Aug. 2, 2012
If you are thinking about selling or purchasing a home in a neighborhood governed by a homeowners association, you should know about some of the fees an HOA can charge you … specifically transfer fees.
Generally speaking, transfer fees are any fees paid upon sale or transfer of a home. Thanks to the efforts of Texas REALTORS®, recent legislation now prohibits most private transfer fees. However, some HOA transfer fees are still allowed.
An HOA can charge a transfer fee if it is a provision within the HOA’s recorded governing document (bylaws or rules) and the fee is only paid to an association or its manager according to the management certificate.
Unlike transfer fees, a resale certificate fee does not need to be in a governing document for an HOA to charge for it, because resale certificate fees are expressly allowed by statute. A resale certificate is a written statement issued by the homeowner’s association that contains the HOA’s rules, assessments, and other information about that specific property.
There is no statutory limit on the amount an HOA charges for a transfer fee.
