Texas HOA Laws: A Board President's Guide to the Property Code

Most Texas homeowners' associations are governed by the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, Chapter 209 of the Texas Property Code. Condominium regimes are governed by the Texas Uniform Condominium Act, Chapter 82 (with older condos also touching Chapter 81). Chapter 209 is the one most board presidents deal with day to day — it sets the rules for assessments, open meetings, records, enforcement and fines, and the strong owner protections Texas attaches to assessment-lien foreclosure. As always, the statute sits on top of your recorded declaration and dedicatory instruments.

An association's power to levy and collect assessments comes from its declaration, backed by Chapter 209. The association may charge regular and special assessments, and it has a statutory assessment lienagainst a delinquent owner's lot. But Texas pairs that power with disclosure: associations must adopt and record a payment plan policy and provide owners notice of delinquency and an opportunity to cure before pursuing collection remedies. Boards that document assessment authority and follow the notice steps rarely lose collection disputes; boards that shortcut them often do.

Under § 209.0051, regular and special board meetings must generally be open to owners, with advance notice of the meeting posted or sent, and owners must be allowed to attend. Boards may meet in a closed executive sessionto discuss limited matters — pending litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement actions, confidential employee matters, and a specific owner's delinquency or violation — but any action must be taken (or ratified) in the open meeting. Decisions made entirely behind closed doors are the classic Chapter 209 misstep.

§ 209.005 gives owners a robust right to inspect and copy association books and records. The owner submits a written request, and the association must produce the records — or specify a date within a reasonable, statutory timeframe — and may charge copying costs based on the schedule the Texas Attorney General publishes. The association must also adopt and record a records-production-and-copying policy. Like everywhere, the practical failure is not refusal but disorganization — records no current board member can locate.

Texas requires real due process before an association fines an owner or pursues enforcement. Under § 209.006 and § 209.007, the association must send written notice describing the violation, giving the owner a chance to cure (where the violation is curable), and informing the owner of the right to request a hearing before the board. Skipping the notice-and-hearing sequence is the most common way Texas boards turn a winnable enforcement matter into a losing one.

Texas gives owners unusually strong protection against losing a home over assessments. Under § 209.0091 and the related provisions, an association generally must obtain a court order — judicial foreclosure to foreclose an assessment lien, after strict notice. Owners also have a statutory right of redemptionafter an association foreclosure sale (§ 209.011). Foreclosure should be the last resort, pursued only with counsel and only after every notice requirement has been met.

The Chapter 209 board's exposure is almost always procedural: a meeting closed that should have been open, an enforcement fine levied without the notice-and-hearing steps, a records request mishandled, or a collection action that skipped the required policies. The reliable defense is to confirm whether Chapter 209 or 82 governs you, adopt and record the required policies (payment plan, records, enforcement), keep decisions in open session, honor the records timeline, and treat foreclosure as a counsel-led last resort. Not sure where you stand? Our free compliance auditreviews these Texas-specific areas before an owner's attorney does.