How do I contact my HOA or file a request?
Reviewed by the OurHOA team · Updated June 2026
How to reach your HOA board or manager, find the right address of record, and put a request in writing so it counts - maintenance, records, approvals, and complaints.
The short answer
Start by figuring out who actually receives correspondence for your association, send your request in writing to that address of record, and match it to the right channel for what you need. 'The HOA' is usually either a volunteer board (in a self-managed community) or a management company acting as the board's agent - and a request sent to the wrong place, or made only verbally, is the one that quietly goes nowhere. Getting the address and the format right is what turns a complaint into a request the association has to handle.
Find the right address of record
Your dues invoice, payment portal, or coupon book usually lists the manager or the association's payment and correspondence address. So does the welcome or resale packet you got at closing, and in California the Annual Policy Statement the association sends each year (Civil Code 5310) must include the contact for the person or address designated to receive owner communications. If you can't find it there, the recorded CC&Rs at the county recorder and your state's nonprofit or corporate filing list the association and often its registered agent. In a self-managed HOA there's no management company - the board officers are your contacts. Our guide on how to find your HOA management company walks through tracking down the manager of record.
Put it in writing
A phone call or a hallway conversation leaves no record and starts no clock. A written request - email or letter, dated, specific, and sent to the address of record - does three things a verbal one can't: it documents exactly what you asked and when, it forces a yes-or-no the board has to act on, and for certain requests it starts a statutory response deadline. Keep it factual and concrete: state what you want, reference the relevant rule or document section if you know it, and ask for a written response by a date. Send it in a way you can prove (email, or certified mail for anything that may escalate) and keep a copy.
Match the request to the right channel
What you're asking for determines the path. A repair to a common area is a maintenance request - see our guide on how to get your HOA to fix something. Wanting to see the budget, contracts, or minutes is a formal records request, which most states give owners a right to make; our guide on how to request HOA records covers what you can inspect and the limits. Permission to change something on your home (a fence, paint, a shed) is an architectural application to the ARC, not a general letter. Wanting an item discussed or voted on goes through the agenda process - see our guide on how to get on the HOA agenda. And a rule-enforcement complaint about a neighbor, or a dispute over a fine against you, runs through the association's complaint or dispute-resolution procedure. Sending the right request to the right channel is half the battle.
Keep proof and track the deadline
Save your sent message, any delivery receipt, and every reply. Many requests come with a response window - records requests, architectural applications, and disclosure requests often carry statutory or document-set timelines - and the clock only helps you if you can show when you sent the request. Our guide on how long an HOA has to respond to a request covers the common deadlines. If the deadline passes with no answer, a documented follow-up referencing the original date and the applicable rule is your next step, and it's also the record you'd need if you ever have to escalate.
What to do - and how OurHOA helps
Find the address of record from your dues statement, closing packet, or annual disclosure; write a dated, specific request and send it the right channel; keep proof; and follow up in writing if the deadline passes. If you genuinely can't identify who to contact, the county recorder and your state's corporate registry are the public-records backstop. For boards, the fix on the other side is just as simple: publish a single clear contact and a short description of how owners submit maintenance, records, architectural, and agenda requests, and log them so nothing falls through. OurHOA helps small self-managed communities give residents one place to send requests and keep a clean record of what came in and how it was answered. For the exact contact and any required form where you live, check your governing documents and your association's most recent disclosures.
OurHOA is the friendly, affordable way self-managed communities keep dues, records, and reminders in one place. See how it works.
These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.