What a Resale Certificate Tells You About a Montebello Condo Association

The Texas State Law Library's guide says condominium associations are governed by the Texas Uniform Condominium Act, Chapter 82 of the Texas Property Code. It adds that associations established before 1994 may be governed by the older Texas Condominium Act, Chapter 81. Montebello was designed by Ziegler Cooper Architects, developed by Interfin and built in 2003.

The chapter matters because the condominium certificate rules sit in Chapter 82, in Section 82.157. A building completed in 2003 falls after the 1994 line the guide draws. The recorded declaration for the condominium is still the document to check. Ask the title company or your own lawyer to confirm the governing chapter from it before your option period ends. A full-service agent puts that question to the title company early, so the answer is in the file before anyone relies on a Chapter 82 deadline.

The Texas State Law Library's guide says preparing these records can cost up to $375. Section 82.157 of the Texas Property Code lets the association charge a reasonable and necessary fee for the certificate, capped at $375. Under the Texas Real Estate Commission's condominium resale contract, form 30-17, the certificate is prepared at the seller's expense.

That section is in force as amended from 1 September 2025. The preparation fee is one charge, and the fees payable to the association on a transfer of ownership are another. The certificate lists each transfer fee with a description, who receives it and the amount. Read both kinds of fee before the closing statement arrives, so every association charge on that statement traces back to a line on the certificate. A full-service agent checks the two documents against each other and raises any mismatch with the selling owner's agent in writing.

The Texas Real Estate Commission says the updated Condominium Resale Certificate, TREC No. 32-5, is a voluntary-use form. The condominium resale contract, form 30-17, sets its own test instead. The certificate must be on a form TREC promulgated or one the parties require, and it must carry at least the information Section 82.157 of the Texas Property Code requires.

So the question for a Montebello buyer is coverage rather than layout. If the association uses a document of its own, set it beside the items Section 82.157 lists and confirm each one appears. A missing item is a written question for the association while the contract still allows a decision. The Texas Real Estate Commission adopted the updated certificate on the Broker-Lawyer Committee's recommendation, and the changes took effect January 3, 2025. Ask which version the association completed, and read its preparation date beside the form number.

Under Section 82.157, a purchaser, lender or title insurer relying on a resale certificate is not liable for any debt or claim it does not disclose. That section is part of the Texas Property Code. The same section says the association may not deny the validity of any statement in the certificate. Reliance is the condition, so keep the signed copy you actually read.

That protection is the reason to read every line rather than initial each page. Keep the copy the association signed and dated, along with the date it reached you. If a figure on it looks wrong, ask the association in writing and file the dated answer beside the certificate. The same section says failure to provide a certificate does not void a deed to a purchaser, so the protection comes from holding the document. A full-service agent makes sure the copy in the file is the association's own signed certificate.

Except as Subsection (c) of Section 82.157 provides, a selling owner other than a declarant must furnish a certificate prepared not earlier than three months before it reaches the purchaser. The association has until the tenth day after receiving a written request by a unit owner to furnish it to that owner or the owner's agent.

Both clocks start from a document, so the dates decide them. The three months count back from delivery to you, and the ten days count forward from the association's receipt of the owner's written request. Ask when that request went in, and keep a copy of it. If the association misses its period, the statute lets the owner give a sworn affidavit instead, and owner and purchaser may then agree in writing to waive the requirement. Under Section 82.156, a purchaser buying from a unit owner other than a declarant who signs before receiving a certificate may cancel, counted from receipt or a waiver, whichever comes first. The statute writes a sixth day in one subsection and a five-day period in another, so put the exact deadline to your own lawyer.

No. Section 82.112 of the Texas Property Code requires assessments to be made at least annually, on a budget the association adopts at least annually. The certificate states the current periodic assessment and arrives with the current operating budget, so it shows this year's figures. Next year's number rests on a budget the board has not yet adopted.

Two statutory points can move the figure between budgets. If common expense liabilities are reallocated, assessments and any installment not yet due are recomputed. A past due assessment or installment may carry interest at a lawful rate the association sets. For a forward view, read the minutes of recent board meetings beside the capital spending the board has approved. Neither one predicts the budget, but both show work already approved or under discussion. Record today's assessment as dollars per square foot per month, so a later change is easy to measure against it.

No. Under Section 82.112 of the Texas Property Code, a declaration may allow reserves to accumulate for an unspecified period, for any anticipated expense of the condominium. Chapter 82 sets no reserve study requirement and no funding level. The certificate reports reserves for capital expenditures, if any, so the yardstick comes from the building's own documents.

That leaves the judgment with the buyer and the advisers reading for the buyer. Ask whether the association has a reserve study, and request it with the budget if one exists. Set the reserve balance against what the building has replaced since it opened in 2003, and against the work still to come. Ask for the assessment history too, since past special assessments show how the board has paid for large work before. A full-service agent puts those requests to the association in one dated message, early in the option period.