Texas HOA records requests: certified mail, the 10th business day, and the recorded copying policy

What this guide covers

Texas gives an owner in a property owners’ association a right to examine the association’s books and records and to get copies, but wraps it in a formal process: a certified-mail request, a business-day clock, a copying policy the association records before it can charge anything, and a short list of what may be withheld. This guide covers property owners’ associations of residential subdivisions under the Residential Property Owners Protection Act, which controls over other law not specifically applicable to such associations (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(a)). The condominium rule, which mirrors it almost word for word, is noted at the end (Tex. Prop. Code § 82.1141).

The short answer

• Notwithstanding anything in the dedicatory instruments, the association’s books and records, including financial records, are open to and reasonably available for examination by an owner or the owner’s designated agent, attorney or CPA, and an owner may obtain copies (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(c)).
• The request is in writing, sent by certified mail to the address on the association’s current management certificate, describes the records with sufficient detail, and elects either to inspect first or to receive copies (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(e)).
• On or before the 10th business day after receiving the request, the association either sends written notice of inspection dates or produces the copies (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(e)(1)–(2)).
• If it cannot meet that date, it says so in writing by the 10th business day and names a date not later than the 15th business day after that notice (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(f)).
• The association may charge for compilation and copying only under a records production and copying policy it has adopted and recorded as a dedicatory instrument, at rates no higher than the state’s public-information cost rules (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(i)).
• It need not release an individual owner’s violation history, personal financial information, contact details other than address, or employee records, unless the owner consents in writing or a court orders it (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(k)–(l)).
• An owner denied access may petition a justice of the peace, who may order release and award court costs and attorney’s fees, deductible from future assessments (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(n)).

Step by step

1. Start from the presumption of access

The association must make its books and records, including financial records, open to and reasonably available for examination by an owner, or by a person the owner designates in a signed writing as agent, attorney or certified public accountant, and an owner is entitled to copies of the information in them (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(c)). That duty applies notwithstanding any provision in a dedicatory instrument (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(c)). The one structural carve-out is the association’s lawyer: an attorney’s files and records are not association records and are not subject to inspection, apart from the invoices an owner may request under the Code’s attorney’s-fees section — though if a responsive document exists only in the attorney’s files and the association kept no copy, it is produced from the attorney’s copy, work product and privileged communications excepted (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(d)).

Board meeting minutes have their own hook: the board keeps written minutes of every regular and special meeting and makes meeting records, including approved minutes, available for inspection and copying on a member’s written request to the managing agent, or to the board if there is none (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0051(d)).

2. Make — or receive — the request the way the Code requires

An owner or their authorised representative submits the request in writing, by certified mail, with sufficient detail describing the books and records requested, to the association’s mailing address as reflected on the most current management certificate (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(e)). The request must elect one of two paths: inspect the records before obtaining copies, or have the association forward copies (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(e)). A request sent by ordinary email or handed to a manager at a meeting does not start the statutory clock, and a board fielding one is well advised to say so rather than to ignore it.

3. Meet the 10th-business-day deadline, one way or the other

If an inspection is requested, the association, on or before the 10th business day after it receives the request, sends written notice of dates during normal business hours on which the owner may inspect the requested records, to the extent they are in the association’s possession, custody or control (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(e)(1)). If copies are requested, the association produces the requested records on or before the 10th business day after receipt, to the same extent (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(e)(2)). The inspection itself happens at a mutually agreed time during normal business hours, and the owner identifies what they want copied and forwarded (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(g)). Records may be produced in hard copy, electronic, or any other format reasonably available to the association (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(h)).

If the association cannot produce the records by the 10th business day, it must give the requestor written notice saying so and stating a date, not later than the 15th business day after that notice is given, by which the records will be sent or made available (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(f)).

4. Charge only under a recorded policy

The board must adopt a records production and copying policy prescribing the costs the association will charge for compiling, producing and reproducing requested information; the charges may include reasonable costs of materials, labour and overhead but may not exceed what the state’s public-information cost rules allow, and the policy must be recorded as a dedicatory instrument (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(i)). An association may not charge an owner anything for a records request unless that policy has been recorded (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(i)). It may require advance payment of the estimated cost, must estimate using the policy’s amounts, and settles up by final invoice on or before the 30th business day after delivery — additional amounts unpaid by the 30th business day after invoicing may be added to the owner’s account as an assessment, and any overpayment is refunded within the same period (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(i)–(j)).

5. Withhold only the four protected categories

Except to the extent the information appears in meeting minutes, the association is not required to release or allow inspection of records that identify an individual owner’s violation history, an owner’s personal financial information including payment or nonpayment records, an owner’s contact information other than address, or information about an association employee, including personnel files; such information may still be released in aggregate or summary form that does not identify an individual owner (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(k)). Those records are released if the owner whose records they are gives express written approval, or a court orders release (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(l)).

6. Keep what the retention policy requires

An association of more than 14 lots must adopt and follow a document retention policy that keeps, at a minimum, the certificate of formation, bylaws, restrictive covenants and all amendments permanently; financial books and records for seven years; account records of current owners for five years; contracts with a term of a year or more for four years after they expire; minutes of owner and board meetings for seven years; and tax returns and audit records for seven years (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(m)).

7. Understand the remedy

A member denied access to or copies of records they are entitled to may file a petition with the justice of the peace of a precinct where the subdivision lies (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(n)). If the justice finds the member entitled, the remedies are a judgment ordering the association to release or allow access; a judgment for the court costs and attorney’s fees the member incurred; and a judgment authorising the owner to deduct those amounts from future regular or special assessments (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(n)(1)–(3)).

8. If you are a condominium

The condominium chapter lists what the association keeps — detailed financial records under generally accepted accounting principles, the construction plans for buildings completed since the start of 1994, the condominium information statement, each owner’s name and mailing address, voting records and proxies and amendment correspondence, and minutes of association and board meetings — and requires an annual independent audit whose copies are made available to unit owners (Tex. Prop. Code § 82.114(a), (c)). Access follows the same certified-mail, 10th-business-day, 15th-business-day, recorded-policy structure as the subdivision rule, with the added limit that a third party’s charge for producing an item may not exceed its actual cost (Tex. Prop. Code § 82.1141(b), (d)–(e), (h)).

Common mistakes

• Treating an emailed request as a statutory request. The Code’s clock starts on a written request sent by certified mail to the management-certificate address (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(e)).
• Charging copying fees with no recorded policy. No charge is permitted until the policy has been recorded as a dedicatory instrument (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(i)).
• Going silent past day ten. If the records cannot be produced in time, a written notice naming a date within the next 15 business days is required (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(f)).
• Redacting more than the law protects. Only violation history, personal financial information, non-address contact details and employee information may be withheld (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(k)).
• Refusing the owner’s CPA or lawyer. A person designated in a signed writing has the same access as the owner (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(c)).

Where software fits

Platforms that keep financials, minutes and owner correspondence retrievable are compared in our best-of roundups; this page stays with what the law says.

When to involve counsel

Bring counsel in before withholding anything under the attorney-files or protected-categories rules, and before invoicing an owner under the copying policy in a dispute — the remedy lets a prevailing owner recover fees and deduct them from assessments, which turns a refused photocopy into a line on the association’s own ledger (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.005(n)).

Corrections and review history

• 2026-09-09: citations checked against the Property Code on statutes.capitol.texas.gov (text served from the Legislature’s file server at tcss.legis.texas.gov). Not yet published.

Sources

1. Texas Property Code § 209.005 — Association records — accessed 2026-09-09
2. Texas Property Code § 209.0051 — Open board meetings (minutes available on written request) — accessed 2026-09-09
3. Texas Property Code § 82.114 — Condominium association records — accessed 2026-09-09
4. Texas Property Code § 82.1141 — Access to condominium association records — accessed 2026-09-09