We just took over our HOA from the developer. What should the new owner board do first?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 27, 2026

A 90-day plan for a new owner board after developer turnover: records and audit to demand, bank and insurance changes, developer contracts, defect deadlines.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

The weeks after turnover are when the new board has the most bargaining power and the least information. Spend them on four jobs, in this order. Take control of the money and the accounts. Get everything the developer owes the association in writing, including an audit where your state requires one. Read every contract and insurance policy the developer signed. Then get the common property inspected before the deadlines on construction claims start running out. Florida, Colorado and Texas handle turnover very differently, and your declaration and bylaws can add duties of their own, so treat this guide as education, not legal advice. A one-hour meeting with an association attorney in the first month is money well spent, because several of the deadlines below cannot be fixed once they pass.

What the developer owes you, state by state

Florida. Section 720.307(4) requires the developer, at its own expense and within 90 days after owners are entitled to elect a board majority, to deliver a list of items to the board. The list includes deeds to common property owned by the association, the original declaration, minute books, financial records from incorporation through turnover, all association funds, contracts, insurance policies, permits, warranties and a roster of owners. For associations incorporated after December 31, 2007, paragraph (4)(t) adds an audit of the records by an independent CPA, which must check that the developer paid the proper assessments on its own lots. Section 720.307(5) exempts some older associations, so confirm the section applies to yours. Colorado. C.R.S. 38-33.3-303(9) gives the declarant 60 days after owners elect a board majority to hand over association property, including financial statements audited by an independent CPA, and says the audit expense 'shall not be paid for or charged to the association.' HB 26-1099, signed April 13, 2026 and effective August 12, 2026, added section 38-33.3-209.2: before transferring control, the declarant must commission and pay for a 30-year reserve study by an independent professional, and 303(9)(n) now requires the declarant to deliver it. These rules come from CCIOA and generally reach communities created on or after July 1, 1992. Texas. Chapter 209 has no turnover delivery list. Section 209.00591(c) only requires owners to elect at least one-third of the board within 120 days after 75 percent of the lots are conveyed to owners other than the declarant or a builder. What the developer must hand over, and when, comes from your declaration and bylaws, which makes reading those documents the first Texas task.

Week one: take control of the money and the mail

Before anything else, call the bank. Bring the board resolution electing the new officers and the minutes of the turnover meeting, remove every developer employee as a signer and online banking user, and add two owner directors. Ask for every account in the association's name, including reserve accounts and CDs, and match the list to the developer's last financial report. Then change the passwords and recovery emails on the website, the payment portal, utility accounts and the association email address, and move the mailing address off the developer's office. Three state deadlines start around now. In Texas, section 209.004(b) requires an amended management certificate within 30 days after the association has notice of a change, such as a new manager or mailing address, and (b-1) requires filing it with the Texas Real Estate Commission within 7 days after recording. In Florida, section 720.3033(1)(a) gives each new director 90 days to submit a certificate of completing state-approved director education, and a director who misses it is suspended until it is done. In Colorado, section 38-33.3-209.4 requires the association to make its contact details, budget, assessments, insurance list and governing documents available to owners within 90 days after it assumes control.

Send a written turnover demand

Do not rely on a box of files handed over at the turnover meeting. Send a dated letter, approved by board vote, listing each item the statute or declaration requires and giving a delivery date. A paragraph you can adapt: 'The owner-elected board took office on [date]. Under [Fla. Stat. 720.307(4) / C.R.S. 38-33.3-303(9) / Article __ of the Declaration], the board requests delivery of the following by [date]: all association funds and account statements since incorporation; the general ledger, bank reconciliations and assessment records for every lot, including declarant-owned lots; the audited financial statements required by [statute]; all contracts, warranties, permits and insurance policies; the [reserve study / plans and specifications]; and the owner roster. Please confirm in writing which items do not exist.' That last sentence matters. A written statement that a warranty or a set of plans does not exist is far more useful later than silence. Keep a log of what arrived, on what date, and what is still missing.

Read the developer's contracts and insurance

Developers often sign management, landscaping, cable or amenity contracts that run for years and renew on their own. List every contract with its term, price, renewal date and termination clause. Colorado gives new boards a strong tool: section 38-33.3-305 lets the association end, without penalty and on at least 90 days' notice, any management or employment contract, any contract with the declarant or an affiliate, and any contract that was unconscionable when signed, if it was entered into before the owner board took office. We found no general right to cancel developer-era contracts in Florida chapter 720 or Texas chapter 209, so in those states the contract's own termination clause controls and counsel should review any long-term deal with a developer affiliate. Florida does protect the board in another way: section 720.3075(1) voids clauses, created after chapter 98-261 took effect, that let the developer change the association documents on its own after turnover, bar the association from suing the developer, or give the developer more than one vote per lot after turnover. For insurance, confirm the association, not the developer, is the named insured on the property and liability policies, that a directors and officers policy covers the new board from the day it took office, and that a crime or fidelity policy covers anyone who handles money. Our guide on how to hire a CPA firm for an HOA review or audit covers choosing an accountant if the developer's audit never arrives or raises questions.

Inspect the property before claim deadlines pass

Hire an engineer or a reserve specialist to walk the roads, drainage, retaining walls, pool, roofs and any buildings the association maintains, and to compare what was built with the plans. Do it early, because construction claims have hard limits. In Florida, section 95.11(3)(b) allows four years from the certificate of occupancy or completion, or from discovery for a latent defect, but no more than 7 years in any event, and section 558.004 requires an association representing more than 20 parcels to serve written notice of claim at least 120 days before filing suit. In Colorado, section 13-80-104 sets a two-year period from when the defect's physical signs were or should have been discovered, with an outer limit of six years after substantial completion, extended to two years from discovery when the claim arises in year five or six. Before a Colorado board files a defect action, section 38-33.3-303.5 requires notice to owners, a meeting 10 to 15 days later and an owner vote. In Texas, Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.009 bars most suits against builders 10 years after substantial completion. If the deed review turns up common land still titled to the developer, our guide on how to get HOA common area deeded from the developer walks through the fix.

A sample 90-day timeline

Day 1 to 7: elect officers, change bank signers, take over online accounts and the mailing address. Day 7 to 14: send the turnover demand letter and calendar the statutory delivery date. Day 14 to 30: meet with the association attorney, record or file any required certificate, and start the contract and insurance list. Day 30 to 60: schedule the engineering walk, give 90 days' notice on any Colorado contract the board wants to end, and compare the developer's budget against actual spending. Day 60 to 90: review what the developer delivered against the demand list, send a follow-up for missing items, finish Florida director education, post the Colorado disclosures, and report to owners at a board meeting. A short motion for the minutes: 'Moved to engage [firm] to perform a transition inspection of the common property at a cost not to exceed $[amount], and to direct the president to send the turnover demand letter as presented.'

Mistakes new boards make

Keeping the developer's dues level without checking it. Developers sometimes hold assessments low while selling homes, and the reserve study is where that shows up, so read it before you adopt the next budget. Accepting the turnover box as complete. Missing items are easier to get in month two than in year three. Letting the developer's manager keep running the books while the board 'settles in.' Fine if you choose to, but decide it by vote, with the contract in front of you. Signing a release, or a settlement on a punch list, before the inspection is done. Waiting on defect claims because the developer promised to fix things; under Florida's 95.11(3)(b), warranty repairs to permitted work that received a certificate of occupancy or completion do not extend the deadline. And skipping the minutes. Every demand, delivery and decision in this period should be in writing, because if the association ever has a claim against the developer, those records are the evidence.

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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