Texas Law · Disclosure & Transfer · Texas
Texas Resale Certificates Under Chapter 207: Contents, Deadlines, Fee Caps, and Remedies
Every sale of a home in a Texas property owners’ association runs through one document: the Chapter 207 resale certificate. What the association must disclose, the 10-business-day clock, the $375 and $75 statutory fee caps — tightened again in 2025 — and the remedies that make the deadlines real.
The Bottom Line
Chapter 207 of the Texas Property Code obligates a property owners’ association to deliver subdivision information — the governing documents plus a signed, dated resale certificate — not later than the 10th business day after receiving a written request from an owner or the owner’s agent, a purchaser or the purchaser’s agent, or a title company acting for the owner. The certificate must disclose the financial and legal condition of both the property and the association: assessments and all unpaid amounts on the account, approved special assessments and capital expenditures, reserves, the current operating budget and balance sheet, judgments and pending litigation, insurance, known restriction violations on the property, transfer fees, and whether the restrictions permit assessment-lien foreclosure. Fees are capped at $375 for the certificate and $75 for an update — caps set by SB 1588 (2021) and made all-inclusive by HB 2504, effective September 1, 2025, which leaves no room for expedite or add-on charges above the statutory maximums. Updates must be delivered within 7 business days and may be requested within 180 days of the original certificate. If the association does not deliver after two requests, the owner may obtain a court order, a judgment of up to $5,000, and attorney’s fees — and an affidavit of noncompliance can terminate the association’s lien for undisclosed amounts. The certificate binds the association: a buyer is generally not liable for amounts it fails to disclose.
What Chapter 207 Is For
A buyer entering a Texas common interest community is acquiring more than a lot; the buyer is stepping into a recorded covenant regime with financial obligations that run with the land. The declaration binds the buyer whether or not the buyer has read it, and the association’s assessment account against the property survives the closing table unless it is disclosed and settled. Chapter 207 exists to make that invisible position visible before the sale closes: the seller can demonstrate what is owed, the buyer and lender can see the association’s financial condition, and the title company can close with a documented account status rather than an assumption.
The certificate is therefore a governance document as much as a transaction document. It forces the association to state, in writing and on a deadline, the same facts sound boards already track continuously — account balances, budget, reserves, litigation, violations. An association that struggles to produce a certificate in ten business days is revealing an operational condition, not a paperwork problem. The statutory floor for what associations must keep and for how long is covered in the CIC-SC guide to Texas records retention, and the certificate’s data sources map directly onto the association’s books.
Who May Request, and What Must Be Delivered
Under § 207.003(a), the request comes in writing from an owner or the owner’s agent, a purchaser of property in the subdivision or the purchaser’s agent, or a title insurance company or its agent. In practice, the title company handling the closing submits most requests. Delivery is due not later than the 10th business day after the request is received.
“Subdivision information” is a package: copies of the association’s dedicatory instruments — the declaration, bylaws, and rules — together with the resale certificate, a written statement issued, signed, and dated by an officer or authorized agent of the association containing the items specified in § 207.003(b). The role each governing document plays in the hierarchy is summarized in the CIC-SC series on governing documents, and the association’s underlying corporate obligations flow from the framework described in Business Organizations Code Chapter 22.
What the Resale Certificate Must Contain
Section 207.003(b) enumerates the required contents. Grouped by function:
The property’s account and condition
- The total of all amounts due and unpaid to the association attributable to the property — the single figure most closings turn on;
- Any conditions on the property that the board has actual knowledge are in violation of the restrictions;
- Notices received from a governmental authority regarding health or housing code violations;
- Any right of first refusal or other restraint in the restrictions on the owner’s right to transfer the property.
The association’s finances
- The frequency and amount of regular assessments;
- The amount and purpose of any special assessment approved before, and due after, the certificate is delivered;
- Capital expenditures approved for the current fiscal year;
- The amount of reserves for capital expenditures;
- The association’s current operating budget and balance sheet.
The association’s legal posture
- Any unsatisfied judgments against the association;
- The style and cause number of any pending lawsuit in which the association is a party;
- A certificate evidencing the association’s property and liability insurance on the common areas;
- A statement of whether the restrictions allow foreclosure of the association’s lien for unpaid assessments — the authority whose mechanics are described in the CIC-SC article on assessment liens and foreclosure under Chapter 209.
Transfer economics
- The amount of any administrative transfer fee charged for a change of ownership;
- A statement of all fees associated with the transfer, including a description of each fee, to whom each is paid, and its amount.
The unpaid-amounts line deserves board-level attention because it is where the certificate meets the collection ledger. A property mid-way through the delinquency sequence — a § 209.0064 notice outstanding, a payment plan running — must be represented accurately, and the sale itself typically resolves the account at closing. The interaction between transfer and collections is part of the broader sequence covered in the Texas assessment delinquency process.
Fees: The $375 / $75 Caps — and the 2025 Tightening
Section 207.003(c) permits the association to charge a reasonable fee for assembling, copying, and delivering the subdivision information, capped at $375, and a fee of not more than $75 for preparing an update of a resale certificate. Both caps date to SB 1588 (87th Legislature, 2021).
The 89th Legislature closed the workaround. HB 2504, effective September 1, 2025, amended § 207.003(c) to make the caps comprehensive: charges for a resale certificate are capped at $375 and updates at $75, and the statute as amended does not provide for expedited-processing charges or other costs in excess of the statutory maximums. Rush fees, convenience fees, and portal surcharges stacked on top of a $375 certificate — a common pre-2025 practice among some service providers — are the practice the amendment addressed. Boards should confirm that their management company’s or resale-document vendor’s current fee schedule conforms; the association is the statutory obligor either way. Fee-schedule review belongs on the association’s annual statutory audit alongside the other items in the CIC-SC Texas compliance checklist.
Updates: 7 Business Days, 180-Day Window
Certificates go stale between issuance and closing — an assessment posts, a violation is cured, a special assessment is approved. Chapter 207 handles this with the update: the party who originally requested the certificate may request an updated certificate within 180 days after the original was issued, and the association must deliver the update not later than the 7th business day after receiving the request, for a fee of not more than $75. Outside the 180-day window, or for a different requestor, the transaction requires a new certificate on the standard terms.
Remedies: What Makes the Deadlines Real
Owner remedies under § 207.004
If the association does not timely deliver the subdivision information, the statute arms the owner rather than leaving the closing hostage. After the owner, the owner’s agent, or the title company has made two written requests in accordance with the chapter, the owner may seek one or any combination of: a court order directing the association to furnish the information; a judgment against the association for not more than $5,000; a judgment for court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees; and a judgment authorizing the owner or the owner’s assignee to deduct the amounts awarded from amounts otherwise owed to the association.
The affidavit — and lien termination
Chapter 207’s sharpest remedy is self-executing. Where two proper written requests have been made — the second sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, or hand delivered — and the association still fails to deliver before the fifth business day after the second request, the owner may furnish the buyer an affidavit reciting the association’s noncompliance. Once the affidavit is given: the buyer, lender, and title company are not liable to the association for money due and unpaid on the date the affidavit was prepared, and the association’s lien securing those amounts automatically terminates. The association’s silence, in other words, is priced: an association that ignores resale requests forfeits its claim to the pre-affidavit balance as against the transaction parties.
Buyer protection under § 207.005
The certificate, once delivered, binds the association to its contents. Under § 207.005, a buyer, buyer’s agent, owner, owner’s agent, lender, and title insurance company and its agent are not liable for any debt or claim existing on the preparation date of the resale certificate that is not disclosed in the certificate, and the association’s lien for such undisclosed amounts terminates. The association retains its position for amounts arising after the preparation date — future assessments and the lien securing them are unaffected. The operational lesson runs straight back to ledger discipline: the certificate is only as accurate as the account it summarizes, and an understated certificate is, in effect, a write-off executed by the preparer. The governance case for getting the underlying process right before disputes arise is the theme of Compliance Before Conflict: Texas.
Board-Level Practice Notes
- Assign the function. The certificate must be issued and signed by an officer or authorized agent. Most associations delegate preparation to the manager or a resale-document vendor by resolution — but delegation does not transfer the statutory obligation, or the consequences of an inaccurate certificate, away from the association.
- Calendar in business days. Both clocks — 10 business days for the certificate, 7 for updates — run in business days from receipt of the written request. Intake should be time-stamped.
- Reconcile before issuing. The unpaid-amounts figure should be pulled from a reconciled ledger, not an aging snapshot, and violations should be confirmed against the current enforcement log.
- Audit the fee schedule against HB 2504. Any charge that takes the total above $375 (or $75 for an update) as of September 1, 2025 warrants counsel review before it is collected.
- Note the condominium distinction. Chapter 207 governs subdivision-style property owners’ associations. Condominium resale certificates are governed by § 82.157 under the Texas Uniform Condominium Act — a related but distinct regime within the framework introduced in the CIC-SC overview of Chapter 82.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can a Texas HOA charge for a resale certificate?
Not more than $375 for assembling and delivering the resale certificate and subdivision information, and not more than $75 for an update. Those caps were set by SB 1588 in 2021, and HB 2504, effective September 1, 2025, tightened Section 207.003(c) so that the caps apply to all charges for the certificate — the statute does not provide for expedite fees or other add-on charges above the statutory maximums.
How quickly must a Texas HOA deliver a resale certificate?
Not later than the 10th business day after the date a written request for subdivision information is received. An update to a previously issued resale certificate must be delivered within 7 business days, and an update may be requested only within 180 days after the original certificate was issued, by the party who originally requested it.
What must a Texas resale certificate disclose?
Section 207.003(b) requires, among other items: regular assessment frequency and amount, approved special assessments, all amounts due and unpaid on the property, approved capital expenditures for the current fiscal year, reserves for capital expenditures, the current operating budget and balance sheet, unsatisfied judgments and pending lawsuits, common-area insurance, known violations on the property, health or housing code notices, transfer fees, whether the restrictions allow assessment-lien foreclosure, and a statement of all transfer-related fees.
What happens if a Texas HOA fails to deliver a resale certificate?
After two written requests, the owner may seek a court order directing the association to furnish the information, a judgment against the association for not more than $5,000, court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, or a combination. If the association also fails to respond within five business days after a second request sent by certified mail or hand delivery, the owner may give the buyer an affidavit of noncompliance, after which the association’s lien for then-existing unpaid amounts terminates.
Is a buyer liable for HOA amounts not listed in the resale certificate?
Generally, no. Under Section 207.005, a buyer, lender, title insurance company, and their agents are not liable for any debt or claim existing on the preparation date of the resale certificate that is not disclosed in it, and the association’s lien for undisclosed amounts existing on that date terminates. The association retains its rights for amounts arising after the certificate was prepared, including future assessments.
Who can request a resale certificate in Texas?
An owner or the owner’s agent, a purchaser of property in the subdivision or the purchaser’s agent, or a title insurance company or its agent may submit the written request under Chapter 207. In practice the request usually comes from the title company handling the closing. The certificate must be issued, signed, and dated by an officer or authorized agent of the property owners’ association.
Related CIC-SC Resources
This article is part of the CIC-SC Texas governance library. The CIC-BOS governance standards treat resale-certificate accuracy as a direct output of ledger discipline and records governance.
Disclaimer. This article is published by the Common Interest Community Standards Council for educational and informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Statutory references and operational frameworks are intended to support informed governance, not to substitute for advice from qualified legal counsel. Board members and managers should consult their association’s attorney about the application of any statute, governing-document provision, or transfer decision to their specific circumstances. CIC-SC, its authors, and its members assume no liability for actions taken in reliance on this content.