How much can a Florida condo or HOA charge for an estoppel certificate?

The association's signed statement of what is owed on a unit or parcel on the day it is issued. A closing needs one so the statement pays the association what it is owed and the buyer does not take the property with a balance on it.

The statutes set out what it must say (Fla. Stat. § 718.116(8)(a) for condominiums; § 720.30851(1) for homeowners' associations), including:

• the regular assessment, what it has been paid through, and when the next installment is due;
• an itemized list of everything owed on the date of issuance, and of what falls due during the certificate's effective period;
• whether a capital contribution, resale, transfer or other fee is due;
• any open violation noticed to the owner;
• whether the board must approve the transfer, and whether it has, and any right of first refusal;
• the other associations the property belongs to, and the association's insurance contacts.

What makes it worth paying for is that the association is held to it. It "waives the right to collect any moneys owed in excess of the amounts specified in the estoppel certificate" from anyone who relies on it in good faith, and from that person's successors and assigns (§ 718.116(8)(c); § 720.30851(3)).

Not more than $299 when nothing is delinquent on the day the certificate is issued, with two additions:

So a certificate for one unit costs at most $597: the $299, the $119 expedited fee and the $179 delinquency fee together. The $299 is the ceiling on "a reasonable fee", not a set price.

The rules are the same for both kinds of association: § 718.116(8)(f) for condominiums and § 720.30851(6) for homeowners' associations. The Department's notice lists the same amounts for cooperatives.

Because the figures in the statute are indexed. Both sections direct that the fees "shall be adjusted every 5 years" by the total of the annual increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers over that period, and that the Department of Business and Professional Regulation calculate them, round them to the nearest dollar and publish them on its website (§ 718.116(8)(i); § 720.30851(9)).

The amounts in force are the ones the Department publishes: $299, $119 and $179, which have applied since July 1, 2022. A page that quotes $250, $100 and $150 is quoting the statute's text rather than the cap. The Department's notice says its next update will be released by July 1, 2027.

When certificates for several units or parcels with the same owner are requested from the same association at the same time, and nothing is past due, the fee is worked out unit by unit as above but the total is capped (§ 718.116(8)(g); § 720.30851(7)):

The aggregate cap applies only where no past-due amount is owed to the association.

10 business days from a written or electronic request by the owner or a mortgagee, or by someone acting for either (§ 718.116(8); § 720.30851). Each association must name on its website a person or entity, with a street or email address, to receive requests, and the certificate must be delivered by hand, regular mail or email on the day it is issued.

If it is not delivered within 10 business days, no fee may be charged for it at all (§ 718.116(8)(d); § 720.30851(4)). Both statutes also allow a summary proceeding to compel compliance, with reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party (§ 718.116(8)(e); § 720.30851(5)).

30 days if it was hand delivered or sent electronically, and 35 days if it went by regular mail (§ 718.116(8)(b); § 720.30851(2)). A certificate that expires before the closing has to be reordered.

If the association learns of a mistake or of more information within the effective period, it may deliver an amended certificate, which takes effect if the sale or refinance has not already closed. No fee may be charged for it, and a new 30- or 35-day period starts on the day it is delivered.

The statutes make the fee "payable upon the preparation of the certificate", and allow it only where a written board resolution, or a written management, bookkeeping or maintenance contract, establishes the authority to charge it (§ 718.116(8)(h); § 720.30851(8)). They do not say which side of a sale pays it.

The contract does. Paragraph 9(a) of the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar “AS IS” Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase puts the estoppel fee on the seller, and the Florida seller net sheet follows it, with whatever the certificate shows as owed on the unit. Another contract form can say otherwise.

Yes, to a payor other than the owner. If the sale or the mortgage the certificate was ordered for does not close, and no later than 30 days after the closing date it was sought for the preparer receives a written request with reasonable documentation that the sale did not occur, the fee must be refunded within 30 days of the request (§ 718.116(8)(h); § 720.30851(8)).

The refund is the owner's obligation, and the association may collect it from the owner the same way as an assessment. The right to it cannot be waived or modified by any contract, and the prevailing party in an action to enforce it is awarded damages, attorney fees and costs.

No. The caps above are on the fee for preparing and delivering the certificate. The certificate must also say whether a capital contribution, resale, transfer or other fee is due, and those are separate charges these sections do not cap.

The condominium statute says so in terms: the estoppel fee is allowed "notwithstanding any limitation on transfer fees" in § 718.112(2)(k). A condominium's fee for approving a transfer has its own limit, covered in the page on association approval.

When the certificate shows an amount the owner disputes, when the association will not issue one, or when it has charged more than the caps allow and will not correct it. Each of those turns on the governing documents, and a refusal on a court proceeding, so a Florida real estate attorney should be reading them.