Disputes With a Texas Homeowners Association
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Before a Texas homeowners association can fine you, suspend your use of common areas, or sue you over a rule violation, it has to send written notice "by certified mail" and tell you about your right to a hearing. That rule is in Property Code section 209.006, part of chapter 209, the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act. The same chapter covers hearings, payment plans, access to records and limits on foreclosure.
Does chapter 209 cover your association?
Under section 209.003, the chapter applies to a residential subdivision whose declaration lets the association collect regular or special assessments on all or most of the property, where membership is mandatory for all or most owners. The name does not matter: a "community association" is covered the same as a "homeowners' association." Condominiums are excluded.
Notice before a fine or suspension
Section 209.006(a) requires the certified-mail notice before an association does any of these things:
- suspends an owner's right to use a common area
- sues an owner, other than to collect assessments or foreclose its lien
- charges an owner for property damage
- levies a fine for violating the restrictions, bylaws or rules
- reports an owner's delinquency to a credit reporting service
The notice must describe the violation or damage and any amount due. It must tell the owner about a reasonable period to cure a curable violation that does not threaten public health or safety, and give the date to cure by. It must say the owner may request a hearing "on or before the 30th day after the date the notice was mailed," and that an owner on active military duty may have rights under federal law, including the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The statute uses two phrases for delivery: subsection (a) says "by certified mail," and subsection (b)(4) says the notice must "be sent by verified mail" to the owner's last known address in the association's records.
Section 209.006(e) says that if the owner cures within the cure period, "a fine may not be assessed for the violation." The statute gives examples. Curable: a parking violation, a maintenance violation, building outside approved plans, and an ongoing noise problem such as a barking dog. Uncurable: shooting fireworks, a noise violation that is not ongoing, property damage including removing landscaping, and a garage sale the rules prohibit. A fresh notice is not required for a violation for which the owner already received notice and the opportunity to exercise any rights available under section 209.006 in "the preceding six months."
An association that can fine must adopt an enforcement policy under section 209.0061, with categories of violations, a schedule of fines and information about hearings. It must post the policy on its website or send it to owners each year.
Your right to a hearing
If the owner is entitled to a chance to cure, section 209.007 gives the owner the right to ask in writing for a hearing before the board. The timeline runs like this:
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Request the hearing
The request is due by the 30th day after the date the notice was mailed, as the notice itself must state.
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The board sets a date
The association must hold the hearing "not later than the 30th day after the date the board receives the owner's request" and tell the owner the date, time and place "not later than the 10th day before" it. Either side can get one postponement of up to 10 days, and more if both agree.
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The evidence packet arrives
At least 10 days before the hearing, the association must give the owner every document, photo and communication it plans to use. If the packet is late, the owner gets "an automatic 15-day postponement."
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The hearing
A board member or the association's representative presents the case first, then the owner or the owner's representative responds. Either side may make an audio recording.
The notice and hearing steps do not apply when the association sues for a temporary restraining order or temporary injunction, or files a suit that includes foreclosure. They also do not apply to a temporary suspension of the right to use common areas when the violation happened in a common area and involved a significant and immediate risk of harm to others in the subdivision; the suspension lasts until the board makes a final decision after following the hearing procedures (section 209.007(d)). Either side may use alternative dispute resolution, and once a suit is filed over a matter these rules cover, a party may move to compel mediation. The stages of a mediation session are laid out in our mediation walkthrough.
Attorney's fees are limited too. Under section 209.008, the association can charge them only after written notice that fees will be added if the problem continues past a date certain. An owner is not liable for fees incurred before the hearing ends or, if no hearing was requested, before the deadline to request one.
Payment plans and collections
An association "composed of more than 14 lots" must adopt guidelines under section 209.0062 that let owners pay delinquent amounts in installments without additional monetary penalties. Reasonable costs of running the plan and interest do not count as penalties. The shortest plan term is three months. An association does not have to offer:
- a plan that runs more than 18 months from the owner's request
- a plan to an owner who defaulted on an earlier plan in the past two years
- more than one plan in any 12-month period
- a plan after the cure period in a collection agent notice expires
Section 209.0063 sets the order payments are applied: delinquent assessments, then current assessments, then attorney's fees and collection costs tied to assessments, then other attorney's fees, then fines, then anything else. That order does not bind the association while the owner is in default on a payment plan.
Before an owner can be charged a collection agent's fees, section 209.0064(b) requires certified-mail notice of the amounts owed, the options for avoiding collection (including a payment plan where one is required), and "a period of at least 45 days" to cure. Under section 209.0065, amounts in a pending dispute may not go to a credit bureau, and any reporting requires a detailed report of delinquent charges "at least 30 business days before" plus a chance to enter a payment plan.
Getting the association's records
Section 209.005(c) requires the association to make its books and records, including financial records, open to owners and reasonably available for examination. An owner asks by certified mail sent to the address on the association's most recent management certificate, describing the records and choosing either to inspect them or to receive copies. The association must respond "on or before the 10th business day" after it receives the request. If it cannot produce the records in time, it must say so in writing and give a date no later than the 15th business day after that notice. A business day excludes weekends and state or federal holidays.
An owner who is refused may petition the justice of the peace of a precinct where the property lies. The judge can order access, award court costs and attorney's fees, and let the owner deduct that award from future assessments. If the association wins instead, it is entitled to its own costs and fees. By the 10th business day before filing, the owner has to send the association a written notice of intent to sue; our guide to demand letters and pre-suit notices lists the mailing methods allowed.
Liens and foreclosure limits
Chapter 209 restricts when and how an association can take a home for unpaid amounts:
- Not for fines alone. Under section 209.009, there is no foreclosure if the debt "consists solely of" fines, attorney's fees tied only to fines, or records-copying or vote-recount charges added to the account.
- Lien notices first. Before filing an assessment lien, the association must send a first delinquency notice by first class mail or email, then a second by certified mail at least 30 days later. It may not file the lien "before the 90th day" after that second notice (section 209.0094).
- A court order. Section 209.0092(a) requires the association to first obtain a court order in an application for expedited foreclosure. The association may instead choose a regular judicial foreclosure, and expedited foreclosure is also not required if the owner agrees in writing at the time foreclosure is sought to waive it (section 209.0092(c)-(d)).
- Notice to mortgage lenders. Section 209.0091 requires notice to lower-priority deed-of-trust lienholders and a chance to cure "before the 61st day" after mailing.
- Fee cap in nonjudicial sales. Where nonjudicial foreclosure is allowed, attorney's fees in the sale are capped at the greater of one-third of costs and assessments or "$2,500" (section 209.008(f)).
- Redemption. After a sale, the association must mail notice within 30 days. The owner may redeem "not later than the 180th day" after that notice, paying, among other amounts, interest at the rate in the dedicatory instruments or, if none, "10 percent" a year (sections 209.010 and 209.011).
Taking an HOA to justice court
Section 209.017 lets an owner sue the association for a violation of chapter 209 in the justice court of a precinct where all or part of the subdivision lies. Our guide to small claims in North Texas covers filing in Tarrant, Dallas, Denton and Collin counties. The disputes guides cover mediation and other options, and the full guide library has the rest.