy treats them as official records varies. Check your own state statute and adopt a written communications policy rather than assume the channel settles it.