Dues, resale certificates and condo association rules in Texas
Condo Dues, Special Assessments and Association Documents at The Royalton
Updated November 2026
What should I know about dues and association documents before buying a condo at The Royalton in Houston?
As of November 2026, Texas law sets no limit on Royalton dues increases, so any cap will likely be found in the association's governing documents.
Paige Martin, Houston Properties Team, The Royalton
Source: Texas State Law Library guide to property owners' association assessments, October 2026.
How does Texas law treat increases in condo dues?
The Texas State Law Library addressed increases directly in its October 2026 guide on association assessments. State law, it explains, limits neither the size nor the frequency of an assessment increase.
Any cap therefore comes from the association's own paperwork. The same guide expects caps or restrictions to be found, most likely, in the association's governing documents.
A separate Law Library guide sets out which statute applies to condominiums. They are governed by the Texas Uniform Condominium Act, Chapter 82 of the Texas Property Code. The Royalton's declaration was recorded after its December 2004 conversion, so that chapter reaches the building in full.
A full-service agent checks the recorded declaration for any limit on increases before an offer goes in. Without one, the agent treats today's dues as a starting figure when building your budget.
Texas law places no limit on how much or how often assessments may increase.
What do the monthly dues at The Royalton pay for?
A widely cited building page lists what the fee covers. The list includes a concierge, courtesy patrol and an on-site guard, a porter, valet parking and the private garage.
It continues with the gym and lounges, insurance on the common areas, water and sewer, partial utilities, cable television and trash removal. Most of those lines are staff or contracts, paid only through the assessment.
That list is a listing field rather than the association's own statement. The current operating budget, attached to the resale certificate, shows what the dues fund today.
The median monthly fee on homes sold here in 2026 was $1,377, on a series computed 31 August 2026. In 2017 the same series showed $812, and it has risen in most years since.
That median describes homes that sold rather than any one unit. Each home's assessment follows its allocated interest in the recorded declaration rather than its square footage, so two homes of one size can owe different amounts.
Where would a special assessment at The Royalton show up before you close?
Start with the resale certificate. One line states capital spending the association has approved for the next 12 months. Another states the reserves and any part already set aside for a named project.
Read those two lines side by side. Approved work with little money behind it has to be funded somehow, and a special assessment is the usual route.
Two more lines bear on it: unsatisfied judgments against the association and the nature of any pending suits. A dispute over a large repair often appears there before any bill reaches owners.
The building's own record gives this extra weight. An underground water line serving the fire sprinkler system broke on 11 August 2022, and the 33-story tower was evacuated.
How the insurance claim settled decided whether owners funded any shortfall through a special assessment. The insurance history, the board minutes and the current reserve study sit outside the certificate, so ask for each by name.
A full-service agent requests those records early and compares them with the certificate's spending and reserve lines. Where the figures leave a gap, the agent raises it while the contract still lets you act.
Which association documents does a Royalton buyer receive, and when?
Before a contract is executed, the selling owner furnishes the declaration, the bylaws, any association rules and a current resale certificate. The association has ten days from the owner's written request to produce the certificate.
The copy you receive must have been prepared no earlier than three months before delivery. The Texas State Law Library notes that most associations must provide the governing documents and a resale certificate to a buyer who requests them. That guide adds that the buyer may have to pay a fee.
A second Law Library guide notes that preparing these records can cost up to $375. Under TREC's condominium resale contract, the certificate itself is prepared at the seller's expense.
That second guide also explains that the certificate summarizes the association's financial status, fee structures and any unpaid debts owed by the property, among other information. It also carries the assessment for your specific unit, which a building-wide figure cannot give you.
A full-service agent times the request so the certificate stays current and still arrives inside your termination windows. Under the contract, a buyer who lacked the certificate at signing may terminate within 7 days after receiving it.
Who can take you through the documents on a specific Royalton unit?
Paige Martin of Real Broker, LLC specializes in condo purchases and purchases in an association-governed building.
Her record here is 43 closings at The Royalton since 2004, most recently July 2026, in a 253-unit building.
Send the unit number and the question you most need answered about its dues. You will hear which document answers it, and when that document should arrive.
Questions & answers
The Royalton questions, answered
Can The Royalton's association foreclose on a unit if the owner stops paying dues?
Yes, and without going to court. A Texas State Law Library guide on association foreclosures states that all condominium owners' associations have the right to nonjudicial foreclosure, unlike subdivision property owners' associations. That right is granted by Section 82.113 of the Texas Property Code. An unpaid assessment is the owner's personal obligation, secured by a continuing lien on the unit.
The lien reaches further than the unit itself. It also secures rents and insurance proceeds the owner receives that relate to the unit. It exists because the declaration was recorded, so no separate lien filing is needed. For a buyer, this matters before closing. The resale certificate states what the selling owner currently owes the association. A full-service agent checks that line against the title company's commitment, so any balance is settled before you take title.
Does the Texas Real Estate Commission regulate The Royalton's association?
No. In its November 2026 announcement, TREC states that it does not license or register HOAs and has no enforcement jurisdiction over them. Its role is narrower. Associations keep certain information on a management certificate, and the association also files that certificate electronically with TREC. Questions about how the board runs the building go to the association and, where needed, to your attorney.
The filing timeline comes from the Texas condominium statute. An association records an amended certificate within 30 days of having notice of a change. It then files it electronically with TREC within seven days of recording. TREC also cannot give the public legal advice on private contractual matters. A license holder can explain how the association's documents move through a sale. An attorney answers questions about your own rights under them.
What can I learn from The Royalton's management certificate before I make an offer?
It names the association and gives its mailing address. It also identifies the person managing the association, with contact information, and the website address used to reach its dedicatory instruments. TREC's November 2026 announcement lists those items among what associations must keep on the certificate. It is a public record, so you can read it before any contract exists.
The Texas Comptroller's file lists this association as Royalton at River Oaks Council of Co-Owners, chartered 8 March 2005. That name is the one to search in the Harris County Clerk's real property records. A management certificate for the association was recorded there on 25 November 2013. Ask for the current instrument, because changes are recorded as amendments. The certificate also states the transfer fees charged to a seller or a buyer.
Is a special assessment at The Royalton different from the monthly dues?
Yes. In Texas, assessments is the legal term for what most owners call dues, and the regular monthly fee is one kind. The Texas State Law Library describes special assessments as charges made once, for a specific reason. At The Royalton, a special assessment would come as its own bill, separate from the regular monthly fee.
Ask the seller's agent in writing whether any special assessment is current or planned. Ask for the amount, the terms and the purpose of each one. A lender's condominium questionnaire, Fannie Mae Form 1076 and Freddie Mac Form 476, puts the same questions to the association. Getting the answers before you write an offer leaves room to act on them.
If the board levies a special assessment after I close on a Royalton unit, who pays it?
You do, as the owner on the day it is levied. Subject to the declaration, the bylaws, the association's rules and the condominium statute, Section 82.117 has a unit owner pay assessments properly levied against the owner or the unit. The resale certificate protects a buyer only for debts as of the date it was prepared.
A purchaser, lender or title insurer who relies on a certificate is not liable for debts or claims it leaves undisclosed. That protection stops at the preparation date. Debts that arise or become due afterward stay recoverable, and so does the association's lien for future assessments. So the forward-looking items matter most. A full-service agent asks for the board minutes too, because a repair program is discussed there before it is approved.
How is my unit's share of a repair assessment at The Royalton worked out?
By the declaration, not by floor area. Except as Section 82.111 provides, repair costs above the insurance proceeds are a common expense. The board may levy an assessment for them in accordance with each owner's common expense liability. That liability is the share the recorded declaration allocates to each home, so one repair can reach two units as two different amounts.
The shares across all units must add to 100 percent. Where a stated formula and the recorded allocation disagree, the allocation prevails. The schedule of allocated interests is an exhibit to the recorded declaration, so it comes with the copy the seller furnishes. Ask for that exhibit along with the resale certificate. Check your unit's percentage before you budget for possible repairs.
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