Office of Information Practices

U Memo 11-12
March 24, 2011
Condominium Association Complaints

Requester asked whether the Regulated Industries Complaints Office (RICO) properly denied Requester’s request for disclosure of the numbers of complaints over the past decade regarding condominium Association of Apartment Owners (AOAOs) and time shares for which RICO took these actions: (1) intake; (2) investigation; (3) contact with subjects of complaints; (4) assignment of case numbers; and (5) finding of violation, as well as records about any system for evaluating RICO’s handling of these complaints.

OIP found that because RICO’s electronic filing system does not contain the requested information and compilation of the information would require a manual search of hundreds of case files, the information is not readily retrievable and RICO is not required to prepare compilations or summaries of this information in order to respond to this request. Under the UIPA, an agency is not required to compile data in response to a UIPA request unless it is “readily retrievable in the form requested.” HRS § 92F-11(c).