Reference, current as of August 2026
Questionnaire, estoppel, or resale certificate
Three documents arrive at a management company during a sale, often in the same week and sometimes in the same email, and they are routinely called by each other's names. They answer three different questions for three different parties, and only one of them is a federal standard.
The short answer
A lender questionnaire describes the whole project, and the buyer's lender relies on it to decide whether the condominium is eligible for financing. A resale certificate describes the association and the unit, and the buyer relies on it, under a state statute that says what it must contain and when it must arrive. An estoppel certificate states what a specific unit owes as of a date, and the closing agent relies on it to settle the ledger, with the association bound by the figure it gave.
Side by side
| Document | The question it answers | Who asks for it | Who relies on it | What sets the rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender questionnaire | Is this project eligible for a conventional loan? | The buyer's lender, or the closing agent on the lender's behalf | The lender, and the agency that buys the loan | Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac requirements. The same in all fifty states |
| Resale certificate | What is the buyer taking on by buying into this association? | The seller, or the title company assembling the package | The buyer, before closing | State statute. Contents, deadline and fee cap vary by state |
| Estoppel certificate | What does this unit owe, as of what date? | The closing agent or the title company | The closing agent, when the settlement statement is prepared | State statute, where one exists. The association is bound by the figure |
The lender questionnaire
About the project, not about the unit. It asks how many owners are behind on assessments, how the budget funds reserves, who owns more than one unit, how much commercial space there is, what the master policy covers, whether the association is in litigation, and what the last inspection found.
There is no statutory deadline and no statutory fee cap, because it is not a creature of state law. It is a condition of the buyer's financing, which is why the pressure on it comes from the closing date rather than from a statute. Since August 3, 2026 it arrives far more often, because Limited Review was retired and a full questionnaire is now needed on conventional condo loans in buildings of eleven or more units.
What it asks for, section by section, is set out on the questionnaire page.
The resale certificate
About the association and the unit, for the buyer. Where a state requires one, the statute usually enumerates what must be in it: the current assessment and how often it is payable, any sums due, the association's budget and financial statement, insurance, restrictions on use or leasing, pending litigation, planned capital expenditure, and copies of the governing documents.
Texas is the clearest example of the shape. Property Code 207.003 covers property owners' associations and section 82.157 covers condominiums, the ceiling on what may be charged is $375 with $75 for an update, and the association has ten business days from a written request. Miss the ten days and no fee may be charged for it at all. The condominium ceiling is the newer of the two: it took effect on September 1, 2025, and before that condominium resale certificates had no dollar cap in Texas.
The point for a management company is that the resale certificate carries a clock and a price ceiling set outside the company, while the questionnaire carries neither.
The estoppel certificate
About money owed on one unit, as of one date, for the closing agent. Once given, the association is generally held to the figure, which is what makes it different in kind from a statement of account: it is relied upon at settlement and it binds.
Florida is where most of the searching happens. Sections 718.116(8) for condominiums and 720.30851 for homeowners' associations set a ten business day deadline from a written or electronic request, with the fee forfeited entirely if it is missed, an effective period of thirty days when delivered electronically or in person and thirty five by mail, no charge for an amended certificate, and a full refund if the sale does not close and the payor asks in writing.
The published Florida fees are not the fees in the statute
The statutory text still prints $250 for preparation, $100 for expedited delivery and $150 where the parcel is delinquent. Those numbers have been superseded since July 1, 2022. The 2017 law directed the department to adjust the amounts by the consumer price index every five years and publish the result rather than rewrite the statute, so the amounts in force are the ones on the department's own fee schedule: $299, $119 and $179, with the multi-parcel aggregate caps moved in step. Anyone quoting the statute alone is quoting figures that are roughly nineteen per cent low, and the schedule is due to be reissued by July 1, 2027.
This is general information and not legal advice or statutory interpretation. Check the current statutory text and the current published schedule before relying on either.
Why the three get mixed up
- They all arrive at the same desk, addressed as the HOA documents, often within days of each other on the same sale.
- Requesters use the words loosely. A closing agent asking for an estoppel sometimes wants a resale package, and a loan processor asking for a resale certificate almost always wants the questionnaire.
- Some states bundle them. A statutory resale package can contain a ledger statement that does the estoppel's job, so in those states the two really are one delivery.
- Only one of the three is national. Two are creatures of a particular state's statute, so an answer that is correct in Florida can be wrong in Texas and absent altogether in a state with no estoppel statute.
The practical way to tell them apart in an inbox is to ask who is relying on the answer. A lender is asking about the project. A buyer is asking about the association. A closing agent is asking about money.
What this desk produces
Completed lender questionnaire packages, in all fifty states, delivered under the management company's own brand in 24 to 48 business hours. Questionnaires are a federal standard, so there is no state-by-state statutory clock to manage and the product is the same everywhere.
Resale certificates and estoppel certificates are not offered yet. They are governed by statute state by state, and each state's rules are encoded and reviewed before anything ships there. Florida and Texas are first in that queue.
Common questions
The questions that arrive most often about which document is which.
What is the difference between an estoppel certificate and a resale certificate?
An estoppel certificate states what a specific unit owes as of a date, for the closing agent, and the association is generally bound by the figure. A resale certificate describes the association and the unit for the buyer before closing, and where a state requires one the statute enumerates its contents. Some states require both, some only one, and some bundle the ledger into the resale package.
Is a condo questionnaire the same as a resale certificate?
No. A condo questionnaire describes the whole project for the buyer's lender, against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac requirements that are the same in every state. A resale certificate describes the association and the unit for the buyer, under state law. A loan processor asking for a resale certificate is usually asking for the questionnaire.
Who pays for each of them?
In practice the transaction does. The questionnaire is ordered by the lender or the closing agent and billed on to the file, resale certificate fees are capped by statute in states that set a cap, and estoppel fees are capped in states that set one and are usually a closing cost. Who bears each cost is a matter for the contract and the state, not for the association's preference.
How long does an association have to produce one?
The questionnaire has no statutory deadline, only the closing date. Texas allows ten business days for a resale certificate and Florida allows ten business days for an estoppel certificate, and in both states missing the deadline means no fee may be charged for that document at all.
Is there a fee cap on a condo questionnaire?
No. Fee caps come from state statutes that govern resale certificates and estoppel certificates. The questionnaire is a condition of the buyer's financing rather than a statutory document, so what may be charged for one is set by the management agreement and by the market.
Does the same person prepare all three?
Usually yes, and that is the source of the confusion. All three land on the community association manager, who signs and delivers them, but each is assembled from different records and judged by a different reader.
If it is the questionnaire that is stuck
That is the one this desk produces. Documents in, a signed-ready package back in 24 to 48 business hours under your own brand, with every arithmetic answer showing its working and every material answer carrying its source. The first package for any new client is free.