Section 1 — Overview: How records inspection works in Utah

Two parallel statutes govern association records in Utah, and the difference in which one applies matters. The Utah Condominium Ownership Act (Title 57, Chapter 8) covers condominiums; the Utah Community Association Act (Title 57, Chapter 8a) covers planned communities. Each carries its own records-inspection provision—§ 57-8-17 for condominiums, § 57-8a-227 for community associations—and both sit alongside a separate HOA registration requirement administered by the Department of Commerce.^1,2

The two chapters share nearly identical section numbers, but their records provisions are separate texts that must not be transposed—though a 2026 amendment brought them into close alignment.¹ The registration requirement (§ 57-8a-105 for community associations and § 57-8-13.1 for condominiums) establishes a filing-and-renewal regime, not a records-enforcement mechanism; the records provisions handle that separately, specifying which documents associations must keep and make available.^3,4

Utah chooses a fixed statutory deadline over a reasonableness standard: an association must comply with a records request within 10 business days.² That puts Utah among the more prescriptive states—closer to hard-clock jurisdictions like Florida, where Fla. Stat. § 720.303(5) sets a 10-business-day inspection clock, than to states that rely only on a reasonable-time standard or corporate-law inspection rights. Utah enforces the right through the courts rather than an administrative program.⁵ The Quick-Reference table and the detailed sections below set out the records subject to inspection, the request-and-response sequence, withholding categories, and remedies under each chapter.

1. Utah Code § 57-8a-227, Records -- Availability for examination (Community Association Act) ↩
2. Utah Code § 57-8-17, Records -- Availability for examination (Condominium Ownership Act) ↩
3. Utah Code § 57-8a-105, Registration with Department of Commerce (Community Association Act) ↩
4. Utah Code § 57-8-13.1, Registration with Department of Commerce (Condominium Ownership Act) ↩
5. Fla. Stat. § 720.303(5), Association records (Florida Senate, official statutes) ↩
6. Utah Code § 16-6a-1601, Corporate records (Utah Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act) ↩
7. Utah Code § 16-6a-1602, Inspection of records by directors and members (Utah Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act) ↩
8. Walker I Investments, LLC v. Sunpeak Association, Inc., 2015 UT App 216, 359 P.3d 675 (Utah Court of Appeals) ↩
9. Utah Code § 16-6a-1605, Limitations on use of membership list (Utah Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act) ↩
10. Utah Code § 16-6a-1604, Court-ordered inspection of corporate records (Utah Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act) ↩
11. H.B. 217, Homeowners' Association Amendments, 2025 General Session (Governor signed March 25, 2025; effective May 7, 2025) ↩
12. Utah Code § 57-8a-211, Reserve analysis -- Reserve fund (Community Association Act); see also Utah Code § 57-8-7.5 (Condominium Ownership Act) ↩
13. S.B. 122, HOA Amendments, 2026 General Session (effective May 6, 2026) ↩
14. FinCEN, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision and Deadline Extension, interim final rule, 90 Fed. Reg. 13697 (Mar. 26, 2025) (domestic entities, including incorporated associations, currently exempt from BOI filing) ↩