The three charges
The resale certificate or estoppel fee pays for the disclosure package the state requires the association to produce before the sale: the balance, the budget, the documents, the rules. Most states cap it. The transfer fee pays for the association's or the manager's work of changing the owner on the record, closing the old account, and opening the new one; it is set by the management agreement or the board. A capital contribution, sometimes called an initiation or working capital fee, is a payment into the reserves or the operating fund that the declaration imposes on every new owner, often one or two months of assessments.
Who pays
Custom and the purchase contract decide, and they vary by region. Sellers usually pay the resale certificate fee because the seller is the one obliged to deliver the disclosure. Transfer fees are split or negotiated. Capital contributions are almost always the buyer's because the declaration imposes them on the new owner. Whatever the contract says, the title company collects at closing and remits to the association.
What the money covers
The resale certificate fee covers assembling the package inside the state's deadline, which is real work when records are on paper and no work when they are on a system. The transfer fee covers the account change and, in a managed community, the manager's time; it is also where management companies earn margin, which is why some states regulate it. The capital contribution is association money and belongs in the fund the declaration names.
The states that regulate it
Most states cap the resale disclosure fee, from no fee allowed to a few hundred dollars, and set the delivery deadline; the fee table lists all 51 jurisdictions. Several states also cap or require disclosure of transfer fees charged by management companies, and a few prohibit private transfer fees that pay a developer or a third party rather than the association. The state's HOA laws page has the sections.
For boards and managers
Publish the fees: the resale certificate fee, the transfer fee, and the capital contribution, in the rules or a fee schedule and on the resale order page, so a title company never has to call. Produce the certificate from the record rather than by hand, inside the deadline, and the fee becomes a small revenue line instead of a weekend.