HOA Accountability for Hawaii Condo Owners
You know something is wrong. You don't yet know what to call it, what the statute requires, or what to do first. A single 60-minute call changes that — and gives you leverage.
60 minutes. Straight answers. No jargon. No hedging.
Is this you?
Your parent paid a $30,000 — or $60,000 — special assessment. The work was approved years ago. It still hasn't started. Every time they ask, they get a non-answer, a delay, or the suggestion that they're the problem. You're done watching.
You were told the manager handles everything. You've been signing things you didn't fully understand. You're starting to realize you may be personally liable for decisions you didn't actually make — and nobody told you what your fiduciary duty requires.
You've talked among yourselves. One person has the financials. Another has the correspondence. Someone else was at the meeting where the contractor never showed. Together you have a case. Separately you have complaints.
Here's what's actually happening
Under Hawaii Revised Statutes §514B, your association is required to maintain records, respond to requests within specific timeframes, hold regular board meetings, conduct proper financial oversight, and account for every dollar collected — including special assessments.
When those things don't happen, it's not a misunderstanding. It's non-compliance. And non-compliance, documented properly, is what gives you leverage — with the board, with the Hawaii Real Estate Commission, and if it comes to it, with an attorney.
Most owners either do nothing — because they don't know where to start — or they hire an attorney immediately, spending thousands of dollars before a single letter has been sent. There is a third option. Build the record first. That record is what makes everything else possible.
Hawaii law also protects you from retaliation. Under HRS §514B-191, an association or its managing agent is prohibited from retaliating against any owner who exercises their legal rights. If you've been threatened, ignored, or punished for asking questions — that is itself a documented violation.
What happens when owners know the law
"I'd been asking for financial records for over a year and getting nothing. After sending the letter we drafted together, I had a response in nine days."— Linda, 68, Honolulu condo owner
"I was on the board but had no idea what I was signing. The session gave me a clear picture of my fiduciary obligations — and what the manager had been hiding from us."— Robert, 54, board member, Oahu
"Five of us split the cost of the Coalition Review. The letter we sent on behalf of the group got a board meeting scheduled within two weeks. We'd been ignored for months."— Patricia, 71, and four neighbors, Honolulu
Where are you right now?
Most people start with the Triage Call. It's 60 minutes, it's direct, and you leave knowing exactly what you're dealing with and what to do next. Everything else flows from there.
60 minutes. You talk. We look. You leave knowing.
You're not sure if you have a real problem or if you're being managed. You will know by the end of this call.
Bring whatever you have — letters, financials, meeting minutes, assessment notices. We'll look at your specific situation, identify whether there's a compliance issue, and tell you exactly what your next move should be.
No jargon. No hedging. A straight answer.
This call is for you if: you're early in the process, you're not sure what you're dealing with, or you want a clear-eyed read before you decide whether to escalate.
Book Your Triage Call — $197If you upgrade to a Reality Check within 30 days, the $197 applies toward the $750.
Document review + 90-minute session + Action Brief + 3 custom letters.
Send us your documents before the session. We review them. We come to the call already knowing what we found — you're not paying session time for us to read.
In 90 minutes, you'll know:
What you receive:
This is for you if: you've already tried asking informally and gotten nowhere, you suspect non-compliance but don't know how to document it, or a family member is being stonewalled and you're ready to act.
Book an HOA Reality Check — $750Same process. Built for a group. A letter from five owners carries more weight than a letter from one.
3 to 8 owners in the same building, splitting the cost, combining their documents, presenting a unified picture. One session, one Action Brief, correspondence letters drafted on behalf of the group.
Five owners splitting $1,500 is $300 each. One letter from all of you is worth more than five letters sent separately.
This is for you if: multiple owners in your building are experiencing the same problem and you're ready to organize.
Inquire About a Coalition ReviewFor situations that are serious. For people who are ready to see it through.
This is the full process — every letter, every deadline, every document request, sequenced and timed to build an airtight record from first request to state regulatory complaint.
This engagement covers:
This is for you if: there is suspected fraud or embezzlement, financial records don't add up, a major contract was funded and the work was never done, or your association manager has made it clear they intend to wait you out.
$2,500 is not the attorney. It's what you do before the attorney — so the attorney's time is worth something.
Start the Administrative Record Build — $2,500The process
Choose your service. Pay via Stripe. You'll receive a confirmation and an intake form immediately.
Tell us your situation, your building, what's happened, and what documents you have. The more specific, the better.
Upload whatever you have — financials, minutes, assessment letters, correspondence, management contracts. Don't worry if it's incomplete. We'll work with what's there and tell you what's missing.
We come to your session already knowing what we found. You're not paying session time for us to read. That's a deliberate choice — your time and money matter.
90 minutes (or 60 for the Triage Call). Direct conversation. No filler. You leave with clarity and a specific next step.
Action Brief and custom letters delivered within 48 hours of your session — ready to send, correctly cited, in the right order.
Who is behind this
BoardWatch HI was founded by Jennifer Lowe — a Hawaii condo owner, a daughter, and someone who has spent years watching what happens when a managing agent controls a building for two decades and the board does whatever she prepares for them to sign.
Jennifer's father owned his unit at Makiki Regent for decades. He attended board meetings, took handwritten notes, pushed for proper reserve funding, and warned the board in writing about financial dangers — in 2008, in 2009, in the years that followed. His warnings were ignored. By the time the association levied a $648,000 special assessment in 2023, the reserves had been allowed to drop to 2.7% funded. The elevator replacement that should have cost $25,000 in 2015 cost $36,000 per unit eight years later.
That is not mismanagement. That is a documented, 20-year pattern of deferred maintenance, fraudulent accounting, and a board that signed whatever was put in front of them.
Jennifer is also a two-time Kona Ironman World Championship qualifier, a 70.3 World Championship competitor, and someone who has learned — in settings far more demanding than a condo dispute — what it means to build a case, stay in the process, and not quit when the system is designed to wait you out.
BoardWatch HI exists because this problem is not unique to one building. It is happening in buildings across Hawaii, and the owners experiencing it deserve more than a vague suggestion to hire an attorney they can't afford.
BoardWatch HI is not a law firm. We do not provide legal advice, and nothing we produce creates an attorney-client relationship.
What we provide is clarity — a plain-language read of your situation, a precise identification of where the law applies, and correspondence that you can send, sign, and own.
If your situation requires an attorney, we'll tell you. And if it does, you'll walk into that conversation with a complete record rather than a stack of unanswered questions.
Questions
Start with the Triage Call. Sixty minutes is enough to know exactly what you're dealing with and which next step makes sense. If you upgrade to a Reality Check within 30 days, the $197 applies toward the $750. You're not losing money by starting there — you're buying clarity before you commit to more.
Yes. All sessions are conducted remotely. You can participate on behalf of a family member, or alongside them. We work with mainland families dealing with Hawaii properties regularly — distance does not reduce your rights or your ability to act on them.
The Owner Coalition Review is built for exactly that situation. Three to eight owners, one session, one Action Brief, correspondence drafted on behalf of the group. Contact us at hello@boardwatchhi.com to discuss your building's specific circumstances before booking.
Contact us directly at hello@boardwatchhi.com before booking. We'll tell you honestly whether the timeline works — and if it does, we'll prioritize your intake. Do not wait. Statutory deadlines are real, and a missed window can cost you leverage that takes months to rebuild.
Whatever you have. Meeting minutes, financial statements, special assessment notices, management contracts, records requests you've sent, and any responses you've received. Don't wait until you have everything. We'll tell you what's missing and what matters most — that's part of what the session is for.
Hawaii law prohibits it. Under HRS §514B-191, retaliation against an owner who exercises their legal rights — including requesting records, attending meetings, or filing complaints — is a statutory violation. If you experience retaliation, that becomes part of your record. It strengthens your case, not theirs.
The records exist. The statutes are clear. The process works — when you know it and follow it. Start with one call.
Book a Triage Call — $197Not sure where to start? Email us first. We'll point you in the right direction at no charge.