Texas guide
Texas condo resale certificate review
Texas gives condo resale buyers a real, if narrow, set of statutory protections — and they hinge on the resale certificate. Under Tex.
Risk Intelligence
Review the documents before your contingency ends
Expert Matching
Need a real estate lawyer or mortgage specialist?
Prop. Code §82.157, a selling unit owner (other than a declarant) must furnish the buyer a current copy of the declaration, bylaws, rules, and a resale certificate prepared no earlier than three months before delivery. The certificate is a disclosure mandate, not a clean bill of health: a complete package can still reveal an approved capital expenditure with no reserves behind it. And because Texas mandates no reserve study and no structural inspection, the resale certificate plus the minutes are often the only formal window into a building's true condition.
What §82.157 requires the seller to provide
For a resale (non-declarant) sale, the seller must furnish the declaration, bylaws, association rules, and a resale certificate that is current — prepared no earlier than three months before delivery. On the seller's written request, the association must furnish the certificate within 10 days. The certificate must disclose the periodic assessment amount, any unpaid assessments or other amounts owed on the unit, capital expenditures approved for the next 12 months, the amount of reserves for capital expenditures (if any), any unsatisfied judgments against the association, the nature of any pending suits, and the insurance coverage provided for owners. A stale or missing certificate is both a red flag and a trigger for your cancellation right.
The 6-day right to cancel (§82.156)
Texas does give condo resale buyers a statutory cancellation right — a meaningful difference from many states. If the purchaser has not received the resale certificate before signing the contract, the buyer may cancel before the 6th day after receiving the certificate (or before executing a written waiver, whichever is first). Buyer and seller may waive the certificate requirement by written agreement if the owner furnishes an affidavit. Calendar the deadline from the date you actually received the certificate, not the contract date.
New (declarant) sales: the Condominium Information Statement
In a declarant (developer) sale, the buyer must instead receive a Condominium Information Statement (CIS) under §§82.152–82.153 before the contract or conveyance. If the CIS was not delivered — or the contract lacks the required bold/underlined receipt acknowledgment — the purchaser may cancel before the 6th day after receiving the CIS. The declarant must promptly amend the CIS for material or substantial changes. Confirm which document you are owed, because a newly built or recently converted Texas condo runs on the CIS, not the §82.157 resale certificate.
HOA resales are less protected
If the community is a subdivision homeowners' association under Chapter 209 rather than a condominium, the protections are thinner. Chapter 209 does not impose a §82.157-style statutory resale certificate, and there is no Chapter 209 statutory rescission right comparable to the condo §82.156 window. HOA resale disclosures flow from the Subdivision Information / resale certificate (Tex. Prop. Code Ch. 207) and the declaration, often via TREC contract addenda. For an HOA purchase, front-load diligence into the contract with an explicit document-review contingency rather than relying on a statutory cancel right.
Texas legal references
- Tex. Prop. Code §82.157 — Resale of unit; resale certificate contents, 3-month currency, 10-day furnishing
- Tex. Prop. Code §82.156 — Purchaser's right to cancel (6 days)
- Tex. Prop. Code §§82.152–82.153 — Condominium Information Statement (declarant sales)
Informational only. Not legal advice. Always confirm against current statute and counsel.
Need help applying these Texas statutes to your specific situation? We can connect you with state-licensed counsel and specialists familiar with this exact regulatory environment.
Find a Texas specialist →Reviewer's checklist
- Confirm the seller delivered the declaration, bylaws, rules, and a resale certificate dated within the last 3 months
- Verify the association furnished the certificate within the 10-day statutory window
- Read the certificate's approved-capital-expenditure (next 12 months) line — it is the best legal proxy for a coming special assessment
- Check the reserves-for-capital-expenditures field; a near-zero figure is legal in Texas but signals assessment risk
- Read the 'nature of any pending suits' and 'unsatisfied judgments' lines and investigate further
- If you did not receive the certificate before signing, calendar the §82.156 6-day cancellation deadline from the date you received it
- In a new/developer sale, confirm you received the Condominium Information Statement (§82.153) instead
- If it is an HOA (Ch. 209), build a document-review contingency into the contract — there is no statutory rescission right
Want this same review on your actual documents? We do it free, with page citations you can verify.
Get My Free Risk Report →Source documents
- Declaration & bylawsthe rules
- Budget & financialsthe money
- Reserve studythe big repairs
- Meeting minuteswhat the board fears
Cross-reference
The risk lives in the contradiction between documents.
An assessment in the minutes but not the estoppel; a reserve the budget never funds.
Risk report
Severity-graded across 8 categories.
Every finding cites the document, page number, and quoted text.
How CondoSignal reviews this
We read the reserve study, operating budget, and 24 months of meeting minutes together — texas condo resale certificate review risk usually lives in the contradiction between documents, not in any single one of them. Every finding cites the source document, the page number, and the quoted text behind it.
See our 8-category framework →Risk Intelligence
Review the documents before your contingency ends
Most buyers get 7–14 days to review condo documents. Upload the packet — we read the reserve study, budget, minutes, and insurance summary and flag the risks, every finding linked to the exact page. Free.
Expert Matching
Need a real estate lawyer or mortgage specialist?
We can connect you with vetted real estate lawyers, mortgage brokers, and insurance brokers familiar with the specifics of condo and HOA transactions.
- HOA lawyer
Related risk areas
Read these next to round out your due diligence
Condo document review
A condo document review is the structured analysis of every disclosure document your seller or association has provided — declaration, bylaws, rules, reserve study, budgets, financials, meeting minutes, insurance summary, estoppel or resale certificate, and any pending special assessment notices.
Estoppel Certificate Review
In Florida, an estoppel certificate is the legally binding document that fixes, at a specific moment in time, everything a buyer and a closing agent need to know about a unit's financial standing with its condominium association.
Special assessments
Special assessments are the single largest source of financial surprise in condo and HOA ownership.
Related reading
Guides for Texas buyers and owners
Texas HOA Resale Certificate: What to Verify Before Closing
Section 207.003 of the Texas Property Code defines what a resale certificate must contain. Review this checklist of what to verify — and what the certificate legally omits — before you close.
Should I Buy a Condo With Incomplete Resale Documents?
Incomplete resale documents are a red flag of their own near your deadline. Learn what's usually missing and get a free document review.
What to Look for in Condo Documents: A Buyer's Complete Guide
A resale package contains roughly a dozen documents. Learn what each one discloses, what most buyers overlook, and which sections to read closely before you close.
The Complete Texas Condo and HOA Guide (2026)
Texas Property Code Chapters 82 and 209, the 2023–2025 legislative wave, voluntary reserves, coastal insurance exposure, and what every buyer must verify before closing.
Already own in Texas?
Owner guides for the notice you just got
Already dealing with a specific Texas situation? Start here instead of the buyer flow:
Reviewed by Kirk Hasley, Founder. Every claim here is checked against current Texas statute and primary sources, using the same documented review framework we run on every file. Last reviewed June 13, 2026.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Risk Intelligence
Review the documents before your contingency ends
Most buyers get 7–14 days to review condo documents. Upload the packet — we read the reserve study, budget, minutes, and insurance summary and flag the risks, every finding linked to the exact page. Free.
Expert Matching
Need a real estate lawyer or mortgage specialist?
We can connect you with vetted real estate lawyers, mortgage brokers, and insurance brokers familiar with the specifics of condo and HOA transactions.
- HOA lawyer