What is an HOA resale certificate in Texas?

What the certificate is for

A buyer purchasing into a mandatory-membership subdivision is buying two things: a house, and a contractual relationship with an association that can assess money against the house and restrict what is done with it. The resale certificate is how the association puts the current state of that relationship in writing before closing.

Texas Property Code chapter 207 governs it. The statute calls the broader package subdivision information, and the resale certificate is the part of it the association fills in for this specific lot at this specific moment (Texas Property Code 207.003).

What is actually in it

Under section 207.003 the certificate covers, among other items:

• Regular and special assessments — the amount, and how often they are due
• Unpaid amounts owed on the property, including any assessment already levied but not yet due
• Certain known violations of the declaration or rules on that lot
• Insurance maintained by the association
• Certain pending lawsuits to which the association is a party
• Reserves and capital expenditure information
• Budgets and financial statements
• Transfer restrictions and the fees charged in connection with the transfer

Read the violations line and the special-assessment line first. An open violation — an unapproved fence, a shed in a setback, a paint color that was never submitted to the architectural committee — becomes the buyer's problem on the day the deed records. A special assessment already voted but not yet billed is a real number that does not appear anywhere on the MLS listing.

The certificate is the summary. It is not the governing documents. The declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions is where the actual rules live, and it is usually far longer and far more consequential than the certificate. Ask for both.

The two deadlines that matter

Delivery: section 207.003(a) requires the information not later than the 10th business day after the date a written request for subdivision information is received (Texas Property Code 207.003).

Freshness: the certificate must be prepared no earlier than 60 days before it is delivered. A certificate pulled months ago for a different deal is not usable (FirstService Residential — Texas HOA resale certificate).

Ten business days is up to two calendar weeks. That is longer than a lot of option periods. A buyer who wants to read the association documents before the termination right expires needs the request made immediately after the contract goes effective, not at the end of the week. When an association is self-managed by volunteers, or when a third-party management company routes the request through a payment portal, the clock is the full ten days more often than not.

If the documents arrive late and the buyer is out of option period, the buyer's leverage is gone. That sequencing failure is the single most common way a buyer ends up owning a covenant they never read.

The fees

The statute caps the charge. Section 207.003(c) reads: a property owners' association "may charge a reasonable and necessary fee, not to exceed $375, to assemble, copy, and deliver the information required by this section" (Texas Property Code 207.003).

Two things follow from the wording. The fee must be reasonable and necessary — $375 is a ceiling, not an entitlement. And it covers assembling, copying and delivering the subdivision information, which is a defined job, not an open-ended service charge.

Separately from the statutory resale certificate charge, associations and their management companies commonly bill transfer fees at closing. Those are a different item, they are disclosed on the certificate under transfer-related fees, and who pays them is negotiated in the contract, not set by law.

What the contract itself warns you about

The association's obligation to produce documents comes from chapter 207. The buyer's exposure is spelled out in the contract.

Paragraph 6E(2) of the One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale) carries a check box for whether the property is or is not subject to mandatory membership in a property owners association, and where it is, the form prints the notice required by section 5.012, Texas Property Code (TREC form 20-19, PDF). That notice tells the buyer they are obligated to be a member, that the restrictive covenants and dedicatory instruments have been or will be recorded in the county's Real Property Records and copies may be obtained from the county clerk, and then this:

"The amount of the assessments is subject to change. Your failure to pay the assessments could result in enforcement of the association's lien on and the foreclosure of the Property."

The same paragraph references section 207.003 as the basis for an owner's entitlement to copies of the governing documents.

Read the two sentences together. The number on the resale certificate today is not fixed, and non-payment is secured by a lien on the house. That is the whole reason to read the reserves, the budget and the pending-litigation lines rather than just the current dues figure.

The TREC forms involved

Two promulgated forms carry this (TREC contract forms):

• Addendum for Property Subject to Mandatory Membership in a Property Owners Association, form 36-11, effective 07/01/2026. This is the addendum attached to the contract when the property is in a mandatory-membership subdivision. It is where the parties handle who orders the subdivision information, who pays for it, and the buyer's rights around receiving it.
• Subdivision Information, Including Resale Certificate for Property in a Property Owners Association, form 37-5, effective 02/10/2014. This is the certificate form itself.

For a condominium, the analogous document is different: the Condominium Resale Certificate, form 32-5, effective 11/25/2024, used with the condominium resale contract rather than the 1-4 family form. Condominium regimes are governed differently from ordinary subdivisions, and using the wrong form is a real error, not a formality.

What buyers miss

Short-term rental restrictions. A declaration can be amended to restrict or prohibit short-term rentals, and deed restrictions are private contracts enforceable independently of any city ordinance. A property that qualifies for a city STR permit can still be barred by its HOA. That analysis belongs to a Texas real estate attorney reading the actual declaration and its amendments, not to a summary line on a certificate.

Pending litigation. An association in active litigation may be facing a cost that lands on owners later. The certificate discloses certain pending suits. Ask what it is about.

Reserves. An association with a large aging amenity and thin reserves is an assessment waiting to happen. The reserve figure is on the certificate. Almost nobody reads it.

Architectural approval. Most declarations require written approval before exterior changes. Buyers who plan to add a shop, a pool, a casita or a metal roof should confirm the approval process before the option period ends, not after closing.

Where the line is

A real estate agent can order the documents, flag what is on them, and make sure the timeline works. Interpreting whether a specific covenant is enforceable against a specific intended use is legal work. That goes to a Texas real estate attorney. Questions about the association's finances and what a reserve shortfall implies are worth putting to a CPA if the purchase is an investment.

Related questions

• Can an HOA ban short-term rentals in Texas?
• What is the TREC 1-4 Family Residential Contract?
• What is the option period in a Texas real estate contract?
• Who pays closing costs in Texas?
• What happens at a Texas closing?

Questions about a specific property?

Call or text 830-446-3847 · Email heath.shepard@kw.com

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This page explains how the Texas HOA resale certificate process works. It is not legal advice. For whether a specific deed restriction or covenant applies to your intended use, talk with a Texas real estate attorney.