Texas Capped the HOA Resale Fee. Mansfield Sellers Still Have a Timing Problem.

Texas lawmakers spent part of the 2025 session cleaning up how much homeowners associations can charge to produce a resale certificate. As of September 1, 2025, the fee is capped statewide at $375, with a $75 ceiling on any update. That is real relief, and it closed a gap that let condo associations charge more than traditional HOAs for the same document. If you sell a home in a Mansfield HOA this fall, the certificate itself should not cost you more than $375.

What the new cap does not touch is the number of certificates a single sale might require. And in a city where the newest, most popular communities are built as master-planned developments with amenity centers, golf courses, and multiple pools, that gap matters more than the fee ever did.

What a resale certificate actually is

If you have not sold a home in an HOA before, the resale certificate is not paperwork you generate yourself. It is a document the association prepares, under Texas Property Code Chapter 207, that discloses the financial and legal condition of the HOA and the property at the moment of sale. That includes current assessment amounts, the association's operating budget, any pending or threatened litigation, and whether the property carries unpaid dues or fines. In Texas, those unpaid amounts follow the house, not the person who owed them, so a buyer's title company will not clear closing until the certificate confirms the account is current.

The association has 10 business days to deliver it once it receives a request and payment. Once the buyer has it in hand, Texas law gives them 7 days to review it and terminate the contract for any reason, without losing their earnest money. That review window is the real clock in this transaction, and it does not start until the certificate arrives.

Cheaper now, same clock

Before September 2025, condo associations in particular could charge more than the $375 that traditional HOAs were already capped at under the older version of Section 207.003. Senate Bill 711 brought condo resale certificates under Section 82.157 in line with that same $375 ceiling and added the $75 cap on updates. The practical effect for a seller: the certificate you order should not run you more than $450 total, even if something changes between the first request and closing.

The fee column got cheaper. The timeline column did not move at all. That is the part sellers tend to miss, because the news coverage of the law change was mostly about the price.

Why Mansfield sellers should read the fine print on their own community

Mansfield's growth over the last decade has been driven by large, amenity-heavy master-planned communities: South Pointe, an 870-acre development with a resort-style pool and integrated parks, M3 Ranch spanning more than 900 acres with its own waterfall lake feature, Somerset with its clubhouse and trail network, and established communities like Walnut Creek built around the golf course of the same name. Mansfield National, anchored by its own golf club, operates under its own registered homeowners association.

Communities built at that scale in Texas commonly govern themselves through more than one layer: a master association that covers the overall subdivision and its shared infrastructure, plus a separate sub-association tied to a specific amenity center, golf course, or section of the development. Each layer can have its own governing documents, its own board, and its own resale certificate requirement. When that structure exists, a single home sale can trigger two resale packages and two separate fees, each capped individually at $375 but not capped in combination.

The new law caps what each association can charge. It does not cap how many associations get to charge you. If your Mansfield home sits inside a master-planned community with a golf course, an amenity center, or a section-specific HOA layered on top of the main one, the honest question to ask before you list is not "how much will the resale certificate cost." It is "how many associations govern this property, and has anyone requested a certificate from all of them."

That question also matters for the buyer's clock. If the certificates arrive on different days, most agents and title companies treat the buyer's 7-day termination window as starting when the last required certificate lands, not the first. A seller who assumes one document means one deadline can watch an option period stretch by a week they did not plan for.

What to do before you list

1. Confirm in writing how many associations have authority over your property. Your HOA's management company or the association's board can tell you directly. If your neighborhood has both a subdivision-wide HOA and a separate amenity or section association, you need both.
2. Order the resale certificate for each association during listing preparation, not after you accept an offer. Nothing in the law requires you to wait for a buyer to make the request, and getting ahead of the 10-business-day delivery window keeps it from colliding with your buyer's option period.
3. Ask your management company directly what they plan to charge. The $375 cap is the ceiling, not a guaranteed price, and getting the number in writing before you list avoids a surprise invoice mid-transaction.
4. Review the certificate yourself before it goes to a buyer. If there is an unresolved fine, a special assessment the board approved but has not yet billed, or a lawsuit involving the association, you want to know about it and address it while you still control the timeline.
5. Ask your agent to build the certificate turnaround into your listing-to-close calendar the same way they account for inspection or appraisal windows. It is a document with a legal deadline attached to it, and it deserves the same scheduling attention.

A seller's cost, mostly

Texas law lets the sales contract determine who pays the resale certificate fee, but the Texas REALTORS professional association notes that the cost customarily falls to the seller unless the contract says otherwise. Sellers in a two-association community should factor that into their net sheet at listing, not at the closing table.

FAQ

Does the $375 cap apply per association or per property? Per association. If your property is governed by two associations, each is capped separately at $375. The law limits what one association can charge, not the combined total across more than one.

What if my HOA quotes me more than $375? Push back in writing and point to the current cap under Texas Property Code Chapter 207 and Section 82.157. Management companies that have not updated their fee schedules since the September 2025 change are still catching up, according to industry sources tracking the rollout, and a written request usually resolves it.

Can I speed up the buyer's 7-day review period? No. The law sets that window from the date the buyer receives the certificate, and it exists to protect the buyer's ability to review the HOA's finances before committing. What you can control is how early the certificate is generated so it is not the last document standing between your contract and closing.

If you are preparing to sell in one of Mansfield's HOA communities and want a clear read on your own timeline before you list, The Henderson Realty Group can walk through your association's structure with you and build the resale certificate into your schedule from day one. Get a Free Home Valuation and let's map out what your specific closing timeline should look like.