The police asked our HOA for security camera footage. What should the board do?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 8, 2026

What an HOA board does when police ask for camera footage: save the clip first, sort a request from a subpoena or warrant, Florida's 5-day rule, and sample replies.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Save the footage first, then find out what paper the officer is holding. A phone call asking for video is a request, and in most places the board can decide how to answer it. A subpoena or search warrant goes to the association's attorney the same day. The Fourth Amendment limits the government, not a private party acting on its own (United States v. Jacobsen). So police may ask, and the association may say yes. We found no section in Texas Property Code chapter 209 or Colorado's Common Interest Ownership Act on law enforcement requests for association records. Florida HOAs have less room. Section 720.303(5)(i) gives an association 5 business days to produce records after a law enforcement subpoena, unless the agency or subpoena says otherwise, and adds that an association "must assist a law enforcement agency in its investigation to the extent permissible by law." We did not find that language in the condominium records section, 718.111, so condo boards should ask counsel. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents. This guide is education, not legal advice.

Sort the request by what it is

- A call, email or visit asking for video. Voluntary. Ask for it in writing and follow your policy. - A preservation letter. It asks you to keep footage, not hand it over. Keep it, and answer in writing. - A subpoena from police, a prosecutor or a grand jury. Send it to the attorney now and calendar the deadline. Our guide on responding to a subpoena covers custodians, objections and costs. - A search warrant. In Texas it is a written order from a magistrate (Code of Criminal Procedure article 18.01). In Colorado a judge of a court of record issues it, and it can reach material evidence (C.R.S. 16-3-301). Florida allows one for property that is evidence of a felony (section 933.02(3)). Do not block the officers. Ask for a copy, call the attorney, show them the recorder and note what they take. - A paper signed by an agency official, not a judge. Immigration officers, for example, can issue document subpoenas, and a federal court can then order compliance (8 U.S.C. 1225(d)(4)). Read the signature line and call the attorney. - An emergency, such as a missing child or a threat in progress. Release the clip now and document it afterward.

Save the clip before anyone decides

Do this within the hour. Most recorders overwrite themselves. The FBI's guide to retrieving CCTV video says to find the earliest recorded date: if the oldest footage is seven days old, you may have no more than seven days. - Export the window asked for, plus 30 minutes on each side, from every camera that might show it. - Use the recorder's own format and include its player. The FBI guide and the Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence both prefer the native file. - Compare the recorder's clock to a phone and write down the difference. Do not reset the clock. - Log who exported what, when, from which camera, and where the copy is stored. - Keep the original untouched and hand over a copy. If your system shows a hash value, record it. The committee note to Federal Rule of Evidence 902 explains how hash values show a copy matches. Do not trim, blur or film the screen with a phone. Altering or concealing evidence with intent to impair it is a crime under Texas Penal Code 37.09, including 37.09(d)(1) once a person knows an offense occurred, Fla. Stat. 918.13 and C.R.S. 18-8-610. On a cloud system, lock the clip in your own account. Police may also go straight to the camera company. Federal law lets a covered provider disclose in a life-threatening emergency (18 U.S.C. 2702(b)(8)), requires it to preserve records for 90 days on government request (2703(f)), and allows a court to order it not to tell anyone (2705(b)).

Decide who can say yes before the call comes

Police call on a Saturday and the recorder keeps overwriting, so someone must have authority already. Florida directors may not vote by email (720.303(2)(a)). Pass a short policy naming two directors who can act and report at the next meeting. Sample motion: 'I move to adopt the camera footage request policy as presented, and to authorize the president and the secretary, acting together, to respond to law enforcement requests under it.' Sample clause: 'The association will preserve footage on any law enforcement request. Requests must be in writing and state the agency, officer, case number, location, cameras and time window. The authorized directors may release footage limited to that window. They will refer any subpoena, warrant, or request for bulk records or ongoing access to the association's attorney. In an emergency involving danger to a person, either director may release footage and must report it to the board within one business day.' To discuss a specific case in private, check the closed session rules. Texas 209.0051(c) covers privacy of individual owners and threatened litigation. Colorado 38-33.3-308(4)(c) covers investigative proceedings on possible or actual criminal misconduct. Florida's open meeting section is narrower. Its main exception is attorney meetings on proposed or pending litigation, so keep names out of open discussion.

How to answer a voluntary request

Call the department's main number to confirm the request is real. Do not use the number in the email. If anyone on the board, the staff or a vendor is connected to the case, that person steps out and the attorney takes over. A single incident with a date and a place is usually an easy yes. A car break-in on Elm Court between 1 and 4 a.m. is what the cameras are for. Ask for a subpoena, through the attorney, when the request reaches for: - a month of everyone entering the gate - gate or fob logs for one resident - the owner roster or phone list - anything about an owner's account Check for sound before anything leaves. If your cameras have microphones, ask the attorney first. Federal law and all three states bar disclosing a conversation you know or have reason to know was unlawfully recorded (18 U.S.C. 2511(1)(c), Tex. Penal Code 16.02(b)(2), Fla. Stat. 934.03(1)(c), C.R.S. 18-9-304(1)(c)). Florida's consent exception requires all parties (934.03(2)(d)). If an officer asks who is in the video, say what you know firsthand and stop there.

Wording you can copy

Holding reply: 'We have saved footage from [cameras] for [date and time]. Please email the agency name, your badge number, the case number and the location and time window you need. Our authorized contacts are [names].' Release note: 'Attached is a copy of footage from [camera] for [window]. The recorder clock was [X minutes fast or slow] at export. The association keeps the original. Please confirm receipt.' Asking for legal process: 'We have preserved the records. Because this request goes beyond a specific incident and includes information about residents, board policy requires a subpoena or court order. Please send it to our attorney, [name and email].' To the owner who reported the crime: 'We saved the footage and gave it to the police under report number [number]. We do not share video of other residents directly.'

After the clip leaves

Keep a one-page log: date, agency, officer, case number, what was released, who approved it and the paper it rested on. Report the release at the next meeting without naming residents. Assume the public may see it one day. Florida exempts active criminal investigative information from public records (119.071(2)(c)1), which helps only while the case stays active. Texas excepts law enforcement records on listed conditions (Government Code 552.108(a)). In Colorado, the records custodian decides under C.R.S. 24-72-305. If someone was hurt or a claim is possible, tell the insurance agent and hold the export until the attorney releases it. Do not tell a resident that police asked about them without asking counsel first.

Standing access is a separate decision

Some departments invite owners to register or connect cameras. Washington, D.C.'s program shows the split: its registry maps cameras so investigators know whom to call, and its integration option plugs a device into the system that gives police access to the feed in a nearby emergency. With a registry listing, the association still decides each request. A live feed is a contract and a neighbor question. Take it to a full board vote at an open meeting after the attorney reads the terms. Tell owners first, name the cameras and set a review date. Our guide on setting up common-area security cameras covers signs and retention, and this decision should match what those signs tell people.

A sample timeline and the usual mistakes

- Hour 1: Officer calls. Export the clip, stop the overwrite, send the holding reply. - Day 1: Written request arrives. Verify it. Any subpoena or warrant goes to the attorney. - Day 2: The authorized directors review the clip, check for sound, then release or ask for legal process. - Business day 5: The latest a Florida HOA can produce on a law enforcement subpoena, unless the paper gives another date. - Next meeting: Report the release and file the log. The mistakes repeat. A board debates for a week while the recorder overwrites the night in question. Someone posts the clip to the neighborhood Facebook group and names a teenager. An officer leaves with the whole recorder because no one could work the export, so practice one export now. And a director hands over a month of gate logs because asking for paperwork felt rude.

Sources

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.

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