Starting January 1, 2012 there are going to be some changes in the law governing HOA resale certificates. A homebuyer purchasing a property in a subdivision will have the ability to request a resale certificate directly from a homeowners association. Under the new law, the association may require the buyer to show a valid contract for the property. Also, the HOA may require payment before beginning work on the resale certificate; however, the association is prohibited from processing the payment until the resale certificate is prepared and may not charge a fee at all if the certificate is not provided in a timely manner.
For contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2012 the buyers will be required to pay the fee for the resale certificate unless the buyer and seller have negotiated otherwise. Currently, the TREC addendum that Realtors use provides options for delivery of the resale certificate and states the seller will pay for it. That addendum is still current, but is likely to be amended next year to reflect the change in law. The law still allows sellers, seller’s agents, and title and insurance companies to order updates to already issued resale certificates. But under the new law, a resale certificate is only good for 60 days. For any resale certificate older than that, a new one will have to be issued.
