Text Messaging and Association Records
I recently came across this article and it got me wondering if we should be concerned about texting during association board meetings. As we know, board meetings must be open to members of the community and records of the association are available for inspection by owners following the association's inspection of records policy. Would those records include text messages between board members about association matters? If text messages can't be "retained" (depending on your service provider), how can they be association records? Does that then lead to a law prohibiting board members from texting each other? Another risk might be that the discussions via text occurring during a meeting aren't open to owners who are present and thus the association has violated the statute. Does that mean association's should also prohibit cell phone use during its meetings?
I do see a significant difference between Colorado associations and governmental entities -- the Sunshine Law. The Sunshine Law in Colorado basically provides that anytime 2 or more elected officials are communicating it is considered a meeting and thus must be open to the public.
This law does not apply to associations but that may not overcome the arguments above