Split your expectations by source, because North Dakota's two chapters give you very different things. From the condo chapter: § 47-04.1-07 requires all bylaws, rules, and regulations to be reduced to writing and 'made available to every owner of any interest in the project,' and it makes the core governance papers public by design — the declaration is recorded (§ 47-04.1-02), the bylaws must be annexed to that recorded declaration, bylaw amendments are valid only as recorded declaration amendments, and even the names of the people responsible for administration must be recorded with the county recorder. Add § 47-04.1-11's recorded assessment notices and releases, and a North Dakota condo owner can reconstruct the community's entire legal skeleton — and its lien history — from the courthouse, without the board's cooperation. What the chapter never provides is a financial-records inspection right: no ledger access, no response deadline, no copy-fee rule.
That inspection right lives in ch. 10-33, and it applies to any association organized as a North Dakota nonprofit corporation — which is most HOAs and condo associations alike. Section 10-33-80 requires the corporation to keep, at its principal executive office, correct and complete copies of its articles and bylaws, accounting records, voting agreements, and six years of minutes of member, board, and committee meetings. A member (or the member's agent or attorney) may inspect all of it 'for any proper purpose at any reasonable time' — a proper purpose being one reasonably related to your interest as a member, which assessment, budget, and enforcement questions plainly are. On request, the corporation must also give you a financial statement showing operations and a balance sheet for the last accounting period. The remedy clause is the strongest in either chapter: a member wrongfully denied access or copies 'may bring an action for injunctive relief, damages, and costs and reasonable attorney's fees.'
Mind the two gaps
Two honest caveats. First, the corporation can charge a reasonable fee for copies (not for inspection itself), and it can go to court for a protective order if it thinks you're misusing records — your inspection is tied to a proper purpose, so state yours plainly and keep it association-related. Second, the whole apparatus depends on incorporation: an unincorporated association's members have no ch. 10-33 rights, and with no HOA act behind them, their records access is whatever the covenants promise plus what the courthouse holds. Verify your association's corporate status in the Secretary of State's registry before writing your demand — and if it turns out the nonprofit was allowed to lapse, that fact itself is worth raising with the membership.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
N.D.C.C. § 10-33-80
Six years of minutes and accounting records kept at the principal office, member inspection for any proper purpose at any reasonable time (in person or by agent or attorney), a financial statement on request — and an action for injunctive relief, damages, costs, and attorney's fees for wrongful denial.
N.D.C.C. § 47-04.1-07
All bylaws and rules must be written and made available to every owner; bylaws are annexed to the recorded declaration and amendable only by recorded amendment — the governance skeleton is public paper.
N.D.C.C. § 47-04.1-11
Notices of assessment and their satisfactions are recorded with the county recorder — the community's lien history is a public record you can pull without the board.
N.D.C.C. § 47-04.1-02
The declaration submitting the property to condominium ownership is recorded in the county where the property lies — available from the recorder regardless of board cooperation.
Step by step
How to get association records in North Dakota
A practical path combining the public record with the Nonprofit Corporations Act's inspection and fee-shifting remedy.
- 01
Confirm the association's corporate status
Look the association up in the North Dakota Secretary of State's business registry. Incorporated nonprofit status is what makes § 10-33-80's inspection rights and attorney-fee remedy available to you.
- 02
Pull the public skeleton at the recorder
Get the recorded declaration, annexed bylaws and amendments, the recorded administrator designations, and any notices of assessment or releases against units from the county recorder — no board cooperation required.
- 03
Send a written inspection demand
Write to the board and registered agent citing § 10-33-80, naming the records — accounting records, six years of member and board minutes, the current budget — and stating your proper purpose (for example, verifying assessments you're charged as a member). Propose reasonable times.
- 04
Request the financial statement
Separately invoke the statement right: an income-and-surplus statement and balance sheet for the last accounting period, which § 10-33-80(3) requires on request. Offer to pay reasonable copy fees — those are allowed; refusal of inspection is not.
- 05
Escalate with the fee-shifting remedy
If access is denied or ignored, a follow-up letter noting that § 10-33-80(7) authorizes an action for injunctive relief, damages, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees usually changes the conversation. If it doesn't, that action is exactly what a North Dakota attorney can bring.
Straight answers
Common questions
Do I have a right to see my association's books in North Dakota?
If the association is an incorporated nonprofit — most are — yes: § 10-33-80 opens its accounting records and six years of minutes to member inspection for any proper purpose, and requires a financial statement on request. The condo chapter itself adds no financial inspection right.
What can I get without the board's help?
The recorded declaration, the annexed bylaws and every valid amendment, the recorded administrator designations, and all recorded assessment notices and releases — everything ch. 47-04.1 pushes into the county recorder's office is public.
Is there a response deadline for records requests?
No fixed statutory deadline — § 10-33-80's standard is inspection 'at any reasonable time.' Make reasonableness visible: dated written demand, named records, stated proper purpose, proposed times — the record a court would weigh in a fee-shifting denial action.
What if my HOA was never incorporated?
Then ch. 10-33 doesn't apply, and with no HOA act in North Dakota, your access rights are whatever the covenants promise plus the public record. It's worth confirming — and if the association's nonprofit charter lapsed, raising that with the membership.