West Virginia
West Virginia HOA and Condo Resale Certificate: Fees, Deadlines, and How to Order
A resale certificate is the document a title company asks for before a West Virginia closing. West Virginia associations must deliver it within 10 days. West Virginia puts no dollar cap on the fee.
Free for the resale platform. No contract to sign.
West Virginia Resale Certificate
Example Hollow Condominium Association
Regular assessment
$285.00 monthly
Buyer's review period
5 days by statute
Master insurance
Certificate on file
Due to the requester
Within 10 days
West Virginia at a glance
- What West Virginia calls it
- Resale Certificate
- Fee cap
- No fixed dollar cap
- Delivery deadline
- 10 days
- Buyer's right to cancel
- 5 days after receiving it
Also called: HOA resale certificate, condo resale certificate. If you were told to get a West Virginia resale certificate, or a WV 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 West Virginia act sets
West Virginia 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.
W. Va. Code 36B-4-109
Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. Applies to condominiums, HOAs and planned communities, and cooperatives.
- Required by statute
- Yes
- Fee
- No fixed dollar cap
- Deadline
- 10 days from the request
- Buyer may cancel within
- 5 days
W. Va. Code 36A-7-5
Unit Property 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
West Virginia HOA laws on resale documents, in plain words
Each entry links to the official text. Read the statute itself before relying on a summary.
W. Va. Code 36A (Unit Property Act)
Governs condominiums in West Virginia that were created before the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act took effect in 1986, and it remains in force for those existing condominiums. It sets out how a condominium is created through a declaration and plan, how units may be sold, mortgaged, or leased, and how the unit owners association is administered, including assessments, liens, and taxation. It does not impose a comprehensive resale disclosure requirement, though it does give a purchaser the right to a statement of unpaid assessments before a sale closes.
W. Va. Code 36B (Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act)
Governs condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives created in West Virginia on or after the act's 1986 effective date. It is a comprehensive act covering the creation and governance of a common interest community, the powers and duties of the owners association, assessments and liens, financial and membership records, and owner rights. It also requires that a resale certificate disclosing key association and financial information be given to a purchaser before the sale of a unit.
W. Va. Code 36B-4-109 (Resales of units)
Unless a public offering statement is required or the sale is exempt under 4-101(b), a unit owner furnishes the purchaser, before any contract for sale or otherwise before conveyance, the declaration (without plats and plans), the bylaws, the rules, and a certificate with fourteen items: restraints on alienation; the monthly common expense assessment and any unpaid common or special assessment due from the seller; other fees; capital expenditures anticipated for the current and next two fiscal years; reserves and their designated portions; the most recent balance sheet and income and expense statement; the current operating budget; unsatisfied judgments and pending suits in which the association is a defendant; insurance for the benefit of unit owners; whether the executive board knows of alterations violating the declaration; whether it knows of health or building code violations; any leasehold term; any declaration restrictions on what an owner may receive on sale, condemnation, casualty, or termination; and, in a cooperative, any accountant's statement on the deductibility of real estate taxes and interest. The association furnishes the certificate within 10 days after the unit owner's request; no fee is stated. The purchaser is not liable beyond the amounts set forth; the seller is not liable for the association's errors or delay, but the contract is voidable by the purchaser until the certificate is provided and for five days after, or until conveyance. Exempt under 4-101(b): gratuitous, court-ordered, governmental, foreclosure, dealer, and freely cancellable dispositions, and planned communities whose declaration caps the annual assessment at $500 as indexed. Applies to communities created before 1986 as well, for later events (1-204).
W. Va. Code 36A-7-5 (Unpaid assessments at sale of unit)
Under the Unit Property Act, which governs condominiums created before the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act's 1986 effective date, a purchaser is jointly and severally liable with the seller for unpaid assessments charged against the unit at the sale, but a person who has signed a written agreement to purchase may obtain from the treasurer a written statement of the unpaid assessments, and neither the purchaser nor the unit is liable beyond the amount it shows; any excess is reassessed to all owners as a common expense. No fee or deadline is stated. For a resale, 36B-1-204 applies the chapter 36B resale certificate (4-109) and lien statement (3-116) to these condominiums as well.
W. Va. Code 36B-3-116 (Lien for assessments; statement of unpaid assessments)
Gives the association a lien on a unit for assessments from the time they become due, with the Uniform Act's priority and enforcement rules. On written request the association must furnish a unit owner a statement of the unpaid assessments against the unit within 10 business days, in recordable form where the owner's interest is real estate, binding on the association, the executive board, and every unit owner. No fee is stated. Applies to communities created before the chapter's 1986 effective date as well, for later events (1-204).
W. Va. Code 36B-1-203 (Exception for small planned communities)
A planned community of no more than 12 units that is not subject to development rights, or one whose declaration caps the average annual residential common expense liability at $300 as indexed under 1-114, is subject only to sections 1-105, 1-106, and 1-107 unless its declaration adopts the whole chapter; 1-205 gives the same exception to cooperatives and planned communities of 12 or fewer units created before 1986 unless they amend in under 1-206. Such a community has no statutory resale certificate or statement of unpaid assessments and issues under its governing documents.
The notice Havn prints on every West Virginia resale certificate
Every West Virginia document Havn prepares carries a notice that tells the reader where the document comes from and what West Virginia law says about it. This is the wording, act by act.
W. Va. Code 36B-4-109Condominiums, HOAs and planned communities, and cooperatives
Unless the sale requires delivery of a public offering statement, or the disposition is exempt under section 4-101(b), this certificate is furnished by the association under W. Va. Code section 36B-4-109 within ten days after the unit owner's request, for the unit owner to furnish to the purchaser before execution of any contract for sale of the unit, or otherwise before conveyance, together with a copy of the declaration (other than any plats and plans), the bylaws, and the rules or regulations of the association. A purchaser is not liable for any unpaid assessment or fee greater than the amount set forth in this certificate. A unit owner providing this certificate is not liable to the purchaser for any erroneous information provided by the association and included in it, nor for the failure or delay of the association to provide it in a timely manner, but the purchase contract is voidable by the purchaser until the certificate has been provided and for five days thereafter, or until conveyance, whichever first occurs. No certificate is required for a gratuitous disposition, a disposition under court order, by a government or governmental agency, by foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure, to a dealer, one the purchaser may cancel at any time and for any reason without penalty, or a unit in a planned community that meets all of the conditions of section 4-101(b)(7), including a declaration limiting the maximum annual assessment of any unit to not more than $500 as adjusted under section 1-114. The information in this certificate is current as of its issue date.
W. Va. Code 36A-7-5Condominiums
Although this condominium was created under the Unit Property Act (W. Va. Code chapter 36A) before the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act took effect, W. Va. Code section 36B-1-204 applies the resale of units section of that chapter to it for events occurring after that act took effect. Unless the sale requires delivery of a public offering statement, or the disposition is one of those excepted under section 4-109(a), this certificate is therefore furnished by the association under W. Va. Code section 36B-4-109 within ten days after the unit owner's request, for the unit owner to furnish to the purchaser before execution of any contract for sale of the unit, or otherwise before conveyance, together with a copy of the declaration (other than any plats and plans), the bylaws, and the rules or regulations of the association. A purchaser is not liable for any unpaid assessment or fee greater than the amount set forth in this certificate. A unit owner providing this certificate is not liable to the purchaser for any erroneous information provided by the association and included in it, nor for the failure or delay of the association to provide it in a timely manner, but the purchase contract is voidable by the purchaser until the certificate has been provided and for five days thereafter, or until conveyance, whichever first occurs. No certificate is required for a gratuitous disposition, a disposition under court order, by a government or governmental agency, by foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure, to a dealer, or one the purchaser may cancel at any time and for any reason without penalty, these being the exemptions referred to in section 4-109(a). The information in this certificate is current as of its issue date. A person who has entered into a written agreement to purchase the unit is also entitled under W. Va. Code section 36A-7-5 to a written statement from the treasurer setting forth the unpaid assessments charged against the unit and its owners, and if that statement does not reveal the full amount of unpaid assessments as of the date it is rendered, neither the purchaser nor the unit is liable for more than the amount shown, although any such excess that cannot be promptly collected from the former unit owner may be reassessed by the council as a common expense collected from all unit owners, including the purchaser.
West Virginia's payoff statement
On written request, the association must furnish a unit owner a statement setting forth the amount of unpaid assessments against the unit, in recordable form if the unit owner's interest is real estate, within ten business days after receipt of the request; the statement is binding on the association, the executive board, and every unit owner (W. Va. Code 36B-3-116(g)). Section 36B-1-204 applies 36B-3-116 to common interest communities created before July 1, 1986. Subsection (g) states no fee. In a Unit Property Act condominium, W. Va. Code 36A-7-5 also entitles a person who has agreed in writing to purchase a unit to the treasurer's statement of unpaid assessments; neither the purchaser nor the unit is liable above the amount shown, and any excess not collected from the former owner may be reassessed as a common expense.
About Demand LettersWest Virginia resale certificate: common questions
What is a West Virginia resale certificate?
It is what West Virginia law has the association provide when a home in condominiums, HOAs and planned communities, and cooperatives and condominiums is sold: a statement of what the home owes and of the association's finances, insurance, and rules, under W. Va. Code 36B-4-109 and W. Va. Code 36A-7-5.
How much does a West Virginia resale certificate cost?
West Virginia sets no dollar cap, so the association or its management company sets the fee.
How long does a West Virginia association have to provide a resale certificate?
10 days, counted from the request.
Is a resale certificate required in West Virginia?
Yes, for condominiums, HOAs and planned communities, and cooperatives and condominiums, under W. Va. Code 36B-4-109 and W. Va. Code 36A-7-5.
Can a buyer cancel after receiving a West Virginia resale certificate?
Yes. The buyer has 5 days after receiving it to cancel the purchase contract.
Who pays for the resale certificate in West Virginia?
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 a West Virginia 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 W. Va. Code 36B-4-109.
How do I get a resale certificate in West Virginia?
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 West Virginia association has 10 days. A buyer should ask the seller or the closing agent to order it.
Is this the same as a West Virginia 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 West Virginia compares with its neighbors
Management companies that work across state lines meet a different rule on each side. West Virginia: no fixed dollar cap, 10 days.
Virginia
Resale Certificate
$176.64
14 days
Required by statute
Pennsylvania
Resale Certificate
No fixed dollar cap
10 days
Required by statute
Ohio
Resale Certificate
No fixed dollar cap
No statutory deadline
Not required by statute
Kentucky
Resale Certificate
No fixed dollar cap
10 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 West Virginia resale certificate could write itself.
The resale platform is free for the association. The requester pays for the document. No contract to sign.