Resale Disclosure Act; resale certificate, responsibility for payment of insurance deductible.
SB808 amends Virginia’s Resale Disclosure Act by revising the required contents of a resale certificate for common interest communities, such as condominiums, cooperatives, and homeowners associations. The bill keeps the existing disclosure framework but updates and expands the list of information an association must provide when a unit is sold. Required disclosures include governing documents, assessments, reserves, budgets, insurance information, pending litigation, board minutes, leasehold terms, occupancy limits, and a variety of use restrictions affecting flags, solar devices, signs, parking, home-based businesses, and rental rights.
A key substantive change is the added requirement that the resale certificate state whether the governing documents may make an owner responsible for all or part of an insurance deductible when a claim is made against association-provided insurance. The bill also requires certification that the association has filed its annual report with the Common Interest Community Board, including the filing number and expiration date. Overall, the measure is aimed at improving transparency for buyers and ensuring that material obligations and restrictions tied to ownership are disclosed before a sale closes.
The bill amends § 55.1-2310 of the Code of Virginia, which governs the form and contents of resale certificates in common interest communities. Its practical effect is to increase the amount of information associations must compile and disclose during a unit resale, and to make explicit the potential for deductible responsibility under association insurance. The bill affects associations, managing agents, sellers, and prospective buyers by standardizing disclosure of financial, governance, insurance, and use-restriction information that may influence a purchase decision or the cost of ownership.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It moved through the Senate and House with unanimous committee and floor votes, including 15-0 in Senate committee, 40-0 on the Senate floor, 21-0 in House committee, and 94-0 in the House. That voting pattern suggests general agreement that the bill improves disclosure and consumer information without imposing a disputed policy shift.
No recorded committee transcript or floor debate is provided, and the unanimous votes indicate little visible opposition. The only potentially sensitive issue reflected in the text is the new disclosure regarding responsibility for insurance deductibles, which could affect owners’ financial exposure, and the broad list of restrictions that associations must disclose, including rental limits, solar devices, flags, and political signs. Even so, the legislative history suggests these provisions were accepted as transparency measures rather than major points of conflict.