Wisconsin
Wisconsin Condo Disclosure Materials: Fees, Deadlines, and How to Order
Disclosure Materials are what a title company asks for before a Wisconsin closing. Wisconsin associations must deliver them within 10 days. The fee is capped at $50.
Free for the resale platform. No contract to sign.
Wisconsin Disclosure Materials
Example Lakes Condominium Association
Regular assessment
$265.00 monthly
Buyer's review period
5 days by statute
Fee for this document
$50, the Wisconsin cap
Due to the requester
Within 10 days
Wisconsin at a glance
- What Wisconsin calls it
- Disclosure Materials
- Fee cap
- $50
- Delivery deadline
- 10 days
- Buyer's right to cancel
- 5 days after receiving them
Also called: resale certificate, HOA resale certificate. If you were told to get a Wisconsin resale certificate, or a WI 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 Wisconsin law sets
One set of rules covers Wisconsin. Havn applies it to every order in the state.
Wis. Stat. 703.33
Condominium Ownership Act. Applies to condominiums.
- Required by statute
- Yes
- Fee
- $50
- Deadline
- 10 days from the request
- Buyer may cancel within
- 5 days
Wisconsin condo laws on resale documents, in plain words
Each entry links to the official text. Read the statute itself before relying on a summary.
Wis. Stat. 703 (Condominium Ownership Act)
Wis. Stat. Chapter 703 governs the creation, governance, and operation of condominiums in Wisconsin, applying to all condominium properties in the state regardless of when they were formed. It covers declarations, unit owner associations and bylaws, budgets and assessments, liens for unpaid common expenses, association records, and the disclosures a seller must give a buyer on resale of a unit. Wisconsin has no comparable statutory act for non-condominium homeowners associations, planned communities, or housing cooperatives; those instead operate under recorded covenants and general nonstock corporation or cooperative association law.
Wis. Stat. 703.33 (Disclosure requirements)
Requires the seller of a condominium unit to a member of the public to furnish the purchaser, no later than 15 days before closing, the disclosure materials: the declaration, bylaws, and rules; the articles of incorporation; management, employment, and other contracts; the projected annual operating budget with the purchaser's estimated monthly payments; leases the unit owners or association are party to; the declarant's expansion plans; the unit's floor plan and a map of the condominium; and an executive summary of sixteen items in plain language. The materials take a form the statute prescribes: a cover sheet titled Disclosure Materials with the condominium's name and location, the seller's name and address, and three capitalized statements (the legal-documents warning, the reliance statement, and the five-business-day cancellation right), an index in the statute's words, the executive summary immediately after the index, tables of contents for the declaration and bylaws, and lettered sections paginated with the section shown. The association furnishes the information within 10 days of a non-declarant seller's written request for the actual cost or $50, whichever is less (more only under 703.205), plus the actual cost or $15 for amendments. The purchaser may rescind within 5 business days after receiving all the documents or any material amendment, may request missing documents when the set is incomplete, cannot waive the right, and loses it at closing. A seller who makes an untrue statement of material fact is liable to the purchaser. Units primarily for nonresidential use are exempt, and the materials may be delivered electronically.
Wis. Stat. 703.335 (Payoff statement for assessments)
Requires the association, on request from a unit owner or an authorized representative, to provide a written statement of all amounts the owner owes the association as of a specified date, serving as the payoff statement used in a sale or refinance. The statute sets a deadline for the association to respond and caps the fee it may charge for the statement, with at least one statement available at no charge within a given period.
Wis. Stat. 703.165 (Lien for unpaid common expenses)
Makes assessments, interest, and collection costs a lien on the unit when a statement of condominium lien is filed within two years, with priority behind taxes and a prior first mortgage. Entitles any grantee of a unit to a statement from the association of the unpaid assessments against the grantor: the grantee is not liable, and the unit is not subject to an unfiled lien, beyond the amount stated, and an association that does not provide the statement within 10 business days of the grantee's request is barred from claiming an unfiled lien against the grantee. Also prescribes the form of the statement of condominium lien.
Wis. Stat. 703.205 (Establishing fee amounts)
Lets an association charge more than the $50 limit for furnishing disclosure information under 703.33, or a fee for the first payoff statement in a two-month period under 703.335, only by adopting a written resolution at a meeting noticed to unit owners at least 48 hours ahead and giving owners written notice of the fee within 48 hours after adoption. A management contract that lets the manager begin charging or increase such a fee takes the same procedure.
Wis. Stat. 703.365 (Small condominiums)
Optional simplified rules a declaration may adopt for a condominium of 12 units or fewer. For such a condominium the disclosure required on a sale under 703.33 is limited to the declaration, bylaws, rules, articles, contracts, budget, and leases described in 703.33(1)(a) to (e), plus a copy of the condominium plat; the executive summary and expansion and floor plan items do not apply.
The notice Havn prints on Wisconsin disclosure materials
Every Wisconsin document Havn prepares carries a notice that tells the reader where the document comes from and what Wisconsin law says about it. This is the wording, act by act.
Wis. Stat. 703.33Condominiums
These disclosure materials are furnished under Wis. Stat. 703.33. The seller must furnish them to the purchaser not later than 15 days before closing. On the written request of a seller other than the declarant, the association furnishes the information necessary for the seller to comply within 10 days, for the actual cost of furnishing it or $50, whichever is less, unless the association has established a higher fee by written resolution under Wis. Stat. 703.205, and for the actual cost or $15, whichever is less, for information furnished with an amendment. With the exception of the executive summary, these materials may be relied upon as correct and binding. For a complete understanding of the executive summary, consult the disclosure documents to which a particular summary statement pertains. Oral statements may not be legally binding. The purchaser may, within 5 business days after receiving all of the documents required under s. 703.33(1), or after notice of any material change in those documents, cancel the contract of sale in writing without stating a reason and receive a full refund of any deposits. If the seller delivers less than all of the required documents together with a cover sheet and index, the purchaser has 5 business days to deliver a written request for the missing documents, and may then cancel within 5 business days after the earlier of receiving the requested documents or the seller's deadline to deliver them; a purchaser who does not make that written request, or who cannot because the seller did not provide both a cover sheet and index, may cancel within 5 business days after receiving the incomplete materials (s. 703.33(4)(b)1.). After delivery, material furnished under s. 703.33(1) may not be changed or amended in a way that materially affects the purchaser's rights without the purchaser's approval (s. 703.33(3m)). These cancellation rights may not be waived in the contract of sale and end at closing. A seller who makes an untrue statement of material fact, or omits a material fact necessary to make the statements made not misleading, is liable to the purchaser under s. 703.33(5), and an action must be brought within one year after the purchaser discovers or reasonably should have discovered the untrue statement or omission. The executive summary states the date on which it was prepared or revised (s. 703.33(1)(h)).
Wisconsin's payoff statement
On a request by a unit owner, or by a person the owner authorizes, the association must furnish a written payoff statement of all unpaid assessments and other monetary obligations, as of a date the request names up to 30 days out, within 10 business days after the request is submitted (Wis. Stat. 703.335(2), (3)). The first statement requested in any 2-month period is free unless the association has established a fee for it under s. 703.205, and each additional statement in that period may cost no more than $25 (703.335(4)). An association that misses the deadline is liable to the unit owner for actual damages or $350, whichever is less (703.335(5)); that is damages, not a fee refund. An association that does not furnish a grantee's statement within 10 business days after the grantee's request is barred from claiming under any lien that was not filed under s. 703.165(3) before the request (703.165(4)).
About Demand LettersDocuments Wisconsin adds to the package
Beyond the governing documents, budget, and financial statements every state expects, Wisconsin adds these. Havn attaches each one as its own exhibit.
- Management, employment, and other contracts affecting the condominium (Wis. Stat. 703.33(1)(c))
- Condominium plat with the unit's floor plan and map (Wis. Stat. 703.33(1)(g))
Wisconsin disclosure materials: common questions
What are Wisconsin disclosure materials?
It is what Wisconsin law has the association provide when a home in condominiums is sold: a statement of what the home owes and of the association's finances, insurance, and rules, under Wis. Stat. 703.33.
How much do Wisconsin disclosure materials cost?
Wisconsin caps the fee at $50. Inside the cap, the association or its management company sets the price.
How long does a Wisconsin association have to provide disclosure materials?
10 days, counted from the request.
Are disclosure materials required in Wisconsin?
Yes, for condominiums, under Wis. Stat. 703.33.
Can a buyer cancel after receiving Wisconsin disclosure materials?
Yes. The buyer has 5 days after receiving them to cancel the purchase contract.
Who pays for disclosure materials in Wisconsin?
Whoever orders them 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 Wisconsin disclosure materials?
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. Wisconsin adds 2 more items, listed on this page. The full list is in Wis. Stat. 703.33.
How do I get Wisconsin disclosure materials?
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 Wisconsin association has 10 days. A buyer should ask the seller or the closing agent to order it.
Is this the same as a Wisconsin 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 condo document used when a home is sold.
How Wisconsin compares with its neighbors
Management companies that work across state lines meet a different rule on each side. Wisconsin: $50, 10 days.
Illinois
22.1 Disclosure
$375
10 business days
Required by statute
Minnesota
Resale Disclosure Certificate
No fixed dollar cap
10 days
Required by statute
Michigan
Resale Package
No fixed dollar cap
No statutory deadline
Not 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 Wisconsin disclosure materials could assemble themselves.
The resale platform is free for the association. The requester pays for the document, never more than Wisconsin's $50 cap. No contract to sign.