Alabama
Alabama HOA and Condo Resale Certificate: Fees, Deadlines, and How to Order
A resale certificate is the document a title company asks for before an Alabama closing. Alabama associations must deliver it within 10 days or 30 days, depending on the governing act. Alabama puts no dollar cap on the fee.
Free for the resale platform. No contract to sign.
Alabama Resale Certificate
Example Shores Condominium Association
Regular assessment
$365.00 monthly
Buyer's review period
5 days by statute
Master insurance
Certificate on file
Due to the requester
Within 10 days
Alabama at a glance
- What Alabama calls it
- Resale Certificate
- Fee cap
- No fixed dollar cap
- Delivery deadline
- 10 days or 30 days, depending on the governing act
- Buyer's right to cancel
- 5 days after receiving it
Also called: HOA resale certificate, condo resale certificate. If you were told to get an Alabama resale certificate, or an AL resale certificate as closing agents write it, for a home in an HOA or a condominium, this is that document. It has nothing to do with the sales tax resale certificate a retailer files with the state.
What each Alabama act sets
Alabama has 2 sets of rules, and which one applies depends on how the community was created. Havn asks once which act governs a community, then applies that act's limits to every order.
Ala. Code 35-8A-409
Uniform Condominium Act. Applies to condominiums.
- Required by statute
- Yes
- Fee
- No fixed dollar cap
- Deadline
- 10 days from the request
- Buyer may cancel within
- 5 days
Ala. Code 35-20-13
Homeowners' Association Act. Applies to HOAs and planned communities.
- Required by statute
- Yes
- Fee
- No fixed dollar cap
- Deadline
- 30 days from the request
Alabama HOA laws on resale documents, in plain words
Each entry links to the official text. Read the statute itself before relying on a summary.
Ala. Code 35-8 (Condominium Ownership Act)
Governs condominiums created in Alabama before January 1, 1991, unless the association has voted to opt into the newer Alabama Uniform Condominium Act. It covers formation of the condominium, unit ownership and common elements, association duties, and assessment liens, but it has no resale certificate, resale disclosure, or payoff and estoppel statement provisions. Any resale package or fee for producing one is set by the condominium's own declaration and bylaws rather than by statute.
Ala. Code 35-8A (Uniform Condominium Act)
Governs condominiums created in Alabama on or after January 1, 1991, and any older condominium that elects to be covered. It addresses creation and management of the condominium, the unit owners' association, assessments and liens, records, and protections for purchasers, including a resale certificate requirement and an assessment payoff statement available to owners, purchasers, and lenders.
Ala. Code 35-20 (Homeowners' Association Act)
Governs homeowners' associations for residential planned communities (not condominiums) whose declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 2016, or that have elected to be covered. It addresses organization and filing of the association, assessments and liens, and the records the association must keep and make available to members and prospective purchasers. It has no dedicated resale certificate statute; the purchaser's right is to request specified association records, and any fee is a general reasonable-cost standard rather than a statutory cap.
Ala. Code 35-8A-409 (Resale certificate)
On a purchaser's written request, requires the selling unit owner to deliver the declaration, bylaws, rules, and an association-prepared resale certificate covering assessments, finances, and other disclosures before the sale closes, with the association furnishing the certificate to the owner on request. The statute sets a delivery deadline, limits the purchaser's post-closing liability to what the certificate discloses, and lets the purchaser cancel if the certificate is not timely provided.
Ala. Code 35-8A-316(h) (Assessment payoff statement)
Entitles a unit owner, mortgagee, contract purchaser, or prospective lender to request a statement from the association showing assessments owed on a unit, including any past-due amounts. The statute sets a deadline for the association to respond, caps the fee it may charge for the statement, and releases the association's lien on the unit if the deadline is missed, though the underlying debt survives.
Ala. Code 35-20-13 (Association records and purchaser disclosure)
Requires a homeowners' association to maintain records, including assessment and dues amounts, budget and reserve information, insurance, loans, and pending disputes, and to provide or direct a member or potential purchaser to them on written request within a set time and for a reasonable cost. This is the Act's functional substitute for a resale certificate in planned communities, though it does not set a specific statutory fee cap.
The notice Havn prints on every Alabama resale certificate
Every Alabama document Havn prepares carries a notice that tells the reader where the document comes from and what Alabama law says about it. This is the wording, act by act.
Ala. Code 35-8A-409Condominiums
This resale certificate is furnished under Ala. Code 35-8A-409, which applies to every Alabama condominium, including condominiums created before January 1, 1991 (Ala. Code 35-8A-102). A purchaser who receives this certificate is not liable after closing for any unpaid assessments or fees against the unit greater than the amounts stated in it. The association must furnish this certificate within 10 days after the unit owner requests it, and the unit owner must deliver it to the purchaser, together with the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations, before the conveyance and within 15 days after the purchaser's written request. If the purchaser made that written request within 14 days after signing the purchase contract, the purchaser may cancel the contract at any time until this information has been provided and for five days after that, or until the conveyance, whichever comes first. The unit owner is not liable to the purchaser for any delay by the association in providing this certificate or for erroneous information the association supplied in it. The information in this certificate is current as of its issue date.
Ala. Code 35-20-13HOAs and planned communities
For an association subject to Ala. Code Chapter 20 (a declaration recorded on or after January 1, 2016, or an association that elected to be governed by the chapter), Ala. Code 35-20-13 requires the association to make the records and information listed in that section available to a member or potential purchaser on written request, within a reasonable time not to exceed 30 days from the date of the request and on payment of reasonable associated costs. Alabama's Homeowners' Association Act does not limit a purchaser's liability for assessments by reference to this document and does not give the purchaser a right to cancel the purchase contract because of it; any review period is set by the purchase contract. The amounts stated are the association's statement of the account for the lot as of the issue date. The information in this document is current as of its issue date.
Alabama resale certificate: common questions
What is an Alabama resale certificate?
It is what Alabama law has the association provide when a home in condominiums and HOAs and planned communities is sold: a statement of what the home owes and of the association's finances, insurance, and rules, under Ala. Code 35-8A-409 and Ala. Code 35-20-13.
How much does an Alabama resale certificate cost?
Alabama sets no dollar cap, so the association or its management company sets the fee.
How long does an Alabama association have to provide a resale certificate?
10 days or 30 days, depending on the governing act, counted from the request.
Is a resale certificate required in Alabama?
Yes, for condominiums and HOAs and planned communities, under Ala. Code 35-8A-409 and Ala. Code 35-20-13.
Can a buyer cancel after receiving an Alabama resale certificate?
Yes. The buyer has 5 days after receiving it to cancel the purchase contract.
Who pays for the resale certificate in Alabama?
Whoever orders it pays the association's fee, usually the seller or the closing agent on the seller's behalf, and the purchase contract can move the cost to the buyer.
What is included in an Alabama resale certificate?
What the home owes the association, the fees due at closing, the budget and reserves, the insurance the association carries, pending lawsuits, and the governing documents. The full list is in Ala. Code 35-8A-409.
How do I get a resale certificate in Alabama?
Ask the association, or its management company if it has one. Many take the request through an online order page and deliver by email. Once asked, a Alabama association has 10 days or 30 days, depending on the governing act. A buyer should ask the seller or the closing agent to order it.
Is this the same as an Alabama sales tax resale certificate?
No. A sales tax resale certificate is a form a retailer gives a supplier so it can buy goods without paying sales tax. It shares a name and nothing else. This page is about the HOA document used when a home is sold.
How Alabama compares with its neighbors
Management companies that work across state lines meet a different rule on each side. Alabama: no fixed dollar cap, 10 days or 30 days, depending on the governing act.
Florida
Estoppel Certificate
$299
10 business days
Required by statute
Georgia
Resale Package
No fixed dollar cap
5 business days
Not required by statute
Mississippi
Resale Package
No fixed dollar cap
No statutory deadline
Not required by statute
Tennessee
Resale Disclosure
No fixed dollar cap
10 business days
Required by statute
See all 51 jurisdictions on the map, compare every state in the fee and deadline table, or read about lender questionnaires, estoppel letters, and demand letters.
Your next Alabama resale certificate could write itself.
The resale platform is free for the association. The requester pays for the document. No contract to sign.