By: Bailey, Elkins, Howard, Bohac, Hegar H.B. No. 2215
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation of property owners' associations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 202.007(a), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A property owners' association may not include or
enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that prohibits or
restricts a property owner from:
(1) implementing measures promoting solid-waste
composting of vegetation, including grass clippings, leaves, or
brush, or leaving grass clippings uncollected on grass;
(2) installing rain barrels or a rainwater harvesting
system; [or]
(3) implementing efficient irrigation systems,
including underground drip or other drip systems; or
(4) implementing landscaping design, installation, or
maintenance standards that result in water conservation, including
standards relating to the use of native or other drought-tolerant
plants, shrubs, trees, or grasses.
SECTION 2. Section 209.003(d), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) This chapter does not apply to a condominium development
governed by Chapter 81 or Chapter 82.
SECTION 3. Section 209.006, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 209.006. NOTICE REQUIRED BEFORE ENFORCEMENT ACTION.
(a) Before a property owners' association may suspend an owner's
right to use a common area, file a suit against an owner [other than
a suit to collect a regular or special assessment or foreclose under
an association's lien], charge an owner for property damage, or
levy a fine for a violation of the restrictions, [or] bylaws, or
rules of the association, the association or its agent must give
written notice to the owner by regular mail and by certified mail,
return receipt requested.
(b) The notice must:
(1) describe the violation or property damage that is
the basis for the suspension, suit, action, charge, or fine and
state any amount due the association from the owner; and
(2) inform the owner:
(A) that the owner:
(i) [(A)] is entitled to a reasonable
period to cure the violation and avoid the suspension, suit,
action, charge, or fine [or suspension] unless the owner was given
notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure a similar violation
within the preceding six months; and
(ii) [(B)] may request a hearing under
Section 209.007 on or before the 30th day after the date the owner
receives the notice; and
(B) if the violation involves an overdue regular
or special assessment, that failure to pay the assessment may
result in foreclosure.
SECTION 4. Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by adding
Section 209.0071 to read as follows:
Sec. 209.0071. PAYMENT OF CERTAIN ASSESSMENTS. A property
owners' association shall adopt guidelines under which an owner who
is unable to pay a delinquent regular or special assessment in full
may, at the owner's request, make partial payments of the
delinquent assessments until the delinquency is cured.
SECTION 5. Section 209.008, Property Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
follows:
(b) An owner is not liable for attorney's fees incurred by
the association relating to a matter described by the notice under
Section 209.006 if the attorney's fees are incurred before the
conclusion of the hearing under Section 209.007 or, if the owner
does not request a hearing under that section, before the date by
which the owner must request a hearing. The owner's presence is not
required to hold a hearing under Section 209.007. An owner is not
liable for attorney's fees incurred by the association relating to
overdue assessments if the attorney's fees are incurred before the
owner is offered a payment plan under Section 209.0071.
(h) An owner may collect from a property owners' association
reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the owner in defending
against a suit initiated by the association or initiating a suit
against the association under this chapter if, in the suit, the
owner prevails against the association. An owner that collects
attorney's fees under this section collects those fees in addition
to any other reasonable costs of court or other sums of money the
owner may collect from the property owners' association.
SECTION 6. Section 209.009, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 209.009. FORECLOSURE SALE PROHIBITED IN CERTAIN
CIRCUMSTANCES. (a) A property owners' association may not
foreclose a property owners' association's assessment lien unless:
(1) [if] the debt for which the lien secures payment
includes a mandatory regular or special assessment; and
(2) the owner has had an opportunity for a hearing
under Section 209.007 [securing the lien consists solely of:
[(1) fines assessed by the association; or
[(2) attorney's fees incurred by the association
solely associated with fines assessed by the association].
(b) Unless otherwise provided in writing by the property
owner, a payment received by a property owners' association from
the owner shall be applied to the owner's debt in the following
order of priority:
(1) any delinquent assessment;
(2) any current assessment;
(3) any fines assessed by the association; and
(4) any attorney's fees incurred by the association
solely associated with fines assessed by the association.
SECTION 7. Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by adding
Section 209.0091 to read as follows:
Sec. 209.0091. JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE REQUIRED. (a) Except
as provided by a restriction created before September 1, 2005, a
property owners' association may not foreclose a property owners'
association's assessment lien unless the association first obtains
a court judgment foreclosing the lien and providing for issuance of
an order of sale.
(b) The supreme court, as an exercise of the court's
authority under Section 74.024, Government Code, shall adopt rules
establishing expedited foreclosure proceedings for use by a
property owners' association in foreclosing an assessment lien of
the association. The rules adopted under this subsection:
(1) must be substantially similar to the rules adopted
by the supreme court under Section 50(r), Article XVI, Texas
Constitution; and
(2) remain in effect unless and until disapproved by
the legislature.
SECTION 8. Section 209.011(b), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The owner of property in a residential subdivision may
redeem the property from any purchaser at a sale foreclosing a
property owners' association's assessment lien not later than the
first anniversary of [180th day after] the date the association
mails written notice of the sale to the owner under Section 209.010.
SECTION 9. Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by adding
Section 209.012 to read as follows:
Sec. 209.012. QUALIFICATIONS OF BOARD MEMBERS. A person
convicted of a crime of moral turpitude may not serve as a member of
the board of a property owners' association before the 15th
anniversary of the date the person was convicted.
SECTION 10. (a) Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by
adding Section 209.013 to read as follows:
Sec. 209.013. NOTICE OF CERTAIN MEETINGS OF CERTAIN
PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS. (a) A property owners' association
is subject to this section only if:
(1) membership in the property owners' association is
mandatory for owners or for a defined class of owners of private
real property in a defined geographic area; and
(2) the property owners' association has the power to
make mandatory special assessments for capital improvements or
mandatory regular assessments.
(b) A property owners' association shall post notice of any
meeting of the association at which:
(1) one or more officers of the association will be
elected; or
(2) any proposed amendment to or change in an
assessment of the association, including an assessment described by
Subsection (a)(2), is to be deliberated or adopted.
(c) Notice of the date, time, and location of the meeting
must:
(1) be posted for at least 72 consecutive hours before
the meeting; and
(2) be posted at a reasonable number of conspicuous
locations in the appropriate area, including public places where it
is customary to post notices concerning the meetings of the
association or the affairs of the association generally.
(b) Section 109.013, Property Code, as added by this
section, applies only to a meeting of a property owners'
association that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 11. (a) Section 209.006, Property Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to an enforcement action taken by a
property owners' association on or after the effective date of this
Act. An enforcement action taken before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before that date,
and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Section 209.0071, Property Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to an assessment that becomes due on or after the
effective date of this Act. An assessment that becomes due before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
(c) Section 209.008(b), Property Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to a violation that occurs or arrearage that
accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A violation
that occurred or arrearage that accrued before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before that
date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(d) Section 209.009(b), Property Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a payment received by a property owners'
association on or after the effective date of this Act. A payment
received before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect when the payment was received, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(e) Sections 209.009 and 209.011(b), Property Code, as
amended by this Act, and Section 209.0091, Property Code, as added
by this Act, apply only to foreclosure of a lien that attaches on or
after the effective date of this Act. Foreclosure of a lien that
attaches before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(f) Section 209.012, Property Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a person who, on or after the effective date of this
Act, is elected, reelected, appointed, or reappointed to or
otherwise begins to serve on the board of a property owners'
association.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.