You are on the Board of Directors of your association, which has just decided to increase assessments for the first time in years. Owners are up in arms and an owner requests the e-mail addresses of all other owners to, you suspect, stir the pot further. See the attached article about a similar situation in Florida. Can or must the Association provide email addresses? The Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act requires associations to maintain a record of owners in a form that permits the preparation of a list of the names and addresses of all owners. The Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act contains a similar provision. Both acts entitle owners to inspect the records of the Association. So, the question becomes whether information held by the Association, which is not required by statute to be kept, must be disclosed to owners upon request. A recent trial court decision in Colorado indicates that Colorado courts are inclined to broadly define what are “records” of the Association. However, the broad definition must be, at times, balanced against individual owners’ privacy rights. Therefore, the best course is to adopt a record retention policy that clarifies what information will not be disclosed because of such privacy concerns. This might include owners’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses, unless the owner has granted permission to the Association to divulge that information to other owners. If you would like more information about a record retention policy contact us at 303.432.9999 or by email at [email protected].