For a lot of Associations, maintaining sufficient records is really a serious problem. There are many aspects for this issue:

Development of appropriate records to start with

Adequately storing and looking after the records so they are available later on periods

Creating procedures and policies for that systematic destruction of records when needed

Creating procedures and policies for digital records storage

Entering the age of digital records storage really adds a brand new layer of administrative burden, as many folks who’ve finally mastered their paper documents storage system uncover that control over electronic documents is yet another whole ballgame. Digital records do not take up more than enough room like paper documents, but should still generally have a similar retention needs his or her paper counterparts.

While the development of sufficient records and documentation is recognized as part of this records retention problem, it truly is a totally separate subject. Our firm is promoting several guidelines to be used by our Association clients in figuring out what records should exist. We’ve tried to summarize these guides by means of our minutes listing and our recommendations for a resolutions manual, the subject of the separate article. Records creation is a concern for the similar reason why records retention is a concern for a lot of Associations: there’s too little continuity around the Board of Company directors, and lots of occasions there’s insufficient continuity with management companies to make sure that sufficient records are produced and retained.

The topic of records retention is further compounded through the question of who ought to be maintaining the records, the Association or even the contract management company. We provide no specific tips about this problem, but it’s obvious that it’s the responsibility from the Board of Company directors from the Association to make certain the records are adequately maintained. It is recommended that a connection conserve a storage facility for important Association documents that’s outside of storage facilities maintained through the contract management company. This storage facility shouldn’t be inside a member’s home or garage, but ought to be within an area that’s generally available to future Boards of Company directors. This can be an offsite public storage facility that’s rented yearly, or can be a segregated and secure area around the Association grounds. For example, part of the clubhouse area or perhaps a storage space inside the clubhouse complex might be utilized.

It is crucial that when a facility continues to be selected, that the index or catalog system be maintained from the contents of all the boxes kept in the storage space to ensure that anybody wishing to locate a particular item won’t have to look via a hundred boxes to locate just one compensated invoice or minutes for any specific board meeting.