The documents are yours to request — at cost, by statute

Last reviewed: August 11, 2026

Somewhere in most Colorado closings, a line item appears for an “HOA document package” — often ordered through a retrieval service, priced anywhere from $65 into the hundreds. Here is what almost nobody at the table says out loud: nearly everything in that package is something the selling owner has a statutory right to copy at cost — often free, by email — directly from the association. The right lives in C.R.S. §38-33.3-317, and this page walks it, cites it, and builds the request letter for you.

The right, in the statute’s own words

Subsection (2) does the heavy lifting. All records the association maintains “must be available for examination and copying by a unit owner or the owner’s authorized agent.” The association may require a written request “describing with reasonable particularity the records sought” up to ten days before production, and may limit inspection to business hours or the next board meeting if one falls within thirty days. And a line worth quoting whole: the association “may not condition the production of records upon the statement of a proper purpose.” You do not owe anyone an explanation.

Two definitions to note: unit owner means the seller is exercising their own right — a buyer isn’t a unit owner yet, which is why this is a seller’s move. And authorized agent is exactly what a retrieval service becomes when a seller signs its authorization form: the paid version of a right the seller already holds.

What’s on the shelf

Subsection (1) lists the records every association must maintain. The ones a sale actually needs:

• The current declaration, bylaws, articles, and rules, plus the responsible-governance policies and every other board-adopted policy
• Financial statements for the past three years and tax returns for the past seven, to the extent available
• Minutes of owner and board meetings
• The most recent reserve study, if any
• The association’s annual disclosures under §38-33.3-209.4
• The names and addresses of current board members and officers

And one item added in 2021 that deserves its own paragraph: under §38-33.3-317(1)(h.5), every association must maintain “a list of the current amounts of all unique and extraordinary fees … chargeable by the association in connection with the purchase or sale of a unit — including transfer fees, record change fees, and the charge for a status letter.” When we surveyed what status letters cost, only 22 of 281 Colorado organisations published a price. The statute says every single one must keep that number written down as a record — which means the list itself is something an owner can request.

What copies can cost

Subsection (4): a “reasonable charge” that “may not exceed the estimated cost of production and reproduction of the records” — copying, mailing, necessary special processing — collectable in advance. No markup, no service fee, no per-document pricing. The section also grants the right to receive copies “through an electronic transmission if available.” A board that keeps its documents as PDFs has nothing to charge for.

The enforcement clock

Ask nicely first — most boards comply once they know the cite. But if you expect silence, send the request by certified mail, return receipt requested, and pay any estimated copy fee. That arms subsection (4.5): an association that hasn’t allowed inspection or copying within 30 calendar days owes penalties of $50 per day, counted from the eleventh business day after receipt, capped at $500 or your actual damages, whichever is greater. (Timeshare associations are exempt from this provision.) If it comes to actually collecting the penalty, that’s a conversation with an attorney, not a website.

What this right does not get you

Honesty about the edges keeps the middle airtight:

• The status letter. That’s §38-33.3-316(8) — a binding certification only the association can produce, on a 14-day clock, with its own fee. The status-letter explainer covers it. Records requests get you documents; they do not get you certifications.
• Summaries. The association “is not obligated to compile or synthesize information.” You get the records as they exist.
• Everything. Privileged legal communications, executive-session records, other owners’ account details, personnel records, and documents under active negotiation can or must be withheld (subsections (3) and (3.5)).
• Speed. Between the ten-day notice allowance and the thirty-day outer bound, this is a move for a seller who starts three weeks out — not three days. Rush is the one thing the paid services genuinely sell.
• A commercial dataset. Subsection (8) bars using association records for commercial purposes. These are your records as an owner, for your sale. (It’s also why this registry is built from the state’s public roster — not from association records.)

Build the request

When a retrieval service still earns its fee

Three things the paid services sell that this statute doesn’t give you: speed (the notice-and-thirty-days timeline rewards sellers who start early, not closings in crisis), agency (some sellers would rather sign one authorization form than send one email — that’s a fair trade, made fairly, once you know it’s a choice), and compilation (the association owes you records, not a tidy summary). What the fee never buys is access. The access was yours all along.

If you’re the board

Two things this statute asks of you, and both take an evening. First, subsection (1)(h.5) requires you to maintain a written list of your closing-related fees — transfer fee, record change fee, status-letter charge — even if every number on it is zero. Adopt it once and the next records request, and the next sale, gets a clean answer. Second, keep the core documents as PDFs you can email: electronic delivery satisfies the statute and costs you nothing. When the sale itself arrives, the letter builder produces the certification on the statutory clock.

Statute read in full, subsection by subsection, August 11, 2026 — text current through the Fall 2025 legislative session; last amended 2021 (HB 21-1229). Quotes above are verbatim from C.R.S. §38-33.3-317. Not legal advice.