Section 515B.3-118 requires the association to keep "adequate records" of its membership, unit owner and board meetings, committee meetings, contracts, leases, and other agreements, plus financial records detailed enough to support the disclosures owners are entitled to at resale. All of it, with one exception, "shall be made reasonably available for examination by any unit owner or the unit owner's authorized agent." The exception is narrow: records relating to what was discussed in a board meeting properly closed under § 515B.3-103(g), personnel matters, pending or potential litigation, or privacy concerns tied to criminal activity, don't have to be turned over.
The statute also caps what you can be charged for copies. The association must provide copies in paper or electronic form, whichever you request, unless it simply doesn't keep the records electronically, and the fee can't exceed the actual cost of copying and retrieving the records, or, for 100 pages or fewer of standard black-and-white letter or legal paper, 25 cents a page instead of actual cost. A board that quotes you far more than that per page, without pointing to real retrieval costs, is overcharging past what § 515B.3-118 allows.
This right doesn't automatically reach every Minnesota HOA
Here's the honest complication: § 515B.3-118 is part of MCIOA, and MCIOA's applicability rules matter here. If you own a condominium, this records right almost certainly reaches you; MCIOA specifically lists § 515B.3-118 among the sections that apply retroactively to condos created under the older Chapter 515 or 515A, for events after July 31, 1999 (§ 515B.1-102(b)(2)). If you live in a subdivision HOA or a cooperative created before June 1, 1994, though, that retroactive reach generally doesn't extend to you unless your association's declaration affirmatively elected into MCIOA (§ 515B.1-102(d)). Chapter 515 and 515A never covered HOAs at all; they only ever governed condos.
If your community falls into that gap, your best records leverage is your own declaration and bylaws, most Minnesota HOA declarations include their own inspection clause, plus general Minnesota nonprofit corporation law if your association is incorporated. Confirm your community's creation date and check the declaration's opening recitals before assuming § 515B.3-118 is the right you're standing on.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-118
Requires the association to keep adequate membership, meeting, and financial records and make them reasonably available to owners, subject to a narrow closed-meeting exception, and caps copy fees at actual cost or 25 cents a page for smaller requests.
Minn. Stat. § 515B.1-102
Confirms § 515B.3-118 applies retroactively to condominiums created under the older Chapter 515 or 515A, but that MCIOA generally does not reach a pre-1994 HOA or cooperative unless its declaration elected in.
Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-103
Defines the narrow categories, personnel, litigation, and criminal-activity privacy, under which a board meeting (and the records tied to it) can be closed to owners.
Step by step
How to request HOA or condo records in Minnesota
A written, statute-anchored records request under Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-118, adjusted for whether MCIOA actually covers your community.
- 01
Confirm MCIOA covers you
Condo owners are almost always covered, even in an older building. HOA and co-op owners in a pre-1994 community should check the declaration's recitals for language electing into MCIOA before assuming § 515B.3-118 applies.
- 02
Put the request in writing and date it
Email or mail a dated, written request. This creates the record you need if the board stalls or produces nothing.
- 03
List the specific records by category
Ask for membership records, unit owner and board meeting minutes, committee records, contracts and leases, financial records, and the annual budget, the categories § 515B.3-118 actually requires the association to keep.
- 04
Ask for the format you want
You can request paper or electronic copies; the association must provide the format you ask for unless it doesn't maintain the records that way. Confirm any copy fee doesn't exceed actual cost, or 25 cents a page for smaller black-and-white requests.
- 05
Escalate a denial in writing
If records are withheld beyond the closed-meeting exception in § 515B.3-103(g), or the fee is inflated, raise the specific statutory language in writing and keep the paper trail for a later dispute.
Straight answers
Common questions
What HOA or condo records am I entitled to see in Minnesota?
Under Minn. Stat. § 515B.3-118, the association must keep and make reasonably available its membership records, unit owner and board meeting minutes, committee records, contracts and leases, correspondence, and detailed financial records, with a narrow exception for material tied to a properly closed board session.
How much can the association charge me for copies?
No more than the actual cost of copying and retrieving the records, or, for 100 pages or fewer of standard black-and-white paper, 25 cents a page instead of actual cost, under § 515B.3-118.
Does this records right apply to my HOA if it's an older subdivision?
Not automatically. MCIOA's records right reaches back for condominiums, but a planned-community HOA or cooperative created before June 1, 1994 generally stays outside MCIOA unless its declaration elected in. Check your declaration's recitals, and lean on it directly if MCIOA doesn't apply.
Can the board just refuse to show me minutes because a meeting was "closed"?
Only for what was actually discussed in a meeting validly closed under § 515B.3-103(g), personnel matters, pending or potential litigation, or criminal-activity privacy concerns. A board can't use "closed meeting" as a blanket excuse to withhold everything.