Pennsylvania Title Teams: Uniform Condominium Act and Planned Community Act Resale Certificates

Pennsylvania takes a different path than most states: the disclosure obligations live in the Uniform Condominium Act (UCA) and the Uniform Planned Community Act (UPCA), and neither statute sets a dollar cap on what associations can charge. That combination, a firm 10-day delivery deadline, a buyer-friendly 5-day cancellation window, and 17 required disclosures, makes document verification the single highest-leverage step in any Pennsylvania HOA file. When the certificate is complete and timely, closings run smoothly; when it is not, the buyer's right to void the contract keeps the file open until the clock runs out. Understanding the statutory architecture before you order the documents is what separates a routine PA closing from one that stalls in escrow.

What the UCA and UPCA Cover (and Which One Applies)

The Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act, codified at 68 Pa.C.S. §3101 et seq., has governed condominiums created after the Act's effective date in late 1980. Before that, condominiums were created under the Unit Property Act of 1963 (Act of July 3, 1963, P.L. 196, No. 117). The Uniform Planned Community Act, 68 Pa.C.S. §5101 et seq., took effect February 2, 1997, and applies to planned communities created after that date.

The first gate in every PA HOA file is determining which regime applies:

• Condominium created after 1980: UCA, with the resale certificate under §3407.
• Condominium created before 1980: governed by the Unit Property Act, but §3407 applies retroactively to resales occurring after the UCA's effective date (68 Pa.C.S. §3102(b)).
• Planned community created after February 2, 1997: UPCA, with the resale certificate under §5407.
• Planned community created before February 2, 1997: UPCA provisions, including §5407, apply retroactively to events occurring after the effective date (68 Pa.C.S. §5102(b)).
• Cooperative: excluded from the UPCA's definition of planned community and governed by its own cooperative statutes and offering requirements.

Why this matters to title teams: the recorded declaration's title is not always conclusive. Some pre-1980 condominium associations amended their declarations to adopt the UCA wholesale, while others continue to operate under the old Unit Property Act structure. A unit in a community that "looks like a condo" may actually be a planned community, or vice versa. Ordering the wrong document set means missing the statutorily required disclosures and accepting a certificate that gives the buyer grounds to walk away.

The §3407/§5407 Resale Certificate: 17 Statutory Disclosures

Section 3407(a) (mirrored by §5407(a) for planned communities) requires the unit owner to furnish the purchaser, before execution of the contract or otherwise before conveyance, a copy of the declaration (other than plats and plans), the bylaws, the rules and regulations, and a certificate containing 17 mandatory statements:

1. The effect on the proposed disposition of any right of first refusal or other restraint on the free alienability of the unit.
2. The amount of the monthly common expense assessment, any unpaid common expense or special assessment currently due from the selling unit owner, and any surplus fund credits to be applied to the unit under §3313.
3. A statement of any other fees payable by unit owners.
4. A statement of capital expenditures proposed for the current and two next succeeding fiscal years.
5. The amount of reserves for capital expenditures and any portions designated for specified projects.
6. The most recent regularly prepared balance sheet and income and expense statement, if any.
7. The current operating budget.
8. A statement of judgments against the association and the status of any pending suits to which it is a party.
9. A statement describing insurance coverage provided for the benefit of unit owners.
10. Whether the executive board has knowledge that alterations or improvements to the unit or its limited common elements violate the declaration.
11. Whether the board has knowledge of violations of governmental requirements or hazardous conditions under §3402(a)(26).
12. The remaining term of any leasehold estate affecting the condominium and the provisions governing extension or renewal.
13. Whether the declaration provides for cumulative or class voting.
14. Whether an agreement to terminate the condominium has been submitted to unit owners for approval and remains outstanding.
15. Whether the condominium is or may become part of a master association.
16. A statement describing which units may be owned in time-share estates and the maximum number of time-share estates.
17. Whether the declarant retains the special declarant right to cause a merger or consolidation of the condominium, per §3205(13).

That is a heavy lift for a board to assemble correctly. In practice, many associations use management-company templates that omit items 12 through 17, or state them as "not applicable" without a documented basis. Do not accept a certificate that skips pending litigation, reserves, or the operating budget. If an item is genuinely not applicable, the certificate should say so expressly, and your file should capture that written representation.

Who Delivers What: Seller, Association, and Title Team

Section 3407 divides responsibility into three clean layers:

• The unit owner (seller) must furnish the declaration, bylaws, rules, and certificate to the purchaser before contract execution or before conveyance (§3407(a)).
• The association must furnish the certificate and copies of the documents to the unit owner within ten days after a request by a unit owner (§3407(b)).
• Protection for the seller: a unit owner providing a certificate is not liable to the purchaser for any erroneous information supplied by the association (§3407(b)). The unit owner is also not liable to the purchaser for the association's failure or delay in providing the certificate (§3407(c)).

For title teams, the practical consequence is straightforward: the request should be made in writing, to the correct entity, with the seller's name and unit number. If the association is slow, the seller is shielded but the closing is not. You cannot fund a PA condo file with the buyer's voidability window still open, so the certificate request belongs at the front of the order workflow, not the back. If you need a refresher on what the resale certificate is and why lenders and underwriters treat it as a core closing condition, see our guide to the HOA resale certificate.

The 10-Day Deadline and the 5-Day Buyer Voidability Window

Two deadlines define the Pennsylvania resale timeline, and both are calendar-day based:

• 10 days: the association must furnish the certificate to the requesting unit owner within ten days (68 Pa.C.S. §3407(b); §5407(b)).
• 5 days after delivery: the purchase contract is voidable by the purchaser until the certificate has been provided and for five days thereafter, or until conveyance, whichever occurs first (§3407(d)).

Subsection (d) was added by the 2004 amendment (Act 191), which also tightened subsection (c). The voidability rule is the enforcement mechanism that gives the certificate its teeth: if the association delivers late, the buyer's window simply shifts later, and your carefully scheduled closing date moves with it. If documents are missing or the certificate is incomplete, the voidability period arguably never starts, because the buyer has not received "the certificate" the statute describes.

Title teams should therefore treat the 5-day window as a hard calendar block. In a typical transaction, that means ordering the certificate immediately after contract ratification, confirming delivery in writing, and refusing to fund until the voidability period has run. In Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, where a large share of Pennsylvania's condo inventory sits, this is a daily reality for escrow coordinators. See the Philadelphia HOA document guide for city-specific items such as facade inspection records that routinely add days to these files.

Fees: No Statutory Cap Means Wide Variance

Pennsylvania is an outlier: neither the UCA nor the UPCA imposes a statutory dollar cap on resale certificate fees. Associations and their management companies are free to set the price, which produces enormous variance across the state.

• Self-managed condos may charge as little as $25 to $50 or waive the fee entirely.
• Managed properties commonly charge $100 to $250.
• Larger or master-association files can run $300 to $500 or more, especially when sub-association certificates are required.
• Rush or expedite fees add another layer, often $50 to $150, and are entirely unregulated.

Because there is no cap, the fee must be confirmed in writing before the order is placed, and the payer must be confirmed against the purchase contract before the closing disclosure is drafted. Under the UCA, a purchaser is not liable for any unpaid assessment or fee greater than the amount set forth in the certificate, but that protection covers assessments, not the certificate fee itself. Escalating fees are one of the hidden costs that trip up TRID timing, so route the fee through your disclosure review just as you would in any other state. For a state-by-state comparison of how fee caps differ, start with our HOA disclosure requirements by state guide.

Pre-1980 Condominiums and Pre-1997 Planned Communities

Older communities create three recurring problems for title teams:

Retroactive applicability. Section 3102(b) extends §3407 to pre-1980 Unit Property Act condominiums for events and circumstances occurring after the UCA's effective date, so resale certificates are required even in buildings created in the 1960s and 1970s. The same logic applies to planned communities created before February 2, 1997 under §5102(b). The statutory disclosure obligation exists; the association's readiness does not.

Outdated governing documents. Pre-1980 declarations rarely contain the modern disclosure framework, and their reserve, insurance, and special-assessment provisions may not answer the certificate's 17 items cleanly. In these files, expect the association to need extra days to gather financials that a modern declaration would have required all along.

Election to modernize. The 2008 amendment (Act 49) allows a Unit Property Act condominium to adopt the UCA in whole with a 67% approval of the persons whose action would be required to remove the property from the Unit Property Act. Some older condos have done this; many have not. Verify which regime the recorded documents actually operate under before you order, because the answer determines which certificate standard applies.

How Pennsylvania Title Teams Verify Compliance

Build a standardized verification pass for every PA condo and planned community file:

• Confirm whether the property is a condo, planned community, or cooperative, and which act applies.
• Verify the association's legal name matches the recorded declaration.
• Confirm the request was made in writing and includes the seller's name and unit number.
• Check all 17 certificate items for presence and accuracy, not just the first five.
• Calendar the 10-day association deadline and the 5-day buyer voidability window.
• Confirm the fee in writing, and confirm who pays under the contract, before ordering.
• Request the declaration, bylaws, and rules as a separate, complete package.
• Check for master or sub-associations (item 15) that require separate certificates.
• For condominiums, verify master policy details and the waiver of subrogation required under §3312.
• For Philadelphia files, request the most recent facade inspection (PM-315) and any city-specific documentation.

If any item is missing, request a supplemental certificate in writing before closing. Never close with a certificate that omits pending litigation, a special assessment, or reserve information, and never rely on a verbal "that's not applicable" from a management company. For the full document-by-document breakdown of what PA associations must keep and produce, see our Pennsylvania HOA and condo document requirements guide.

Pennsylvania Resale Certificate Requirements Checklist

Frequently Asked Questions

Does 68 Pa.C.S. §3407 apply to every Pennsylvania condominium?

Section 3407 of the Uniform Condominium Act applies to condominiums created after the Act's effective date in late 1980. Under 68 Pa.C.S. §3102(b), the resale disclosure rules also apply retroactively to condominiums created under the Unit Property Act of 1963 for resales occurring after the effective date. Planned communities are covered by the parallel resale provision, 68 Pa.C.S. §5407, of the Uniform Planned Community Act.

How long does a Pennsylvania association have to deliver a resale certificate?

Under 68 Pa.C.S. §3407(b) (and §5407(b) for planned communities), the association must furnish the resale certificate within ten days after a request by a unit owner. The statute counts calendar days, not business days. The unit owner is not liable to the purchaser for the association's delay or for erroneous information the association included in the certificate.

What happens if the resale certificate is delivered late?

The purchase contract remains voidable by the buyer until the certificate is provided and for five days after delivery, or until conveyance, whichever occurs first (68 Pa.C.S. §3407(d)). A late certificate therefore pushes closing risk back onto the file. The purchaser is also not liable for any unpaid assessment greater than the amount set forth in the certificate prepared by the association.

How many disclosures must a Pennsylvania resale certificate contain?

Seventeen. 68 Pa.C.S. §3407(a) requires a certificate covering right of first refusal, assessments and unpaid amounts, other fees, planned capital expenditures, reserves, financial statements, budget, judgments and pending suits, insurance, known violations, leasehold term, voting structure, termination agreements, master association status, time-share estates, and declarant merger rights.

What documents must the seller provide in a Pennsylvania resale?

Before execution of the contract of sale, or otherwise before conveyance, the unit owner must furnish the purchaser a copy of the declaration (other than plats and plans), the bylaws, the association's rules and regulations, and the resale certificate itself (68 Pa.C.S. §3407(a)). The association must provide the certificate to the unit owner within ten days of a request.

Is there a fee cap on Pennsylvania resale certificates?

No. Unlike many states, Pennsylvania imposes no statutory dollar cap on resale certificate fees under either the UCA or the UPCA. Associations and management companies set their own fees, which commonly range from about $50 to $400 or more, plus rush fees. Title teams should get the fee quoted in writing before ordering and confirm who pays under the purchase contract.

Do the resale rules apply to pre-1980 condominiums and older planned communities?

Yes, for resale events after each Act's effective date. Under 68 Pa.C.S. §3102(b), §3407 applies to condominiums created under the Unit Property Act of 1963, and under §5102(b), the UPCA's provisions including §5407 apply to planned communities created before February 2, 1997, with respect to events occurring after that date. Old governing documents may still lack modern disclosure language, so request the full package regardless of community age.

Key Takeaways

Pennsylvania title teams that build a UCA/UPCA compliance workflow protect their closings from voidability surprises, fee disputes, and post-closing claims. Here is what to remember:

• Know which act applies. UCA §3407 for condominiums, UPCA §5407 for planned communities, and verify the recorded declaration when in doubt.
• The certificate carries 17 mandatory disclosures. Check all of them, including leasehold, voting, termination, and time-share items.
• The association has 10 days. The delivery deadline runs from the unit owner's request and is measured in calendar days.
• The buyer has 5 days after delivery. Never fund a PA condo or planned community closing while the voidability window is open.
• There is no fee cap. Fees vary from $25 to $500-plus; confirm the amount and the payer in writing before ordering.
• Old communities are still covered. Pre-1980 condos and pre-1997 planned communities face the same disclosure rules for resale events after each Act's effective date.
• The seller is protected, the closing is not. Association delays don't expose the seller to liability, but they do push your closing date.
• Philadelphia files need extra lead time. City-specific items like PM-315 facade inspections routinely add days to resale closings.

If your team is juggling multiple Pennsylvania HOA files and needs predictable turnaround, consider routing orders through a dedicated retrieval service that tracks the 10-day deadline, verifies all 17 disclosures, and confirms fees before the package reaches your desk.