Seller resale package
If you are selling a home in an HOA, you usually cannot close on goodwill and a copy of last year's rules. Most active HOA states require a resale package — sometimes called a resale certificate, disclosure packet, or estoppel — prepared by the association or its manager and delivered to the buyer. Who pays, how much, and how many days you have are state questions. Do not treat a Florida fee cap as a Texas fee cap.
Who prepares it
The association prepares the package. The seller (or the seller's agent) is usually the one who has to order it and get it to the buyer.
In California, Civil Code section 4525 puts the duty on the owner of the separate interest to provide the listed documents to the prospective purchaser. Section 4530 then requires the association, upon written request, to furnish those documents to the owner or any other recipient the owner authorizes, within 10 days. The association may contract with a manager or third party to do that work. It is the seller's responsibility to compensate the association or vendor that provides the documents. A seller must also give the buyer, at no cost, current copies of any section 4525 documents already in the seller's possession. Bundling extra, non-required documents into the statutory package is prohibited.
In Virginia, the Resale Disclosure Act is blunt: the seller or the seller's agent shall obtain the resale certificate from the association and provide it to the purchaser or the purchaser's agent, and that requirement shall not be waived or changed by agreement. The association, its managing agent, or any third party preparing the certificate on the association's behalf delivers it. Virginia associations must use the Common Interest Community Board's standardized resale certificate form.
In Florida, two different papers often travel with a sale. The section 720.401 disclosure summary is supplied by the developer or, on a resale, by the parcel owner, and it belongs in the contract package. The estoppel certificate under section 720.30851 is completed by a board member, authorized agent, or authorized representative of the association, including an authorized employee of the management company. Each Florida association must designate on its website a person or entity with a street or email address for estoppel requests.
In Texas, chapter 207 of the Property Code lets an owner, the owner's agent, a purchaser or purchaser's agent, or a title company acting for either of them request subdivision information. The resale certificate is a written statement issued, signed, and dated by an officer or authorized agent of the property owners' association.
Typical fees (state examples, labeled)
Fees are capped in some states and "reasonable actual cost" in others. Confirm the current published number; several of these caps inflate on a statutory schedule.
California. The association may collect a reasonable fee from the seller based on the association's actual cost for procurement, preparation, reproduction, and delivery. It may not charge an extra fee for electronic delivery in lieu of hard copy. Before processing the request, the association must give a written or electronic fee estimate on the Civil Code section 4528 form. Fees must be itemized, separately billed from other transfer charges, and refunded in whole or in part if the request is canceled according to the statute. There is no single statewide dollar cap in section 4530.
Florida. Section 720.30851 sets statutory dollar ceilings and then requires the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to adjust them every five years for CPI and publish the live numbers. The statute's unadjusted figures are $250 for preparation and delivery if the parcel is not delinquent, plus $100 if expedited delivery occurs within 3 business days, plus up to $150 if the parcel is delinquent. DBPR's published, CPI-adjusted caps on its estoppel-certificate-fees page (next update by July 1, 2027) are: not more than $299 for preparation and delivery; an additional $119 for 3-business-day expedited delivery; and an additional fee not to exceed $179 if the unit or parcel is delinquent. Aggregate caps apply when multiple parcels of the same owner are requested at once. No fee may be charged for an amended estoppel. If the association misses the 10-business-day deadline, it may not charge a fee for that certificate. Authority to charge any fee must exist in a board resolution or a written management, bookkeeping, or maintenance contract. If the certificate was requested for a sale that does not close, a non-owner payor can obtain a refund under the statute's 30-day process.
Texas. A property owners' association may charge a reasonable and necessary fee, not to exceed $375, to assemble, copy, and deliver the chapter 207 information, and not more than $75 to prepare and deliver an update. Those figures are in the statute; they are not CPI-adjusted the way Florida's are.
Virginia. Section 55.1-2316 lets an association charge fees for preparation, delivery, expedited delivery, an updated certificate, a financial update, a unit inspection used to prepare the certificate, and a post-closing fee. The seller is responsible for fees associated with preparing and delivering the resale certificate, including inspection fees. The Common Interest Community Board sets commercially reasonable maximums and adjusts them at least every five years for CPI. DPOR's published maximums effective January 12, 2023 (next mandatory CPI adjustment in 2028) include: $141.31 for a declaration-authorized inspection to prepare the certificate; $211.96 for paper preparation and delivery (no more than two copies) or $176.64 total in electronic form (only one preparation-and-delivery fee); $70.66 optional expedition if completed within five business days; $35.33 for an additional hard copy; actual cost for third-party overnight delivery; $70.66 post-closing fee to the purchaser to update ownership records; $70.66 for pre-settlement updates; and $141.31 for an additional inspection if authorized. Unless the association provides otherwise, fees are due when the item is requested. An association may collect these fees only if it is registered with the CIC Board, current on its annual report and any Board assessment, and offers electronic delivery.
Timelines (state examples, labeled)
California: 10 days from mailing or delivery of the owner's written request. Electronic copies are allowed if the association keeps the documents that way, and the requester may choose electronic transmission. Delivery may not be withheld except for the authorized fee.
Florida estoppel: 10 business days after the written or electronic request. Expedited service, if offered, is 3 business days for the extra fee. Effective period: 30 days (hand or electronic) or 35 days (regular mail). An amendment restarts that clock and is free.
Texas: 10th business day after the written request is received and authority is verified. The certificate itself must have been prepared not earlier than the 60th day before delivery. An update requested by the original owner-side requester within 180 days must be delivered by the seventh business day.
Virginia: 14 days after the seller's or seller's agent's written request. If nothing arrives, the certificate is deemed unavailable. The association may not require the purchaser's name before preparing the certificate. Information must be current as of a date specified on the certificate; the seller or purchaser may request an update.
How to keep a sale from blowing the deadline
Order the package the day the contract is signed, not the week of closing. Put the request in writing to the statutory recipient (in Florida, the website designee). Pay the fee when the statute says it is due. If you already have current governing documents, California still lets you give those copies to the buyer at no extra cost rather than buying a second set.
If the association is late, the consequence is state-specific: Florida and Texas restrict the fee; Virginia treats the certificate as unavailable; California still requires production and limits withholding to nonpayment of the authorized fee. Your purchase contract (for example a TREC HOA addendum in Texas) may give the buyer extra cancellation rights the statute itself does not. Read both.
Do not pad the statutory package with extra paid products the buyer did not order. California forbids bundling non-required documents into the section 4530 disclosure. Itemize. Keep the section 4528 estimate (California) or the published Virginia/Florida schedule in the file so nobody is surprised at the closing table.
This is general information from an AI helper, not legal advice. Confirm it against your documents and your state's law. If a deadline or hearing is coming up, talk to a licensed lawyer.