What does our HOA board have to file and update when we stop using a management company?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 2, 2026

The filings a board must update when its HOA goes self-managed: the Texas management certificate, Florida estoppel fees and bond, Colorado registration and more.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

When the management company leaves, every public record that lists it as your contact goes stale on the same day, and a few of those records carry real penalties if the board lets them sit. In Texas, record an amended management certificate within 30 days and e-file it with the Texas Real Estate Commission within 7 days after that. In Florida, adopt a board resolution that authorizes estoppel fees, name the person who takes estoppel requests on the association website, and confirm the fidelity coverage now protects the volunteers who sign checks. In Colorado, update the Division of Real Estate registration and the owner disclosure within 90 days. In every state, update the registered agent, the IRS, the bank and the insurer. This guide is about paperwork, not files. Our guide on getting HOA records back from a former management company covers recovering the records themselves. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and this is general education, not legal advice.

Texas: the amended management certificate comes first

Texas Property Code section 209.004(a) requires every property owners' association to record a management certificate in each county where the subdivision sits. Item (6) is the name, mailing address, telephone number and email address of the person managing the association or its designated representative. Item (8) is the amount and description of any fee charged in a property transfer. Both usually change when the manager leaves. Under 209.004(b), the amended certificate must be recorded within 30 days after the association has notice of the change. Under (b-1), it must be e-filed with the Texas Real Estate Commission within 7 days after recording. The certificate is signed and acknowledged by an officer, so plan for a notary. The penalties are the reason to treat this as the first task. Under 209.004(e), an owner is not liable for attorney's fees the association incurs collecting a delinquent assessment, or for interest that accrues, during any period the certificate is not recorded or not filed with the commission. Under (d) and (e), a buyer, lender or title company is not liable for amounts that were due before a sale to a bona fide purchaser, and the lien for those amounts does not survive the sale. A board that waits four months can lose four months of attorney's fees and interest on every delinquent account. Name a role as the designated representative, such as the board president at a post office box and a board email address, rather than one volunteer's cell phone.

Texas: resale certificates are now the board's job

Section 207.003(a) gives the association 10 business days after it receives a written request and verifies the requester's authority. The certificate must be prepared no earlier than 60 days before delivery. Item (14) of 207.003(b) asks for the managing agent's name, mailing address and phone number, if any, so a self-managed association states that it has none. Under 207.003(c), the fee may not exceed $375 for the certificate and $75 for an update. Under (c-1), the association may require payment up front but may not process the payment until the certificate is ready, and it may not charge anything if it misses the 10-day deadline. Assign one director to own these requests, keep a filled-in template with the budget, balance sheet and insurance certificate attached, and refresh it after each monthly close. Our guide on answering a resale certificate or estoppel request walks through each line.

Florida: estoppel fees, the website contact and the fidelity bond

Florida Statutes section 720.30851 requires the association to issue an estoppel certificate within 10 business days of a request and to designate on its website a person or entity, with a street or email address, to receive requests. Subsection (8) is the one boards miss. The authority to charge an estoppel fee must come from a written board resolution or from a written management, bookkeeping or maintenance contract. If your fee authority lived in the management contract, it ended with that contract. Adopt a resolution before the first request arrives. The statute caps the fee at $250 when the account is current, plus $100 for delivery within 3 business days, plus up to $150 more when the account is delinquent. Subsection (9) adjusts those amounts every 5 years by the Consumer Price Index, and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation publishes the adjusted figures, so check the current amounts before you set yours. A late certificate earns no fee, and under (3) the association cannot collect more than the certificate states from a person who relied on it in good faith. Section 720.3033(5) requires insurance or a fidelity bond covering everyone who controls or disburses association funds, including check signers and the president, secretary and treasurer. The coverage must equal the most money held by the association or its management agent at any one time. Members can waive it only by a majority vote of the voting interests present at a properly called meeting, each year. If the manager's own bond was protecting your operating account, ask your agent to cover the officers directly. If the manager hosted the website that a 100-parcel association must keep under 720.303(4)(b)1., move it before the contract ends.

Colorado: registration and the owner disclosure

C.R.S. 38-33.3-401(2)(a) requires the annual registration with the Division of Real Estate to list the management company, managing agent or designated agent, plus a valid address, email, website and phone number, and to update that information within 90 days after any change. The stakes are high. Under 401(3), an association whose registration lapses cannot impose or enforce an assessment lien or use its other enforcement tools until it registers again. Our guide on registering or renewing a Colorado HOA with the Division of Real Estate covers the portal. Section 38-33.3-209.4(1) separately requires the association to make updated contact information available to owners within 90 days after its address, designated agent or management company changes. Subsection (3) allows a web page announced by mail or email, a binder at the association's principal place of business, or mail or hand delivery. Watch the registered agent too. Under 38-33.3-316(8), owners and lenders send requests for a statement of unpaid assessments to the association's registered agent, and the association has 14 calendar days to answer. If no statement goes out, the association loses its lien for assessments due as of the request date. If the manager was your registered agent, those requests may now land in a mailbox nobody checks.

Changes every board makes, in any state

- Secretary of State: change the registered agent and principal office address if either was the manager. Our guide on changing the HOA registered agent and mailing address has the steps. - IRS: file Form 8822-B for a new mailing address or a new responsible party. The IRS says a change in responsible party must be reported within 60 days. - Bank: remove manager signers and online banking users, set dual approval for payments, and move statements to an address the treasurer controls. - Insurer: give the agent the new mailing address and contacts, and ask in writing whether the crime or fidelity coverage names volunteer directors. - Vendors and utilities: send a new billing address on letterhead, and confirm any request to change vendor bank details by calling a number you already have on file. - Owners: send one notice with the new payment address, contact email and emergency number, and say plainly that the association will never ask owners to change where they pay by text.

A sample timeline around the contract end

For a 90-home Texas association whose manager's contract ends on March 31: - March 1: The board names the president as designated representative and adopts the motion below. - March 25: The secretary drafts the amended management certificate and books a notary. - April 1: Bank signers and online banking users change. The owner notice goes out. - April 3: The certificate is recorded in each county. - April 8: The certificate is e-filed with the Texas Real Estate Commission, 5 days after recording. - April 10: Form 8822-B and the registered agent change are filed. The insurer confirms the new contacts. - April 15: The first resale certificate request arrives and goes to the director who owns them. - May 15: The board reviews a checklist of every filing, with the recording number and date for each. A Florida board adds the estoppel fee resolution and the website designee in March. A Colorado board adds the registration update and the owner disclosure before day 90.

Wording the board can copy

Motion: "Effective April 1, the board designates the president as the association's designated representative and contact for resale certificates and statements of account, at the association's post office box and board email address. The secretary will record an amended management certificate in each county by April 30 and e-file it with the Texas Real Estate Commission within 7 days after recording." Owner notice: "Starting April 1, our association is managed by its volunteer board. Mail dues to the address below or pay online at the same link as before. For questions, write to the board email address. For an emergency on common property, call the number below. We will never ask you by text or phone call to send payment somewhere new."

Mistakes that cost boards money

- Waiting for the annual filing to update the record. The Texas 30-day rule and the Colorado 90-day rule run from the change, not from the next renewal. - Leaving a Florida estoppel fee in place with no resolution behind it once the management contract ends. - Assuming the manager's bond covered your officers after the manager left. - Leaving the manager as registered agent, so lien and lawsuit papers go to a company that no longer works for you. - Recording the Texas certificate and forgetting the 7-day e-filing. The statute treats an unfiled certificate the same as an unrecorded one for fees and interest. - Keeping no proof. File every recording receipt and filing confirmation with the association's records.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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