Turnover is when the developer hands control of the HOA to a board the owners elect. The board should leave that meeting holding the governing documents, the money records, the contracts, the keys and the open files. This checklist lists each item and what to check before signing for it.
The checklist
| Item | What to check before you sign for it |
|---|---|
| The declaration, bylaws and every recorded amendment | Copies that match what was recorded, with every amendment in order and none missing between them. |
| The articles of incorporation and the state registration status | The filed articles, whether the association is in good standing with the state today, and who files the next annual report. |
| Minutes, resolutions and the decision log | Minutes for every meeting held during declarant control, and every decision made in writing outside a meeting. |
| Budgets, bank statements, and the reserve study if one exists | The current budget, statements for every association account, who can sign on each one, and the date of the last reserve study. |
| Vendor and management contracts | Every contract the association signed, when each one ends, and how each one is cancelled. |
| Insurance policies | The current policies, what each one covers, who is named on it, and when it renews. |
| Warranties, plans and plats for common areas | Warranties on common-area work and equipment with their end dates, and the plans and plats that show what the association owns. |
| Keys, gate codes and system logins | Every key and fob, the gate and alarm codes, and the logins for the bank, utilities, website and any software. Change the passwords once you hold them. |
| The owner roster | Every lot, who owns it, and how to reach them. |
| Open architectural requests and compliance cases | Every request still waiting on a decision and every open case, with what has been decided so far and the deadline on each. |
When control passes
Your declaration and your state's statute set when control passes. Read both; this checklist does not cover timing.
Informational, not legal advice. Check your own governing documents.
Where the record can live
Havara is where the minutes, notices, documents and cases can live from the first closing, so the first elected board inherits a record rather than a box. How Havara works for developers.
Send this to the person who will chair your first owner-elected board.