Getting Your HOA's Records in Arkansas

When an Arkansas board won't explain where the money goes, the records usually hold the answer. Arkansas's records framework depends on whether your community is under the Horizontal Property Act and whether the HOA is incorporated as a nonprofit. For your specific situation, a licensed Arkansas attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

What records can I inspect under Arkansas's Horizontal Property Act?

Mainly the expense book. Under Ark. Code § 18-13-110(b), the book of receipts and expenditures and the vouchers supporting its entries must be available for examination by all co-owners at convenient hours on working days set and announced for general knowledge. The Act sets no detailed records timeline or list.

Arkansas's Horizontal Property Act (HPA, Ark. Code §§ 18-13-101 to 18-13-120) is a condominium-style statute that applies only where a master deed was recorded to create a horizontal property regime. Where it applies, it is concise. It does not lay out a detailed records-access timeline or a comprehensive list of records the association must produce on request. What it does provide is in § 18-13-110: the administration keeps a book of receipts and expenditures, and "Both the book and the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon shall be available for examination by all the co-owners at convenient hours on working days that shall be set and announced for general knowledge" (§ 18-13-110(b)). The Act also requires the bylaws to name "who will keep the minute book wherein the resolutions shall be recorded" (§ 18-13-108(b)(2)). Beyond that, the records framework Arkansas owners rely on usually comes from elsewhere.

Do Arkansas HOAs outside the HPA have to let owners see records?

Partly, depending on how the HOA is incorporated and on its bylaws. For an HOA still under the 1963 Nonprofit Corporation Act, Ark. Code § 4-28-218(e) lets any member inspect all books and records for any proper purpose at any reasonable time. The 1993 Act has no general records-inspection section, so access there largely depends on the bylaws and declaration.

For an HOA incorporated as a nonprofit, the Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993 (Ark. Code § 4-33) governs nonprofits incorporated on or after January 1, 1994, plus older ones that elected into it (§ 4-33-1701). The 1993 Act has no general records-inspection section. Its member inspection right covers the membership list for a members' meeting: the list "must be available for inspection by any member for the purpose of communication with other members concerning the meeting, beginning two (2) business days after notice is given of the meeting for which the list was prepared and continuing through the meeting" (§ 4-33-720(b)).

Nonprofits incorporated before 1994 that never elected into the 1993 Act "shall continue to be governed by preexisting law" (§ 4-33-1701). For a nonprofit incorporated under the 1963 Nonprofit Corporation Act, that Act provides: "All books and records of a corporation may be inspected by any member for any proper purpose at any reasonable time" (§ 4-28-218(e)).

So the practical records framework in Arkansas is layered: the HPA's expense book where the HPA applies, the 1963 Act's inspection right for older nonprofits still under it, and, for HOAs under the 1993 Act, whatever records access the bylaws and declaration provide.

What owners commonly request

People reviewing the association's books often look at:

• The annual budget, reserves, and financial statements
• Bank statements and vendor contracts
• The declaration / master deed, bylaws, adopted rules, and any fine schedule
• Board and member meeting minutes and notices
• The current statement of any pending assessment

Records frequently feed other disputes — questioning a fine or unpaid-assessment collection usually starts with the underlying documents.

For the recorded governing documents themselves

Recorded documents, such as the declaration or master deed, are available from the county recorder's office for the property. For an HPA regime, the bylaws are recorded too: § 18-13-108(a) requires them to be "inserted in, or appended to, and recorded with the master deed." Outside the HPA, the bylaws, adopted rules, and fine schedule may or may not be recorded. Those typically come from the association under the bylaws (or, for a nonprofit still under the 1963 Act, § 4-28-218(e)).

If records are withheld

Where a right to see records exists — in the bylaws, the HPA's expense-book provision (§ 18-13-110(b)), or the 1963 Act (§ 4-28-218(e)) — disputes over it go to court. Owners commonly put requests in writing (keeping a dated copy), name the records specifically, and consult a licensed Arkansas attorney for unresolved refusals.

Sources

• Arkansas Code Annotated — official public access (§§ 18-13-101 to 18-13-120; §§ 4-33-720, 4-33-1701; § 4-28-218)
• Act 1147 of 1993 — Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993 (Ark. Code § 4-33-101 et seq.)