Rhode Island § 31-44-14 - Mobile and Manufactured Homes

§ 31-44-14. Resident owned mobile home parks — Record keeping.

(a) Resident owned mobile home parks shall maintain a copy of each of the following, where applicable, which shall constitute the official records of the association:

(1) The plans, permits, warranties, and other items provided by the developer;

(2) A photocopy of the resident association documents;

(3) A copy of the current rules of the association;

(4) A book or books containing the minutes as well as any tape recordings, if any, of all meetings of the association, of the board of directors, and of the unit owners, which minutes and tapes shall be retained for a period of not less than seven (7) years. Any tape recordings shall not be considered an official record, and these tapes shall be available to any member to be duplicated at the members’ cost and expense. The duplication cost shall not exceed ten dollars ($10.00) per tape;

(5) A current roster of all unit owners and their mailing addresses, unit identification, and, if known, telephone numbers; street address;

(6) All current insurance policies of the association, including a fiduciary bond of the association, and their agents;

(7) A current copy of any management agreement, lease, or other contract to which the association is a party or under which the association or the unit owners have an obligation or responsibility;

(8) Bills of sale or transfer for all property owned by the association;

(9) Accounting records for the association and separate accounting records for each unit it operates, according to good accounting practices in accordance with generally acceptable accounting principles. All accounting records shall be maintained for a period of not less than seven (7) years:

(i) Accurate, itemized, and detailed records of all receipts and expenditures.

(ii) A current account and a monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly statement of the account for each unit designating the name of the unit owner, the due date and amount of each assessment, the amount paid upon the account, and the balance due.

(iii) All audits, reviews, accounting statements, and financial reports of the association.

(iv) All contracts for work to be performed. Bids for work to be performed shall also be considered official records and shall be maintained for a period of one year.

(10) Ballots, sign-in sheets, voting proxies, and all other papers relating to elections, which shall be maintained for a period of one year from the date of the meeting to which the document relates;

(11) All rental records where the association is acting as agent for the rental unit.

(b) The official records of the association shall be maintained in the city or town in which the resident owned association operates.

(c) The official records of the association shall be open to inspection by any association member or the authorized representative of a member at all reasonable times. Failure to permit inspection of the association records as provided in this section entitles any person prevailing in an enforcement action to recover reasonable attorney’s fees from the person in control of the records who, directly or indirectly, knowingly denies access to the records for inspection. The right to inspect the records includes the right to make or obtain copies, at the reasonable expense, if any, of the association member.

(d) Insurance. The association shall use its best efforts to obtain and maintain adequate insurance to protect the association property.

(e) Financial report. Within sixty (60) days following the end of the fiscal or calendar year or annually on a date otherwise provided in the bylaws of the association, the board of directors of the association shall mail or furnish to each unit owner a complete financial report of actual receipts and expenditures for the previous twelve (12) months. The report shall show the amounts of receipts by accounts and receipt classification and shall show the amounts of expenses by accounts and classification including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Cost for security;

(2) Professional and management fees and expenses;

(3) Taxes;

(4) Costs of recreation facilities;

(5) Expenses for refuse collection and utilities;

(6) Expenses for lawn care;

(7) Costs for building maintenance and repair;

(8) Insurance costs;

(9) Administrative and salary expenses;

(10) General reserves, maintenance reserves, and depreciation reserves;

(11) Aging of all rental income and accounts payable.

(f) Elections. The members of the resident owned mobile home park, responsible for tabulating votes cast in any election held by the resident owned mobile home park, shall do so at a time and place open for viewing by the members of the resident owned park, within the city or town in which the resident owned association operates.