HOA rules in Texas are set by each community’s Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, but the Texas Property Code overrides those private rules in a growing list of areas and forces associations to follow strict procedures before they can fine, lien, or sue a homeowner. If a covenant conflicts with one of the state protections below, it is void. If the board skips a required notice or hearing step, its enforcement action is vulnerable.
What Your HOA Cannot Prohibit Under Texas Law
The Property Code carves out specific homeowner activities that no association may ban, regardless of what the CC&Rs say. The HOA can still impose reasonable placement or aesthetic conditions inside each category, but it cannot use those conditions to defeat the underlying right.
Solar Panels
Section 202.010 prohibits an HOA from banning solar energy devices. The association can require panels to sit on the roof or in a fenced yard, require silver, bronze, or black frames and wiring, and require roof-mounted panels to follow the slope of the roof without extending past the roofline. If the HOA’s preferred location would cut your system’s estimated annual output by more than 10 percent compared with your proposed spot, you can install in the more productive location.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 202.010
Rainwater Harvesting and Drought-Resistant Landscaping
Section 202.007 prevents an HOA from banning rain barrels, rainwater harvesting systems, composting of yard vegetation, drip irrigation, or drought-resistant landscaping. The board can regulate the size, materials, and placement of rain barrels and composting devices, require barrels to match your home’s color scheme, and enforce general maintenance standards like weed removal. CC&R provisions demanding a set percentage of turf grass or a specific species like Bermuda or St. Augustine are unenforceable to the extent they block drought-tolerant alternatives.2State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.007 – Certain Restrictive Covenants Prohibited
Security Cameras, Motion Detectors, and Fencing
Section 202.023, effective September 2025, bars an HOA from preventing you from installing security cameras, motion detectors, or perimeter fencing. The association can still regulate fence type, prohibit fencing that blocks sidewalks, drainage easements, or license areas, and require driveway gates to sit at least 10 feet back from the right-of-way. Front-yard fencing in front of the building line can generally still be prohibited if the CC&Rs say so, but homeowners whose addresses are exempt from public disclosure or who can produce law enforcement documentation of a security need can install front fencing anyway. This section does not apply to condominiums.3State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.023 – Security Measures
Flags
Section 202.012 guarantees the right to fly the United States flag, the Texas flag, or the official flag of any branch of the U.S. armed forces, and the HOA must allow at least one flagpole up to 20 feet tall per property. The association can set rules on flagpole materials, size, number, and location, require display consistent with federal and state flag codes, and require reasonable maintenance, lighting, and halyard noise.4State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.012 – Flag Display
Religious Displays
Section 202.018 protects displays motivated by sincere religious belief. The HOA can restrict a display only in narrow circumstances: if it threatens public health or safety, violates a non-speech law, contains content patently offensive beyond its religious nature, sits on HOA common property, or violates building setbacks and easements.5State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 202.018
Impact-Resistant and Solar Shingles
Section 202.011 prevents an HOA from blocking shingles designed to resist wind and hail, improve heating and cooling efficiency, or generate solar energy. The shingles must resemble the style already authorized in the subdivision, be at least as durable and of equal or superior quality, and match the aesthetics of surrounding properties.6State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 202.011
What Your HOA Can Still Regulate
Outside the state-protected categories, the HOA retains broad authority over how properties look. Most associations run this through an Architectural Control Committee that reviews proposed changes before construction. Exterior paint, fence materials and height, sheds, outbuildings, and landscape design are all typical areas of oversight. The CC&Rs almost always require you to submit an ACC application with plans, dimensions, and materials before starting work, and skipping that step is one of the fastest routes to a fine.
Standards have to be applied evenly. If a neighbor’s identical shed was approved last year and yours is denied, that inconsistency weakens the association’s position. Selective enforcement is a common homeowner complaint and one courts take seriously when reviewing HOA actions.
Short-Term Rentals Depend on the CC&Rs
Whether an HOA can ban Airbnb-style rentals turns almost entirely on the language in the recorded governing documents. Texas courts have held that vague phrases like “residential use only” may not be enough to prohibit short-term rentals, because renting to vacationers can still qualify as residential use. If the CC&Rs are silent on rental duration, a board rule imposing a ban is legally shaky. The defensible route for an association is to amend the CC&Rs through a homeowner vote, which typically requires a supermajority. If rental income matters to you, read the recorded CC&Rs and any amendments before you close.
Notice and Hearing Before the HOA Can Fine or Sue You
Before an HOA fines you, suspends your common-area access, reports you to a credit bureau, or files suit for a covenant violation, it must send a written notice by certified mail. Section 209.006 requires that notice to describe the violation, state the amount of any proposed fine or charge, and tell you that you have a reasonable period to cure the problem if it’s curable and doesn’t threaten public health or safety. The notice must also inform you that you can request a hearing within 30 days of the mailing date. If you cure within the specified period, the HOA cannot assess a fine for that violation, and it cannot send a new notice for the same type of violation if it already gave you notice and a chance to respond within the preceding six months. Fine amounts come from each community’s published schedule rather than from state statute.7State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.006 – Notice Required Before Enforcement Action
If you request a hearing, the board must hold it within 30 days and give you at least 10 days’ advance notice of the date, time, and location. Either side can request a single postponement of up to 10 days. At least 10 days before the hearing, the association must deliver a packet with every document, photograph, and communication it plans to introduce; miss that deadline and you get an automatic 15-day postponement. The association presents its case first, then you or your representative respond, and either side may make an audio recording.8State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 209.007 – Hearing Before Board
These steps matter. An association that skips any of them risks having its enforcement action invalidated, and procedural failure is often a homeowner’s strongest argument in a subsequent legal challenge.
Assessments, Liens, and Foreclosure
An HOA can levy regular and special assessments and place a lien on your property when you fall behind. That lien generally takes priority over most other claims except a first mortgage recorded before the HOA lien arose.
Texas law requires judicial involvement before an HOA can foreclose. Under Section 209.0091, the association must first send written notice of the total delinquency by certified mail to any subordinate lienholder whose interest is recorded against the property, and give that lienholder at least 60 days to cure the delinquency before filing for foreclosure.9Texas Public Law. Texas Property Code 209.0091 – Prerequisites to Foreclosure The association must then seek an expedited court order or file a judicial foreclosure petition under Section 209.0092. This court requirement is a protection many other states lack.
Ignoring delinquency notices is where most homeowners get into serious trouble. Late fees, interest, and attorney fees compound quickly. Contacting the HOA early to negotiate a payment plan is almost always better than waiting for the lien and legal process to run.
Your Right to Records and Open Meetings
Section 209.0051 requires HOA board meetings to be open to members. The board can enter closed executive session only for personnel matters, pending or threatened litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement actions, confidential attorney communications, and privacy-sensitive issues about individual owners. After executive session, decisions must be summarized orally and included in the minutes without breaching privacy. Notice of a regular board meeting must go out at least 144 hours in advance, and at least 72 hours in advance for a special meeting, with the date, time, location, and a general description of topics including any executive session matters.10State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 209.0051 – Open Board Meetings
Section 209.005 gives you the right to inspect and copy the association’s books and records, including financial statements, tax returns, meeting minutes, and governing documents. You can designate an agent, attorney, or CPA to do it for you. Send the request in writing by certified mail to the address on the association’s current management certificate, and describe the records with enough specificity to identify them. The association has 10 business days to produce the records and must adopt a written production policy setting out costs, which cannot exceed the rates in the Texas Administrative Code.11State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.005 – Association Records
Resale Certificates When You Sell
Selling a home in a deed-restricted community requires a resale certificate from the HOA. Under Section 207.003, the association must deliver it within 10 business days of receiving a written request with proof that the requestor is authorized. The certificate must show regular assessment amounts and frequency, any approved special assessments coming due, unpaid amounts attributable to the property, the operating budget and balance sheet, reserve fund totals, pending lawsuits, and the association’s common-area insurance certificate. An update to a previously delivered certificate must be provided within seven business days. Certificates aren’t free, and if the association misses the deadline, the delay can hold up your closing.12State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 207.003