What should our HOA board do when an owner refuses to let us into a unit for a repair?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 29, 2026

What a board does when an owner won't allow entry for a repair: the access statute, a written notice, fines, charging costs back, emergency entry and court.

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

The short answer

Don't force the door, and don't drop the repair. In a condominium, state law usually gives the association a right to reach common elements through a unit, and most declarations add their own access clause. When an owner says no, the board's job is to build a paper trail that shows it asked properly. Find the provision that authorizes entry, learn why the owner is refusing, and send a written notice with a purpose, a date and a way to reschedule. If that fails, move through the fine process and, when the repair can't wait, ask a court to order access. Real emergencies follow a faster track. This guide covers condominiums under Texas Property Code chapter 82, Florida chapter 718 and the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act. Townhome and single-family associations usually get access only from an easement in the declaration, so read that document first. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and this is general education, not legal advice.

Find the authority before you send anything

Owners who refuse entry often ask the board to show where the right comes from, so have the answer before the first letter goes out. Texas section 82.107(a) says each unit owner must give the association and its agents access through the unit reasonably necessary for maintaining, repairing and replacing the common elements. Colorado section 38-33.3-307(1) uses almost the same words. Florida section 718.111(5)(a) is stronger: the association has an irrevocable right of access to each unit during reasonable hours when necessary to maintain, repair or replace common elements or any part of a unit the association maintains, or to prevent damage to the common elements or a unit. Then read your declaration. Many add an access easement, spell out notice periods, or let the association charge the owner for costs a refusal causes. Write down the exact sections you rely on and the specific work that needs the unit, such as a shared drain stack behind a bathroom wall or a roof leak reached only through a top-floor closet. A vague 'routine inspection' is the easiest request for an owner to refuse and the hardest one to defend later.

Figure out why the owner said no

Most refusals have an ordinary reason, and a phone call from one director settles more of them than a letter from the attorney. Owners say no because the date doesn't work, because a tenant lives there, because they expect a contractor to scratch floors or cabinets, because a pet or a medical condition makes strangers in the home hard, or because they are already fighting the board about something else and a locked door is the one thing they can withhold. Most of these have a fix. Offer two or three dates, including an evening or Saturday if the contractor will do it. For a rental, write to both owner and tenant, since Texas section 82.107(d) and most declarations call for notice to the occupant too. For damage worries, point out that Texas section 82.107(a) and Colorado section 38-33.3-307(1) make the responsible party, which is often the association, liable for promptly repairing damage done to a unit through which access is taken. Send the contractor's certificate of insurance with that letter. Let the owner be present, or let someone they trust open the door. Log every call: the date, who spoke and what the owner said.

The written access notice

If the call doesn't settle it, send a formal notice by certified mail and email, and post a copy on the door if your documents allow it. State the work, why it requires the unit, the authority, a date and time window, how long the crew expects to be inside, which rooms they will enter, and how to pick another date. Give at least the notice period your declaration requires. If it is silent, 10 to 14 days is a fair minimum for work that isn't urgent. Wording to adapt: 'The association must repair the shared drain line behind the wall of your hall bathroom, which serves units 3B, 2B and 1B. Under [Texas Property Code section 82.107(a) / Florida Statutes section 718.111(5)(a) / C.R.S. section 38-33.3-307(1)] and Article [__] of the declaration, owners must provide access for this work. [Contractor] will need about four hours in the hall bathroom and hallway on [date] between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. You or someone you choose may be present. If this date does not work, contact [director] by [date] to choose one of these dates instead: [dates]. The association will repair any damage the work causes. If access is not provided, the board will treat the refusal as a violation of the declaration and may charge the unit for added costs as the declaration allows.' Keep the tone plain. A judge may read this letter someday, and so may the neighbors waiting on the repair.

When the answer is still no

A refusal after proper notice is a violation of the declaration, and the board handles it through its normal enforcement process, including the notice and hearing steps before any fine. In Texas, section 82.102(d) requires written notice describing the violation and the proposed fine, a statement that the owner may request a hearing within 30 days, and a reasonable period to cure. In Florida, section 718.303(3) caps fines at $100 per violation and $1,000 in the aggregate, bars fines from becoming a lien, and requires at least 14 days' written notice and a hearing before a committee of at least three people appointed by the board who are not officers, directors or employees of the association or their close relatives. In Colorado, section 38-33.3-209.5(1.7)(b) gives the owner 30 days to cure after a certified-mail notice, caps total fines for the violation at $500, and requires two consecutive 30-day cure periods before the association can sue. If the refusal threatens public safety or health, such as an active leak into other units, the Colorado cure period drops to 72 hours and fines can run every other day. Our guide on how to run a violation hearing walks through the hearing itself. Fines rarely fix the pipe, though. When the work can't wait, the board votes to have the attorney seek an injunction ordering access. Florida section 718.303(1) lets the association sue for failure to comply and gives the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees, and Colorado section 38-33.3-123(1)(c) requires the court to award them to the prevailing party. In Texas, check the declaration for a fee clause. In every state, check whether the declaration lets you charge the owner for extra costs, such as a contractor's return-trip fee or water damage that spread while the owner stalled.

Emergencies are different

Water pouring through a ceiling, a gas smell or smoke is not the moment for a 14-day letter. Florida's statute allows access when necessary to prevent damage to the common elements or a unit, and most declarations allow entry at any hour in an emergency. Texas section 82.107(d) lets the association enter after notice to the owner and occupant to stop waste of association-paid water or to prevent further water damage to parts the association maintains, unless the declaration says otherwise. Colorado relies on section 38-33.3-307(1) and the declaration. In practice, call and text the owner and occupant, knock, and wait a few minutes. If nobody answers and the damage is spreading, go in with a second person, ideally with a locksmith and the plumber rather than a lone director. If fire, gas or anyone's safety is involved, call 911 and let responders enter. Photograph the unit as you find it, touch only what the repair requires, lock up when you leave, and send the owner a written account the same day. Our guide on handling a water leak from common elements into a condo unit covers the rest of that response.

A sample timeline

Day 0: the contractor tells the board the repair needs access to the unit. Days 1 to 3: a director calls the owner, offers dates, answers concerns and logs the call. Day 5: the formal access notice goes out by certified mail and email, with a date at least 14 days away and two alternatives. Day 19: the scheduled entry date. If the owner refuses or doesn't answer, the contractor signs a short no-access note and the board files it. Day 20: the board votes at a meeting to send a violation notice under its enforcement policy. Days 20 to 50: the cure and hearing period your state requires, which means 30 days to request a hearing in Texas, 14 days' notice plus a committee hearing in Florida, and 30 days to cure in Colorado. Day 50 and after: if the repair affects other units, the board authorizes the attorney to demand access and, failing that, to file for an injunction. Compress every step when water is moving or safety is at stake.

Mistakes that turn a refusal into a lawsuit

Entering a unit with a master key when there is no emergency and no notice. Sending a notice that names no repair and no authority. Letting one director carry the fight by text message instead of putting the board's position in a letter. Fining before the notice and hearing steps are finished. Forgetting the tenant. Sending a contractor without insurance paperwork or without a second person present. Telling other owners in an email that unit 3B is 'blocking the repair,' which can turn a maintenance problem into a defamation claim. Waiting months while damage spreads, then trying to bill the whole cost to the refusing owner without a declaration clause that allows it. The fix for most of these is an access policy adopted in a calm month. It should list the notice period, how owners pick another date, who may enter and the steps after a refusal. Apply it the same way to every unit, directors' units included.

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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