Indiana's records statute is one of the most concrete in the country, and it applies to every HOA in the state, not just post-2009 associations, because the legislature made § 32-25.5-3-3's records and meeting provisions universal. On written request identifying the records with reasonable particularity, a member may inspect the association's financial records, and the statute spells out what that includes: all contracts, invoices, bills, receipts, and bank records. Access may not be unreasonably denied, and, unusually, it may not be conditioned on you providing an approved purpose. Your reason for looking is your business.
The fee structure keeps the door open. The association may not charge for the first hour of searching, may charge no more than $35 per hour after that, and the total search fee for a request is capped at $200. The retention rule is the sleeper: the association, and each board member individually, must retain for at least two years any written or electronic communication relating to an association financial transaction, and produce it to a member on request. The board's emails about the paving contract, the insurance renewal, or the special assessment are, within that window, records you can demand. Members also hold the statutory right to attend any board meeting, including the annual meeting, and to inspect the board's minutes.
Condos route through their documents
The HOA Act's records section is written for homeowners associations; condominiums under Ind. Code art. 32-25 lean on their own declaration and bylaws, which almost always contain records and inspection provisions, and on the corporate records rules that apply to the nonprofit corporations most condo associations are (Ind. Code art. 23-17). The practical method is the same everywhere: written, dated, specific, and persistent. And in an HOA, remember what a refusal sets up, denial of a statutory records right is itself a claim you can push into the grievance procedure, where a board explains to a mandatory meeting why it hid the bank records.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
Ind. Code § 32-25.5-3-3
Financial records, including contracts, invoices, bills, receipts, and bank records, open to members on written request with no purpose test; first search hour free, fees capped at $35/hour and $200 total; two-year retention of financial communications; members may attend board meetings.
Ind. Code § 32-25.5-1-1
Makes the records, meeting-attendance, proxy, and grievance provisions applicable to every Indiana HOA, including associations formed before July 1, 2009 that never opted into the full act.
Indiana Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1991 (Ind. Code art. 23-17)
The corporate-law fallback for condominium associations and incorporated HOAs: member inspection rights and record-keeping duties where the community's own documents are thin.
Step by step
How to make an HOA records request in Indiana
A statute-anchored records request that uses § 32-25.5-3-3's specifics, the free hour, the fee caps, and the two-year communications rule.
- 01
Write a specific, dated request
Identify the records with reasonable particularity: the current budget, year-to-date financials, bank statements for named months, the management contract, the fine ledger, and board communications about a named transaction.
- 02
Don't explain why, because you don't have to
The statute bars conditioning access on an appropriate purpose. If the board demands your reasons, decline politely in writing and cite § 32-25.5-3-3.
- 03
Invoke the fee caps up front
Note in the request that the first search hour is free, additional time is capped at $35 per hour, and the total search fee cannot exceed $200. A four-figure 'estimate' is a refusal wearing a price tag.
- 04
Reach the communications, not just the ledgers
For any financial transaction within the last two years, request the related written and electronic communications, the retention duty covers the association and individual board members alike.
- 05
Escalate a denial through the grievance process
A refused or slow-walked request is a claim about the association's statutory duties. Serve a grievance notice under ch. 32-25.5-5 and make the board defend the denial at a mandatory meeting, with a court available behind it.
Straight answers
Common questions
What records is an Indiana HOA required to show me?
Its financial records, which the statute defines to include all contracts, invoices, bills, receipts, and bank records, plus board minutes, the annual budget, and, for transactions within two years, the written and electronic communications behind them (Ind. Code § 32-25.5-3-3).
Do I have to tell the board why I want the records?
No. The statute says access may not be unreasonably denied or conditioned on providing an appropriate purpose. A specific written request is all it takes to trigger the duty.
Can they charge me search fees?
Within hard caps: the first hour of searching is free, additional time runs at most $35 per hour, and the total search fee for a request cannot exceed $200. Copying costs are separate but must be reasonable.
My HOA was formed in the 1990s and says the act doesn't apply. True?
Not for records. Section 32-25.5-1-1 applies the records and board-meeting provisions of § 32-25.5-3-3(g) through (m), the proxy rules, and the grievance chapter to every Indiana HOA regardless of formation date or whether members ever voted to adopt the full act.