Governing-document turnover

What counts as a governing document

Three documents form the legal backbone of the association: the declaration (also called the CC&Rs), the articles of incorporation, and the bylaws. Add the board's minute books, the running record of what the developer-controlled board actually voted on. Turnover is the moment all four move out of the developer's file cabinet and into the association's own hands.

These are not spare copies. The declaration and its amendments are the rulebook every owner bought into; the bylaws set how the board itself operates. A board that cannot produce its own governing documents cannot enforce them, amend them, or prove to a title company or a court what they actually say.

Florida names the list; your state may not match it

Florida spells this out in statute. For condominiums, the developer must deliver the original and certified declaration and its amendments, the corporate articles and bylaws, and the association's minute books and other records. Homeowner associations get a parallel list: the original declaration, articles, bylaws, minutes, and records.

"minute books, including all minutes, and other books and records"

Source: Florida Statutes, section 718.301, The Florida Senate

Whether your state requires an itemized list like Florida's, or leaves the "hand over the governing documents" obligation more general, differs by state. Find your own state's condominium or common-interest-community act, and read the developer's public offering statement or disclosure document, before assuming any checklist here is complete.

Why the minute books matter as much as the declaration

It is tempting to treat the minute books as paperwork nobody will read. They are the only record of what the developer-controlled board decided while it was in charge: which contracts it signed, which reserve decisions it made, which votes it took. If the new board later needs to question a contract signed during developer control, or look into whether reserves were underfunded, the minutes are the evidence trail. Without them, the association is reconstructing its own history from memory.

If a document is missing

Start with the county. The declaration and its amendments are recorded with the county recorder or clerk, so a certified copy exists independently of whatever the developer hands over, or fails to. Request missing items from the developer in writing, and keep that request in the association's own new minute book. If the developer does not respond, this becomes a matter for the transition attorney, not a project for a volunteer board to chase alone.