The condo documents you read before buying an Orange Beach condo decide what the purchase actually costs. Alabama gives a buyer a specific way to get most of them.

The clock starts at signing, not at inspection. It is short.

Here are the 12 documents to request, in the order that makes each one easier to read.

The 12 documents, in short:

1. The written resale request, inside 14 days
2. The resale certificate from the association
3. The declaration and its amendments
4. The bylaws and the house rules
5. The current operating budget
6. The reserve study and the reserve line
7. The statement of unpaid assessments
8. Twelve months of board meeting minutes
9. The master insurance certificate
10. The rental program or management contract
11. The building and city rental rules
12. The elevation certificate and flood zone

1. How do you formally request the condo documents in Alabama?

Alabama's condominium act sets out a resale process. The buyer makes a written request to the seller. That request must be made within 14 days of the date the buyer signs the contract. The seller then has 15 days from receiving it, and must deliver before the conveyance. The association has 10 days to give the owner the certificate.

A strong first step is one written request, dated, sent the day the contract is signed. List every document by name rather than asking for the package. Keep the email, because the delivery clock runs from the request.

Waiting for a management company to send a standard bundle is the habit that burns the window. So is a verbal request. If the 14 days pass without a written request, the statutory route is gone and the buyer is negotiating for the documents instead.

2. What is in the resale certificate, and what does it prove?

The resale certificate is the association's own statement of the numbers. Alabama sets out what it must carry. That list runs to the periodic assessment amount, unpaid assessments and other fees. It also covers financial statements, the operating budget, judgments against the association, insurance coverage, leasehold terms and sale restrictions. It is the one document where the association is on record.

A strong certificate is signed, complete on every line, and recent enough to be useful. The statute sets no shelf life, so ask for one dated inside the last 30 days as a matter of practice. Compare the assessment figure on it to the figure in the listing. If they differ, the certificate wins.

A certificate with blanks, or with a line that reads not available, is not a certificate. A management company that charges for it and then sends a marketing summary instead has not answered the request.

3. What should you look for in the declaration?

The declaration is the document that creates the condominium. Alabama requires it to describe the boundaries of each unit, the limited common elements, and the allocated interests. It must also state any restrictions on use, occupancy, leasing or sale. Everything else in the package is read against it.

A strong read starts with the unit boundary description. Then the limited common element list, then the leasing restrictions. Mark where the balcony, the windows and the exterior doors fall. Read every recorded amendment in date order, because the last one governs. In Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, where Heather Loper & Associates works, leasing clauses vary building to building.

Reading the declaration without the amendments is the most common error in an Orange Beach condo purchase. Leasing rules are the clause most often amended, and the original document will show the old rule. Ask for a complete recorded set, not a summary.

4. What do the bylaws and house rules actually control?

The bylaws govern how the association runs itself, and the rules govern daily life in the building. Rules reach pets, parking spaces, grills, elevator use, guest registration, pool hours and occupancy limits. They change by board vote, which means they can change after closing without a recorded amendment.

A strong answer is the current rules sheet plus the date the board last revised it. Read the parking rule and the occupancy limit twice, because those two decide how the unit can be used. Ask how many spaces are deeded to the unit.

A board that cannot produce a dated current rules sheet is telling a buyer something about how it is run. A rule the manager describes as never enforced is still a rule, and a future board can start enforcing it.

5. What does the current operating budget tell you?

The operating budget shows what the association plans to spend this year and how the assessment was set. Alabama requires the operating budget inside the resale certificate. Insurance, utilities and management are usually the three largest lines in a coastal building. A budget that holds the assessment flat while insurance climbs has to give somewhere.

A strong read compares the budget to the last two years of actual spending. Look at the insurance line first. Ask what the association's wind and flood premiums did at the last renewal, and what the board assumed for the next one.

A budget with no prior year actuals beside it cannot be checked. A board that funds a premium increase by cutting the reserve contribution has moved a cost into the future rather than paying it.

6. Is there a reserve study, and does the budget fund it?

A reserve study estimates when major components fail and what replacing them will cost. Roofs, elevators, chillers, balconies and the pool deck are the usual list. Alabama does not require a condominium association to commission one. Many coastal associations do anyway, and the useful question is whether the budget funds what the study recommends.

A strong answer is a dated reserve study plus the reserve contribution line in the budget. Compare the two numbers. Ask the manager which component is next in line and what year the study puts it in.

A board that has a study and funds a fraction of it is planning a special assessment without calling it one. No study at all is not automatically a problem in a small building. It does mean the buyer has no estimate of the next large bill.

7. Are there unpaid assessments on the unit you are buying?

Alabama gives the association a lien on a unit for assessments and other money owed. The lien sits ahead of most other liens, with limited exceptions, and it includes a six month priority over a recorded first mortgage. An unpaid balance on the unit is therefore the buyer's problem once the deed records.

A strong answer is a written payoff statement from the association, dated, naming the unit, and showing a zero balance at closing. The resale certificate must state unpaid assessments. Have the closing attorney collect the figure in writing, not by phone.

A seller who says the account is current without a written statement is offering a memory. A management company that will only confirm the balance after closing has reversed the order. The lien does not disappear when the deed changes hands.

8. What do the last 12 months of board minutes reveal?

Minutes are where a special assessment first appears, usually months before the notice goes out. They also record litigation, insurance renewals, failed inspections and repair arguments. Alabama requires the association to keep financial records detailed enough to support the resale certificate. Records must also be reasonably available to unit owners and their authorized agents.

A strong request is 12 months of approved minutes, including committee reports. Read for the words assessment, roof, balcony, insurance and attorney. Ask for the minutes of the meeting where the current budget was adopted.

Minutes that are a page of attendance and a motion to adjourn are a record designed not to say anything. A manager who offers a summary in place of the minutes is making an editorial choice on the buyer's behalf.

9. What does the association's insurance certificate cover, and what does it leave to you?

Alabama's condominium act requires the association to insure the common elements. Where the declaration describes units with horizontal boundaries, which covers the stacked Gulf front buildings, that insurance must also include the units to the extent reasonably available. It need not include improvements a unit owner installed. Unless the declaration provides otherwise, the association pays any cost above the insurance proceeds, including the deductible, as a common expense.

A strong answer is the current certificate of insurance plus the deductible in dollars. Ask whether the master policy is written all in or bare walls for the unit interiors. Then price a unit policy with loss assessment coverage sized to the building deductible.

A certificate with no wind deductible shown tells a buyer nothing about the real exposure. Read the declaration too, because some declarations do provide otherwise and shift costs above the proceeds onto the owners.

10. If the unit is in a rental program, what is in that contract?

A rental program contract is a separate agreement from the association documents. It sets the commission, the length of the term, who controls the booking calendar, who holds the deposits, and how the owner gets out. It does not transfer automatically, so the buyer is signing a new one or ending the old one.

A strong answer is the full contract plus the last 12 months of owner statements from that program. Read the commission rate, the term, the notice period for cancellation, and the clause covering bookings already on the calendar at closing.

A program that will show projected income but not past owner statements is selling a forecast. An automatic renewal clause with a long notice period is not a dealbreaker. It is a cost, and the buyer should know the exit date before closing.

11. What rental rules apply, the building's or the city's?

Both apply, and they are not the same rules. Orange Beach regulates vacation rentals under two 2018 ordinances, numbered 2018-1282 and 2018-1283, and applies them in the RS-1, RS-2, RS-3 and MHS districts. A vacation rental there is a one or two family dwelling rented for fourteen consecutive days or less. A condominium is not that.

A strong answer pairs the declaration's leasing clause with a check of the city's vacation rental map. Orange Beach states that the Beach Overlay District is not affected by those rules, and that is where most Gulf front condo buildings sit. The city publishes the map and lists a city planner to ask.

Assuming a short term rental is allowed because the neighbors do it is the costly version. A board can adopt a minimum stay by vote, and in a condominium that minimum lease term is the number that binds the owner.

12. What paperwork tells you about flood risk and elevation?

Orange Beach asks owners to build above the base flood level, by 2 feet in Zone AE and 3 feet in VE or Coastal-AE. The city also warns that repairs reaching 50 percent of a building's preconstruction value can trigger extra elevation work. Standard property insurance does not cover flood damage, and a new flood policy normally carries a 30 day waiting period, waived where the policy is bought in connection with making a loan.

A strong file has the elevation certificate for the building, the flood zone from the current map, and the association's flood policy declaration page. Ask the city whether the building has an open or prior substantial improvement file.

A seller who cannot produce an elevation certificate is not hiding anything, but the buyer now has to order one. A cash purchase gets no loan waiver, so the 30 days has to start well before closing.

The statutory resale sequence under Alabama's condominium act, and who holds each clock.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days do you have to review condo documents?

Alabama does not set a general review period for a resale. It sets a delivery sequence instead. The buyer requests the documents in writing within 14 days of signing. The seller then delivers within 15 days of that request, and before conveyance. Build a review period into the contract, because the statute does not supply one.

Can a condo buyer cancel the contract after reading the documents?

Only if the contract says so, or if an offering statement was required and arrived late. Under Ala. Code 35-8A-408, where a seller must deliver an offering statement, a buyer who was not given the required documents more than seven days before signing may cancel within seven days after first receiving them, without penalty and with payments refunded promptly. A buyer who received them earlier has no statutory cancellation right. On an ordinary resale the right to walk away comes from the contract, so a document review contingency has to be written in.

Does the Alabama condominium act apply to older Orange Beach buildings?

The Alabama Uniform Condominium Act applies to condominiums created in the state after January 1, 1991. Certain listed sections, including the resale provision, reach back to earlier condominiums for events after that date. Some of the oldest buildings on the Alabama Gulf Coast predate the line, so ask which act governs.

Is there a seller disclosure form for condos in Alabama?

No. Alabama follows caveat emptor on the sale of existing homes. Neither the seller nor the seller's agents must volunteer defects unless asked. The exception is a condition that poses an immediate health or safety risk. Direct written questions change the picture, which is why the document request and the inspection carry the weight here.

Who should read the documents with you?

A closing attorney and an agent who works these buildings. Buyers comparing top realtors in Orange Beach should ask each one which documents they request as standard. The best real estate agents in Orange Beach answer by naming documents, not by offering reassurance.

Ask Heather Loper & Associates what to request

Heather Loper & Associates works the condo market in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, where the document set differs building to building. Buyers who want the request sent on the day the contract is signed can call (251) 504-1171 or visit heatherloper.com.

This article is general information about Alabama condominium law and is not legal or tax advice. The declaration, bylaws and policy wording for a specific building control, so review them with an Alabama real estate attorney.