Association records and your right to see them

• The declaration, bylaws, rules and every recorded amendment
• Minutes of board and owner meetings
• Financial statements, the budget, and the general ledger
• The reserve study and reserve account records
• Insurance policies and certificates
• Contracts with vendors and with the managing agent
• The membership roster, and records of assessments and payments
• Architectural applications and decisions
• Correspondence on association business, and records of enforcement

Washington law gives owners a right to inspect association records, subject to exceptions, reasonable notice, and a reasonable charge for copying. The right belongs to owners; it is not a general public right.

What is commonly withheld or redacted

The exceptions exist to protect people and the association’s position, not to protect the board from scrutiny. In broad terms:

• Communications with the association’s attorney, which are privileged
• Records about pending or threatened litigation where disclosure would prejudice the association
• Personnel records
• Records identifying a specific owner’s delinquency, violation or enforcement matter, other than to that owner
• Personal information of owners beyond what the statute makes available
• Executive session minutes, in whole or in part

• Put it in writing to the board or the managing agent.
• Be specific. "The minutes of the last four board meetings and the 2026 budget" is answerable this week; "all records" is a project, and will be treated as one.
• Say why if the reason helps. It is not usually required, but it often shortens the exchange — a records request tied to a question a board can simply answer often ends with the answer.
• Expect a reasonable time to respond and a reasonable copying charge. Inspection is usually offered at the manager’s office during business hours.
• If something is withheld, ask which exception is being relied on. A board should be able to say.

Most records disputes are really about something else — a decision an owner disagrees with, a cost they do not understand, or a sense of being kept outside. A board that publishes its minutes and its financials promptly has very few records requests, because there is nothing to request.

And an owner who reads the minutes when they are published rarely needs to make a request at all.