Texas HOA laws are set out mainly in Chapters 202, 209, and 215 of the Texas Property Code, and they give homeowners real procedural rights whenever a board tries to fine them, deny an architectural request, or collect unpaid assessments. Chapter 209, the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, does most of the work for standard subdivisions. Chapter 202 protects specific property uses that no association can ban. Chapter 215 covers master mixed-use associations.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209 – Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act The protections below only help if you know they exist and use them on time.
Within your own community, the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions outranks the bylaws, and the bylaws outrank any rule the board adopts on its own. A board-created rule that conflicts with the recorded declaration is unenforceable.
What Your HOA Cannot Restrict
Texas law carves out specific uses that no association can outlaw, no matter what the declaration says. The board can regulate placement and appearance within reason, but an outright ban is void.
Solar Panels
An association cannot prohibit solar energy devices. Panels must go on your roof or in a fenced yard or patio you own. Roof-mounted panels cannot extend beyond the roofline, must conform to the slope, and must use frames and brackets in silver, bronze, or black. The board can designate a preferred roof area, but you can use a different spot if it would generate more than 10 percent more energy annually under the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s public modeling tools.2State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.010 – Solar Energy Devices
Religious Displays
An association cannot prohibit you from displaying religious items on your property or dwelling when the display is motivated by a sincere religious belief. Restrictions are allowed only for items that threaten health or safety, violate a non-speech law, contain patently offensive content unrelated to religion, sit on HOA-owned property, or violate building setbacks and easements.3State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.018 – Regulation of Display of Certain Religious Items
Flags
You may display the U.S. flag, the Texas flag, and the flags of U.S. military branches, and if you have a front yard you may install a flagpole. The association can set reasonable standards for placement and appearance.
Water Conservation and Landscaping
Rain barrels, rainwater harvesting systems, drip irrigation, drought-resistant landscaping, and composting of yard waste cannot be banned. The association may regulate size, type, materials, and placement. Rain barrels, for example, must match the color scheme of your home and cannot be placed between the front of the house and the street.4State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.007 – Certain Restrictive Covenants Prohibited
Security Cameras and Fencing
Since 2021, associations cannot ban security cameras, motion detectors, or perimeter fencing. The board can still regulate fencing material, require driveway gates to sit at least 10 feet back from the road, prohibit cameras on anything other than your private property, and in some cases prohibit fencing in front of the front-most building line. Even those front-yard restrictions cannot be used against you if your address is exempt from public disclosure under state or federal law, or if you have documentation from a law enforcement agency showing a need for enhanced security.5State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.023 – Security Measures
Notice and Hearing Before an HOA Can Fine You
Before an association can fine you, suspend your common-area privileges, or charge attorney fees related to a violation, it must send written notice by certified mail. This is often called a Section 209 notice.6State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209 – Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act – Section 209.006
The notice must describe the violation, state any amount claimed, and tell you that you can request a hearing. You have 30 days from receipt to make that request in writing. If you got a similar notice for the same type of violation within the previous six months and had a reasonable chance to fix it, the association must give you a reasonable cure period before imposing a penalty.
Once you request a hearing, the board must hold it within 30 days. At the hearing, the board presents its evidence first, then you present yours, call witnesses, and make your case. Either side can record the proceedings. Attorney fees cannot be charged to your account for the matter in the notice until after the hearing ends, or until the 30-day request window closes if you don’t ask for one.7State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.008 – Attorneys Fees
Architectural Denials and Your Right to Appeal
In subdivisions with more than 40 lots, the law gives you a formal appeal if the architectural review committee denies an exterior change. The committee must send written notice of the denial by certified mail, hand delivery, or electronic delivery. That notice must describe the reasons in reasonable detail, specify any changes that would lead to approval, and tell you that you can appeal to the board.8State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.00505 – Architectural Review Authority
You have 30 days from the mailing of the denial to request a board hearing. The board must hold it within 30 days of receiving your request and notify you of the date, time, and place at least 10 days ahead. Either side can request one postponement of up to 10 days. After the hearing, the board can affirm, modify, or reverse the committee’s decision in whole or in part.
Two boundaries to know. This statutory appeal does not apply during a development period when the original developer still controls the architectural committee. And in associations with 40 or fewer lots, there is no statutory appeal, though the governing documents may create one.
Assessments, Payment Plans, and Foreclosure
Falling behind on assessments can eventually put your home at risk in Texas, but the law builds in several layers of protection first.
You Can Demand a Payment Plan
Associations with more than 14 lots must offer a payment plan that lets you pay down delinquent assessments in installments without new penalties piling on. The minimum plan length is three months, and the association is not required to extend it past 18 months.9State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0062 – Alternative Payment Schedule for Certain Property Owners The association can charge reasonable administrative costs and continue accruing interest, but it cannot add fines while you’re paying under the agreement. The association doesn’t have to offer a plan to an owner who defaulted on one within the last two years, and only one plan is required per 12-month period.
Where Your Payment Goes
Texas law fixes the order in which the association must apply your payments: delinquent assessments first, then current assessments, then attorney fees and collection costs tied to assessments, then other attorney fees, then fines, and finally anything else.10State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0063 – Priority of Payments This blocks the trick of applying your money to fines and fees while the underlying assessment debt keeps growing.
Foreclosure Requires a Court Order
To foreclose over unpaid assessments, a Texas HOA must go through the courts, either via an expedited foreclosure order or a traditional judgment and judicial sale.11State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0092 – Judicial Foreclosure Required An owner can waive the expedited process in writing at the time foreclosure is sought, but the association cannot require that waiver in advance.
The most important limit: the association cannot foreclose at all if the debt is solely fines, attorney fees tied only to fines, or amounts added to your account before the underlying assessment was actually due. Unpaid fines alone can never cost you your home.12State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209 – Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act – Section 209.009
Before a foreclosure sale, the association must send certified-mail notice stating the total amount owed and give you at least 30 days to pay. After the sale, you have 180 days from the date the association mails you notice of the sale to redeem the property by paying the full debt plus the purchaser’s costs.13State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.011 – Right of Redemption After Foreclosure
Cap on Attorney Fees in a Foreclosure Sale
An association can only charge you attorney fees related to enforcement or collections after it sends written notice that fees will accrue if the delinquency or violation continues past a specific date. When an association with nonjudicial foreclosure authority forecloses, the attorney fees included in the sale cannot exceed the greater of one-third of all actual costs and assessments (excluding attorney fees) plus interest and court costs, or $2,500.7State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.008 – Attorneys Fees Fees beyond that cap can still be pursued through other means, but not through the sale itself.
Records, Meetings, and Voting
Getting Documents From Your HOA
You have a statutory right to inspect and copy your association’s books and records, including financial records. Send a written request by certified mail to the address on the association’s most current management certificate, describe the records with enough specificity for the association to find them, and say whether you want to inspect them or receive copies.14State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.005 – Association Records
The association must respond within 10 business days. If it needs more time, it must send written notice explaining the delay and a new deadline no later than 15 business days after that notice. The association cannot charge you for records production unless it has first adopted a records production and copying policy and recorded it in the county’s real property records.
Open Board Meetings
Board meetings must be open to members. If the association mails notice, it must arrive between 10 and 60 days before the meeting. Otherwise the association can give at least 144 hours’ notice for a regular meeting (72 hours for a special meeting) by both posting it conspicuously, such as on common property or the website, and emailing every owner who has registered an email address with the association.15State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0051 – Open Board Meetings The notice must include date, time, location, and a general description of what will be discussed, including anything to be taken up in executive session. Action taken without proper notice is vulnerable to challenge.
Your Right to Vote
An association generally cannot bar you from voting because you owe assessments or have a pending enforcement action against you, and any governing document provision that tries to is void in most subdivisions.16State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0055 – Voting The narrow exception is associations with 10 or fewer lots created before January 1, 2015. Certain decisions require written, signed ballots: electing or removing board members, changing dedicatory instruments like bylaws or covenants, raising regular assessments, and adopting special assessments. Electronic ballots count as written and signed.
Selling Your Home: The Resale Certificate
When you sell a home in an HOA subdivision, the buyer and title company will need a resale certificate from the association disclosing its financial health, outstanding assessments on your property, insurance coverage, and related information. The association must deliver the certificate within 10 business days after receiving a written request with proof of the requester’s authority, and it cannot be based on data older than 60 days at delivery.17State of Texas. Texas Property Code 207.003 – Delivery of Subdivision Information to Owner
The association can charge up to $375 for the package, which includes current copies of restrictions, bylaws, and rules. Miss the 10-business-day deadline, and it cannot charge any fee. If an updated certificate is needed later in the transaction, the party who ordered the original can request one within 180 days, and the association must deliver it within seven business days for a fee of no more than $75.
If the Hearing Doesn’t Resolve It
You or the association can use alternative dispute resolution at any point. If a lawsuit is filed over a matter covered by the Property Code’s notice and hearing provisions, either party can file a motion to compel mediation.18State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.007 – Hearing Before Board and Alternative Dispute Resolution The hearing and mediation requirements do not apply when the association files for a temporary restraining order, seeks temporary injunctive relief, or brings a foreclosure action; in those situations, the association can go straight to court.