How do we write a lost and found and abandoned property policy for our HOA?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 30, 2026

How to write an HOA lost and found policy: what to log, how long to hold items, when to call police, and how to clear abandoned bikes and gear from common areas.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

A box in the clubhouse is not a policy

Most associations run lost and found as a cardboard box by the pool gate. By August it holds forty towels, three phones, a wedding ring and somebody's insulin pen, and nobody knows what came in when. Then an owner asks where their kid's bike went after a volunteer cleared the rack, and the board has no answer. Write a one-page policy and adopt it by board resolution. It should say who handles found items, which items go to the police, how long everything else is held, what happens after that, and how the association clears bikes, kayaks and other gear left in shared spaces. The short version: log every item the day it comes in, send anything valuable or dangerous to law enforcement, hold ordinary items for a fixed period, then donate or discard them on a posted date. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, so treat this guide as general education, not legal advice.

What state law says about found property

Florida has the most direct statute. Section 705.102(1) says anyone who finds lost or abandoned property must report its description and location to a law enforcement officer, and section 705.102(3) makes it unlawful to keep it or refuse to hand it over when required. Section 705.101 defines lost property by where it was mislaid: public property, business premises, parks, recreation areas and other places open to the public. Whether a members-only pool or clubhouse counts is not settled, so a Florida board should report anything of real value to the sheriff or police and let them decide. If no owner claims an item within the 90-day custodial period, section 705.104 vests title in the finder, but that happens through the officer's custody, not the association's bin. Florida also gives hotels, restaurants, theme parks and museums their own route in section 705.185: hold for 30 days, then donate to a 501(c)(3) charity and delete personal data from electronic devices. That section does not cover HOAs, but it is a sensible model for ordinary items. In Texas, ask your city police department how it takes in found property. Once officers hold an unclaimed item, Code of Criminal Procedure article 18.17 sets the city or county process: notice to the owner, a 90-day claim window and then disposal. In Colorado, call the police non-emergency line for the same answer; some cities, Colorado Springs among them, put found-property rules in the city code. California is the useful comparison. Civil Code section 2080 makes anyone who takes charge of a found item a depositary for the owner, with a duty to tell a known owner and give it back, and section 2080.1 requires turning over items worth $100 or more to the police or sheriff within a reasonable time. That depositary idea is worth borrowing everywhere: once the association picks something up, treat it as holding it for someone.

Sort each item the day it comes in

Whoever collects items, usually the manager, the pool monitor or one named director, sorts them into three groups before anything goes in a bin. Valuables and identity items: phones, wallets, keys with a fob, jewelry, cash, laptops, passports and anything with a name on it. If a name or unit number is on the item, contact that owner the same day and log who picked it up. Otherwise, call law enforcement and hand it over. Do not search a phone or wallet beyond finding a name. Hazards: medicine, needles, weapons, ammunition, chemicals and lithium batteries that look damaged. Call the police for weapons and anything that looks like drugs. Throw out food and wet swimwear at the end of each day. Everyday items: towels, goggles, water bottles, toys, sweatshirts and sunglasses. These go in the log and the bin. The log is a shared spreadsheet or a page in the office binder with these columns: date found, where, a short description, photo taken yes or no, who logged it, and the outcome (claimed by, handed to police with report number, donated, discarded). Take a phone photo of each item that isn't a towel. Post a photo roundup to residents every two weeks. Most claims come from that post, not from people digging through the bin.

Set hold periods and a disposal date

Pick a hold period and use it every time. For everyday items, 30 days from the date logged works for most communities and matches the 30 days Florida sets for hotels and restaurants. At the end of pool season, set one clear-out date and announce it twice: two weeks ahead and three days ahead. After that date, the collector donates usable items to a charity or a school clothing closet and discards the rest. Record the charity and the date in the log. Three rules keep the board out of trouble. First, no director, volunteer or staff member takes a found item home, ever, even a towel. It looks bad, and in Florida keeping found property can be theft under section 705.102(4). Second, the treasurer never deposits found cash in the association's account. Cash goes to the police or back to a known owner. Third, if an electronic device ever ends up in a donation, wipe it first, or better, give it to the police with the other valuables.

Clear abandoned bikes, kayaks and gear with a tag sweep

Bike racks, kayak storage and storage rooms fill with things owners stopped using years ago, and some belong to tenants who moved out. That is different from a lost item. Somebody owns it, and the association must give notice before it moves anything. A tag sweep does that. Here is a sample timeline. Day 1: the board announces the sweep by email and a notice at the rack. Day 7: volunteers put a dated paper tag on every bike, boat and bin in the space, and photograph each one with the tag showing. Day 37: anything still tagged is moved to locked storage, with a second notice listing each item and a photo. Day 67: unclaimed items are donated or recycled, and the log records where each one went. Owners keep their things by tearing off the tag or registering them with the office. After the first sweep, require a registration sticker for anything stored on association property and repeat the sweep once a year. Check your declaration and rules first, since the authority to regulate common areas and remove property comes from them. Colorado law lets the association adopt rules and regulate the use of common elements (C.R.S. 38-33.3-302(1)(a) and (f)). If the policy lets the board charge an owner for storage or disposal costs, follow the state's notice rules. In Texas, Property Code section 209.006(a) requires certified-mail notice before the association fines an owner or charges them for property damage. In Florida, section 720.305(2)(b) requires at least 14 days' notice and a hearing before a fine. Vehicles are a separate problem with their own statutes, covered in our guide on removing an abandoned car from HOA common area.

Wording the board can copy

A policy clause: 'Items found on association property are logged by the community manager on the day received. Items of value or that identify an owner are returned to the owner if known or delivered to local law enforcement. Other items are held for 30 days and then donated or discarded. Bicycles, watercraft and other stored items without a current association sticker may be tagged, and items still tagged after 30 days may be removed to storage and disposed of after a further 30 days' notice. The association is not responsible for items left on common property.' A motion: 'I move that the board adopt the lost and found and abandoned property policy as presented, effective June 1, and direct the manager to announce the first storage sweep for July.' A notice for the rack: 'Storage sweep: every bike and kayak on this rack will be tagged on July 8. If yours gets a tag, remove it or register your item with the office by August 7. Tagged items will then go to locked storage for 30 days before donation. Questions go to the management office.'

Mistakes that cause complaints

Clearing a rack with no notice. A volunteer who hauls away a rusted bike on a Saturday creates a claim the board can't answer, even when the bike was junk. Use the tag, the photo and the dates. Keeping valuables in the office drawer. A ring or a phone sitting in a desk for months is a liability, and it may break state law. Call the police the same day. No log. Without a record of what came in and where it went, every missing-item complaint turns into one person's word against another's. Forgetting tenants. Renters use the pool and the bike rack too. Send sweep notices to tenants through their landlords, and post them at the rack. Writing the policy but not adopting it. Pass it by motion at an open meeting, record it in the minutes, and add it to the rules binder. Our guide on the written policies every board should have covers how to keep that binder current.

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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