SB 1588 Texas HOA Rules: Fee Caps, Hearings, and Collections

Texas Senate Bill 1588 rewrote several parts of the Texas Property Code to rein in HOA overreach, and most of its provisions took effect September 1, 2021. The SB 1588 Texas HOA rules cap resale certificate fees, require detailed written notice and a hearing before an association can fine you or sue, restrict third-party debt collection and credit reporting, separate architectural review from the board in larger subdivisions, and protect religious displays, security cameras and fencing, and pool safety enclosures. The rules apply to property owners’ associations in residential subdivisions with authority to impose assessments.

Caps on Resale Certificate Fees

If you are selling a home in an HOA subdivision, the association or its management company cannot charge more than $375 to assemble and deliver the resale certificate you need at closing. An update to an existing certificate is capped at $75. And if the association misses the 10-business-day delivery window, it cannot charge any fee at all.¹

Those limits hold no matter how tight the closing timeline is. Before SB 1588, some management companies used rush situations to justify fees running into the thousands. That is no longer allowed.

Written Notice and Hearing Rights Before a Fine or Lawsuit

Your HOA cannot fine you, suspend your use of common areas, charge you for property damage, or file a covenant-violation lawsuit without first sending a written notice by certified mail. The notice has to describe the violation, state any amount you owe, and give you a reasonable period to fix the problem when the violation is curable and does not threaten public health or safety. Fix it within that window and no fine can be assessed.²

The notice must also tell you that you can request a hearing within 30 days and that you may have added protections under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act if you are on active duty. One limit: if the association already sent you notice on the same violation in the past six months, it does not have to repeat the full process.²

How the Hearing Works

Once you ask for the hearing, the association has to hold it within 30 days and give you at least 10 days’ advance notice of when and where. At least 10 days before the hearing, the association also has to send you a packet with every document, photograph, and communication it plans to use as evidence. Miss that 10-day evidence deadline and you get an automatic 15-day postponement.³

At the hearing itself, the association presents first. You or your representative goes second. Either side can request a postponement of up to 10 days, and either side can make an audio recording. You see the association’s evidence before you have to respond to it.³

Third-Party Collections

Before your HOA can stick you with fees from an outside collection agent, it has to send you a certified-mail notice listing every delinquent amount, stating the total needed to bring the account current, describing any available payment plan, and giving you at least 45 days to cure the delinquency before further collection action starts.⁴

The law also bans an arrangement that used to be common. If the association’s contract with its collection agent ties the agent’s pay to amounts recovered, or does not require the association to pay the agent directly, you are not liable for the agent’s fees. The association cannot sell its accounts receivable, and the collection contract cannot block you from contacting the board or management company about your account.⁴

Credit Reporting Limits

Your HOA cannot report delinquent assessments, fines, or fees to a credit bureau while the debt is the subject of a pending dispute between you and the association. Even for undisputed debts, two things have to happen first. The association has to send you a detailed breakdown of all delinquent charges at least 30 business days before reporting, by certified mail, hand delivery, or electronic delivery. And you have to have been given the chance to enter into a payment plan. The association also cannot charge you a fee for the act of reporting.⁵

The 30-business-day window is where you have real leverage. Get a delinquency notice, work out a payment arrangement inside that window, and the association cannot damage your credit while you are actively resolving the balance.

Architectural Review Independence

In subdivisions with more than 40 lots, the people reviewing your improvement application cannot be the same people running the board. A current board member, a board member’s spouse, and anyone living in a board member’s household are all ineligible to serve on the architectural review authority.⁶

There is a fallback: if no eligible member volunteers after the association asks, the board can fill remaining vacancies with anyone. The rules also don’t apply during a development period when the developer still controls the authority.⁶

If Your Application Is Denied

A denial has to come by certified mail, hand delivery, or electronic delivery. It has to explain the reasons in reasonable detail, describe any changes the authority would accept, and tell you that you have 30 days to request a hearing before the board.⁷

Once you request the hearing, the board has to hold it within 30 days, with at least 10 days’ advance notice of the date, time, and place. Both sides get to present evidence and discuss the facts, either side can ask for a postponement of up to 10 days, and either side can make an audio recording. The board can affirm, modify, or reverse the review authority’s decision.⁷

Religious Displays, Security, and Pool Fences

Your HOA cannot ban you from displaying religious items on your property or dwelling when the display comes from a sincere religious belief. The association can still act on items that threaten public health or safety, violate a law unrelated to religious speech, contain content that is patently offensive for non-religious reasons, sit on association-owned or maintained common property, violate building lines or easements, or are attached to traffic signs, street lamps, fire hydrants, or utility fixtures.⁸ Outside those narrow carveouts, a rule banning a mezuzah on your doorframe or a cross in your yard is unenforceable.

On security, the association cannot enforce a covenant that stops you from installing security cameras, motion detectors, or perimeter fencing on your private property. It can still regulate the type of fencing and prohibit cameras aimed into common areas. Fencing rules can also apply if a fence would block a public sidewalk, obstruct a drainage easement, or encroach on a licensed area. A covenant can prohibit fencing in front of the front-most building line, but not against an owner whose residential address is exempt from public disclosure under state or federal law, or an owner who provides law enforcement documentation showing a need for enhanced security. Perimeter fencing or front-yard fencing installed before September 1, 2025, is grandfathered in. These protections do not apply to condominiums or master mixed-use associations governed by Chapter 215.⁹

On pool safety, the association cannot prohibit or restrict a swimming pool enclosure that meets applicable state or local safety requirements. A qualifying enclosure is a fence around a pool or spa, made of transparent mesh or clear panels in metal frames, no taller than six feet, and designed to be unclimbable. The association can set appearance rules and permissible colors, but it has to allow enclosures that are black with transparent mesh set in metal frames.¹⁰

Management Certificates and the Leverage That Comes With Them

Every residential property owners’ association has to record a management certificate with the county clerk in each county where any part of the subdivision sits, and file it electronically with the Texas Real Estate Commission within seven days of recording. The certificate identifies the subdivision and association, lists mailing and contact information for the association and its manager, states any transfer fees, and lists the website where governing documents are posted. When any of that changes, an amended certificate has to be filed within 30 days of the association learning about the change.¹¹

The reason this matters to you as an owner: if the association has not filed a current management certificate with the county clerk or with TREC, you are not liable for attorney’s fees or interest the association incurs trying to collect a delinquent assessment during the period of noncompliance.¹² The association also cannot collect regular assessments at all if the dedicatory instrument authorizing those assessments has not been filed.¹³ Buyers, lenders, and title insurance companies are also off the hook for unpaid assessments or transfer fees tied to a transaction if no management certificate is on file.¹¹ If you are in a dispute over assessments, checking the county records and TREC’s public database is a first step worth taking.

Online Access to Governing Documents

If your subdivision has at least 60 lots, or if the association uses a management company, current versions of the declaration, bylaws, and any recorded amendments have to be posted on a website accessible to members. Smaller associations without a management company are exempt from the online posting requirement, though they still have to file management certificates.¹⁴

1
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 207.003 – Delivery of Subdivision Information to Owners and Purchasers
2
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.006 – Notice Required Before Enforcement Action
3
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.007 – Hearing Before Board Alternative Dispute Resolution
4
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0064 – Third Party Collections
5
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0065 – Credit Reporting Services
6
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.00506 – Eligibility to Serve on Architectural Review Authority
7
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.00505 – Architectural Review Committee
8
State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 202.018 – Regulation of Display of Certain Religious Items
9
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.023 – Security Measures
10
State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 202.022 – Swimming Pool Enclosures
11
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.004 – Management Certificates
12
Texas Legislature Online. SB 1588 Bill Analysis
13
Texas Legislature Online. Texas Senate Bill 1588 – Relating to the Powers and Duties of Certain Property Owners Associations
14
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 207.006 – Online Subdivision Information Required