On this page: Does this apply to you? · Violation letters and fines · Buying or selling · The management certificate · Board members · Dues, liens and foreclosure · HOA or condo at a glance · Who to ask · What changes next
Does this apply to you?
Look at the first page of your declaration. If it says "condominium", chapter 82 (or chapter 81) is your law. If not, it is almost certainly chapter 209.
| Your home | Main law | Worth knowing |
| House or townhome in a subdivision or planned development with a mandatory HOA | Property Code ch. 209 (209.002, 209.003) | The name doesn't matter: "homeowners' association", "community association" or similar (209.003(c)). Resale certificates and HOA websites are in ch. 207. What an HOA cannot ban is in ch. 202. |
| Condo created on or after 1 January 1994 | ch. 82, the Uniform Condominium Act (82.002(a)) | Chapter 209 does not apply to a condominium (209.003(d)), and neither does ch. 207 (207.002(b)). |
| Condo created before 1 January 1994 | ch. 81 (81.0011), plus listed parts of ch. 82 (82.002(c), (c-1)) | An older condo can opt fully into ch. 82 by amending its declaration (82.002(a)). |
| Townhome set up legally as a condominium | ch. 82 | A "townhouse regime" is inside the ch. 209 definition, but a townhome legally set up as a condominium is a condo. |
| Housing co-op | No Texas statute written for residential housing co-ops was found | Co-ops are rare in Texas and run under their own corporate documents. Ask a Texas-licensed attorney. |
Check this one: the Houston area. Chapter 204 gives HOAs extra powers in subdivisions in a county of 3.3 million or more people, and in some neighboring counties (204.002(a)). It does not apply to condos. Ask your association whether ch. 204 applies to your subdivision.
There is no Texas HOA regulator. The Texas State Law Library says: "There is no Texas state agency that oversees property owners' associations." The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) runs the management certificate search at hoa.texas.gov, but says it "does not have regulatory authority over HOAs." For a breach of chapter 209, an owner's main route is the justice court for the precinct where the subdivision lies (209.017).
Got a violation letter or a fine?
HOAs: your 30 days run from mailing
Before an HOA can fine you, suspend your use of the common areas, charge you for property damage, sue you (other than to collect assessments or foreclose) or report a debt to a credit bureau, it must send you written notice by certified mail (209.006(a)). The notice must describe the violation, give a date to cure it if it can be cured, and tell you that you may request a hearing "on or before the 30th day after the date the notice was mailed" (209.006(b)).
Check the mailing date, not the day you opened the letter. A letter that sat in your mailbox while you were away has already used part of your 30 days.
- Cure it and there's no fine. If you fix a curable violation by the cure date, "a fine may not be assessed" for it (209.006(e)). That right doesn't apply if you had notice and a chance to cure the same thing in the preceding six months (209.006(d)).
- The hearing. Ask in writing (209.007(a)). The board must hold it within 30 days after it gets your request, with at least 10 days' notice of the date, time and place. Either side may make an audio recording (209.007(c)).
- The evidence packet. At least 10 days before the hearing, the HOA must give you the documents, photos and communications it plans to use. If it doesn't, you get an automatic 15-day postponement (209.007(f), (g)).
- Attorney's fees. You aren't liable for fees incurred before the hearing ends or, if you don't ask for a hearing, before your deadline to ask (209.008(b)). You can ask for copies of the invoices (209.008(d)).
- Fines need an open meeting. A board can't levy fines by email vote; it takes an open meeting with notice (209.0051(h)). An HOA that can fine must adopt an enforcement policy with a schedule of fines, and post it or send it to owners every year (209.0061).
- Brown lawns. No fine under a green-lawn rule while a mandatory drought watering restriction is in force, or until the 60th day after it is lifted (202.008, from 1 September 2025).
No dollar cap on HOA or condo fines was found in Texas law. What the law does require is that an HOA fine be in its published schedule (209.0061). And SB 711 (2025) made no change to fines, violation notices or hearings, whatever some websites say.
A board's decisions are presumed reasonable unless a court finds them "arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory" (202.004(a)), so challenging a board's judgment is uphill. Challenging whether it followed the steps above is a different matter.
Condos are different
A condo association can fine only after notice and an opportunity to be heard (82.102(a)(12)). The notice must state the amount of the proposed fine and say you may request a board hearing "not later than the 30th day after the date of the notice" (82.102(d)). The cure right doesn't apply if a similar violation was noticed in the preceding 12 months, not six (82.102(d)). After it levies a fine, the association must tell you within 30 days (82.102(e)).
Letters for this: a hearing request (HOA or condo), a missing evidence packet, a cured violation, the fine schedule and minutes, and the attorney's fee invoices.
Buying or selling: the $375 cap
HOAs (chapter 207)
- Deadline. The resale certificate package is due by the 10th business day after a written request (207.003(a)).
- Fee. No more than $375 for the certificate package and $75 for an update, since 1 September 2021 (207.003(c)). If the certificate isn't provided on time, the HOA "may not charge a fee" (207.003(c-1)).
- Updates. Due within 7 business days, if the original requester asks within 180 days of issue (207.003(f), (g)).
- What it must say. Sixteen things, including what's owed on the property, the reserves, the budget, pending lawsuits by style and cause number, known violations on the home, and every transfer-related fee with who gets it (207.003(b)).
- If the HOA misses the deadline. After a second request, if nothing arrives by the 5th business day, the owner may go to court for an order and a judgment of up to $5,000, or give the buyer an affidavit of the two requests (207.004).
- It binds the HOA. The HOA can't deny what the certificate says, and its lien for amounts left off ends (207.005(a)).
The $375 cap is on the certificate, not on everything the HOA charges at closing. No statutory cap on transfer fees, capital contributions or move-in fees was found. Every transfer-related fee must be listed on the certificate (207.003(b)).
Condos (chapter 82)
The association must furnish the resale certificate "not later than the 10th day" after the owner's written request. That is calendar days, not business days (82.157). The fee has been capped at $375 since 1 September 2025 (82.157(f)); before then, condos had no statutory cap. There is no update fee or update procedure in 82.157.
A condo buyer who didn't get the declaration, bylaws and rules before signing can cancel without penalty, with all payments refunded (82.156).
Check this one. Section 82.156 describes the condo cancellation window in two slightly different ways, so treat it as a short window of about five days from getting the documents. Ask your buyer's agent or a Texas real estate attorney for the exact deadline in your case.
The seller's HOA notice
A seller of a home in a mandatory HOA must give the buyer the statutory notice before the contract binds the buyer. If they don't, the buyer may end the contract within 7 days after getting the notice or before closing, whichever comes first (5.012(d)). This doesn't apply to condos (5.012(c)). The buyer pays the resale certificate fee unless the contract says otherwise (5.012(g)).
Letters for this: requesting an HOA or condo certificate, an update, a second request, a refund for a late certificate, ending or cancelling the contract, and querying a fee that isn't on the certificate.
The management certificate
Every Texas HOA must record a management certificate in each county where it lies. It lists the manager's contact details, the website where the association's documents are posted, and its transfer-related fees (209.004(a)). When something on it changes, the association has 30 days to record an amended certificate (209.004(b)), then 7 days to file it electronically with TREC (209.004(b-1)).
While the certificate isn't recorded or filed, an owner isn't liable for attorney's fees to collect a delinquent assessment, or for interest on it, for that period (209.004(e)). Since 1 September 2025 the same rule covers condos (82.116(d)). Condos that recorded a certificate before that date had to file it with TREC by 1 March 2026.
Anyone can check. Search for your association's certificate at hoa.texas.gov. If you're behind on dues and a collection letter is adding fees and interest, compare the dates on the certificate with the dates on the charges.
For board members
- Open meetings. Regular and special board meetings must be open to owners (209.0051(c)). Notice is mailed 10 to 60 days before, or posted at least 144 hours before a regular meeting or 72 hours before a special one, and emailed to owners who have registered an email address (209.0051(e)).
- Fifteen decisions need an open meeting. They include fines, raising assessments, special assessments, borrowing, filling a board vacancy and approving the annual budget (209.0051(h)).
- Owners who owe money still vote. A rule that would disqualify an owner from voting in a board election "is void" (209.0059(a)).
- Counting the votes. A candidate, or a relative to the third degree, may not count or see the ballots (209.00594(a)). Any owner may demand a recount by the 15th day after the meeting, paying in advance (209.0057).
- Records. An owner requests by certified mail. The HOA responds within 10 business days, or says when the records will be ready, within 15 business days of that notice (209.005). Condos follow the same pattern (82.114, 82.1141), and must get an annual independent audit of their records (82.114(c)).
- Contracts with a director. Allowed only with at least two other bids where reasonably available, the director out of the discussion and vote, and a disinterested majority approving (209.0052(b)).
- Architectural committees. Since 1 September 2025, a board member, their spouse or anyone living in their household can't sit on the committee (209.00506).
What Texas law doesn't require. We found no Texas statute requiring director training or certification, mailing the annual budget to every owner, or a reserve study, for HOAs or condos. The resale certificate must still disclose the reserves and the budget (207.003(b)). Check with your association's attorney.
Letters for this: records requests, checking the management certificate, a decision taken without an open meeting, a ballot for an owner behind on dues, an annual meeting, a recount, and two letters for directors.
Behind on dues, liens and foreclosure
HOAs (chapter 209): the steps that come first
- Payment plan. HOAs with more than 14 lots must have payment plan guidelines, for a plan of at least 3 months with no additional monetary penalties (209.0062). The HOA doesn't have to offer one in some cases, such as more than once in any 12 months.
- Payment order. Payments go to delinquent assessments, then current assessments, then collection fees, then other attorney's fees, then fines (209.0063(a)).
- 45 days before collection agency fees. You aren't liable for a collection agent's fees unless the HOA first sent a certified-mail notice giving you at least 45 days to cure (209.0064).
- Credit reporting. No reporting of an amount that is in a pending dispute, and no fee for reporting (209.0065).
- Two notices and 90 days before a lien. A first notice, then a second by certified mail at least 30 days later. The lien can't be filed until the 90th day after the second notice (209.0094, from 1 September 2023).
- No foreclosure over fines alone, or over fine-related attorney's fees, or records or recount costs (209.009).
- A court order first. An HOA "may not foreclose" its assessment lien unless it first gets a court order, or sues for a judgment ordering a sale (209.0092).
HOAs: 180 days to buy it back
After an HOA foreclosure sale, the owner may redeem the home "not later than the 180th day after the date the association mails written notice of the sale" (209.011(b)). The HOA must send that notice within 30 days after the sale (209.010).
Our reading, not a rule. Because the clock starts when the HOA mails its notice, the window can end up to about 210 days after the sale. Check your own dates with a Texas-licensed attorney.
Condos: 90 days, from the sale
A condo association can foreclose through the courts or without them, but "may not foreclose a lien for assessments consisting solely of fines" (82.113(d), (e)). A condo owner may redeem "not later than the 90th day after the date of the foreclosure sale" (82.113(g)). An owner can stop a nonjudicial sale before it happens by paying all amounts due (82.113(j)).
Homestead doesn't stop an HOA assessment lien. Texas homestead protection does not stop foreclosure of an HOA assessment lien created by covenants recorded before the home became a homestead (Inwood North Homeowners' Ass'n v. Harris, Texas Supreme Court, 1987).
Letters for this: the ledger and how payments were applied, a payment plan, collection agent fees, a dispute before credit reporting, fees while the certificate was missing, lien notices, a redemption request, and a condo payoff figure.
HOA or condo at a glance
A quick checklist of the rules that differ most.
| Rule | HOA (ch. 209 and 207) | Condo (ch. 82) |
| Ask for a hearing | By the 30th day after the notice was mailed (209.006) | By the 30th day after the date of the notice (82.102(d)) |
| Repeat violation, no new cure period | Within 6 months (209.006(d)) | Within 12 months (82.102(d)) |
| Resale certificate due | 10th business day (207.003) | 10th day (82.157) |
| Resale certificate fee cap | $375, update $75, since 1 Sept 2021 | $375, no update fee, since 1 Sept 2025 |
| Management certificate and TREC | 30 days to record, 7 days to file (209.004) | Same, since 1 Sept 2025 (82.116) |
| Website (60 or more lots or units, or a manager) | 207.006 | 82.1142, since 1 Sept 2025 |
| Foreclosure | Court order required (209.0092) | Through the courts or without them (82.113) |
| No foreclosure over | Fines only, fine-related fees, records or recount costs (209.009) | Fines only (82.113(e)) |
| Redemption | 180 days after the HOA mails notice of the sale (209.011) | 90 days after the sale (82.113(g)) |
Who to ask
- Your association's manager or board, in writing, at the address on the management certificate.
- hoa.texas.gov (TREC), to look up a management certificate. TREC says it "does not have regulatory authority over HOAs", so it isn't the place to complain about one.
- The county clerk where the home is: recorded declarations, rules, management certificates, liens and payment plan guidelines.
- The justice court for your precinct: chapter 209 violations (209.017) and records petitions (209.005(n)).
- A Texas-licensed attorney. The State Bar of Texas Lawyer Referral & Information Service is on (800) 252-9690. Residents of Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Jefferson, Travis and Tarrant counties are pointed to their local referral services.
- The Texas Attorney General's Consumer Protection division takes consumer complaints, and the Texas Workforce Commission takes housing discrimination complaints.
What changes next
The law on this page is current to the changes that took effect on 1 September 2025. The next regular session of the Texas Legislature starts on 12 January 2027 (Government Code 301.001). Texas HOA law tends to change in big bills every few sessions, and most changes take effect on 1 September of the session year.
One bill to watch: SB 2586 (2025) would have made HOAs file their governing documents and enforcement policies with TREC. It passed the Senate 31 to 0 and was never voted on in House committee, so it is not law. It may come back in 2027. This page will be updated when the law changes.
General information only, not legal advice. Current to October 2026. The official text of the Texas Property Code is on the Legislature's statutes site; the chapters are linked below. Check it, and ask your association's attorney or a Texas-licensed attorney about your own situation.