By: Hughes S.B. No. 48
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to property owners' associations, including condominium
  owners' associations.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 82.003(a), Property Code, is amended by
  adding Subdivision (17-a) to read as follows:
               (17-a) "Management company" means a person or entity
  established or contracted to provide management or administrative
  services on behalf of a unit owners' association organized under
  Section 82.101.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 82, Property Code, is
  amended by adding Section 82.1142 to read as follows:
         Sec. 82.1142.  ONLINE ASSOCIATION INFORMATION REQUIRED. (a)  
  This section only applies to:
               (1)  the association of a condominium composed of at
  least 60 units; or
               (2)  an association that has contracted with a
  management company.
         (b)  An association to which this section applies shall make
  the current version of the association's dedicatory instruments
  relating to the association and filed in the county deed records
  available on an Internet website that is:
               (1)  maintained by the association or a management
  company on behalf of the association; and
               (2)  accessible to association members.
         SECTION 3.  Section 82.116, Property Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding Subsections (b-1)
  and (d) to read as follows:
         (a)  An association shall record in each county in which any
  portion of the condominium is located a management certificate,
  signed and acknowledged by an officer of the association, stating:
               (1)  the name of the condominium;
               (2)  the name of the association;
               (3)  the location of the condominium;
               (4)  the recording data for the declaration and any
  amendments to the declaration;
               (5)  the mailing address of the association; [, or]
               (6)  the name, [and] mailing address, telephone number,
  and e-mail address of any management company [the person or entity
  managing the association];
               (7)  the website address of any Internet website on
  which the association's dedicatory instruments are available in
  accordance with Section 82.1142;
               (8)  the amount and description of a fee or fees charged
  to a unit seller or buyer relating to a transfer of a property
  interest in a unit of the condominium; and
               (9) [(6)]  other information the association considers
  appropriate.
         (b)  The association shall record an amended [a] management
  certificate not later than the 30th day after the date the
  association has notice of a change in any information in a recorded
  certificate required by Subsection (a) [Subdivisions (a)(1)-(5)].
         (b-1)  Not later than the seventh day after the date an
  association files a management certificate for recording under
  Subsection (a) or files an amended management certificate for
  recording under Subsection (b), the association shall
  electronically file the management certificate or amended
  management certificate with the Texas Real Estate Commission.  The
  Texas Real Estate Commission shall only collect the management
  certificate and amended management certificate for the purpose of
  making the data accessible to the public through an Internet
  website. 
         (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), the [The]
  association and its officers, directors, employees, and agents are
  not subject to liability to any person for delay or failure to
  record a management certificate with a county clerk's office or to
  electronically file the management certificate with the Texas Real
  Estate Commission, unless the delay or failure is wilful or caused
  by gross negligence.
         (d)  A unit owner is not liable for attorney's fees incurred
  by an association relating to the collection of a delinquent
  assessment against the unit owner, or interest on the delinquent
  assessment, if the attorney's fees are incurred by the association
  or the interest accrues during the period a management certificate
  is not recorded with a county clerk or electronically filed with the
  Texas Real Estate Commission, as required by this section.
         SECTION 4.  Section 82.157, Property Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
         (f)  An association may charge a reasonable and necessary
  fee, not to exceed $375, to furnish a resale certificate under
  Subsection (a).
         SECTION 5.  Section 202.023, Property Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read
  as follows:
         (c)  This section does not prohibit a property owners'
  association from:
               (1)  prohibiting the installation of a security camera
  by a property owner in a place other than the property owner's
  private property; [or]
               (2)  regulating the type of fencing that a property
  owner may install;
               (3)  prohibiting the placement of fencing that
  obstructs:
                     (A)  a license area, as defined by a written
  license agreement or plat; 
                     (B)  a sidewalk in the public right-of-way or
  otherwise installed for public or community use; or
                     (C)  a drainage easement or drainage area;
               (4)  requiring a driveway gate to be set back at least
  10 feet from the right-of-way if the driveway intersects with a
  laned roadway, as defined by Section 541.302, Transportation Code;
  or
               (5)  if provided by a restrictive covenant, prohibiting
  the installation of fencing in front of the front-most building
  line of a dwelling.
         (d)  Notwithstanding Subsection (c), a property owner may
  maintain any perimeter fencing or fencing in front of a dwelling's
  front-most building line installed or constructed before October 1,
  2023.
         (e)  Notwithstanding Subsection (c)(5), an association may
  not prohibit a property owner from installing perimeter fencing or
  fencing in front of the front-most building line of a dwelling if:
               (1)  the property owner's residential address is exempt
  from public disclosure under state or federal law; or 
               (2)  the property owner provides to the association
  documentation from a law enforcement agency of the property owner's
  need for enhanced security measures.
         SECTION 6.  Section 209.00505(c), Property Code, is
  redesignated as Section 209.00506, Property Code, and amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 209.00506.  ELIGIBILITY TO SERVE ON ARCHITECTURAL
  REVIEW AUTHORITY. (a) This section applies only to an
  architectural review authority to which Section 209.00505 applies.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a person may not
  be appointed or elected to serve on an architectural review
  authority unless the person timely notifies the association of the
  person's interest in serving on the authority in accordance with
  Section 209.00507.
         (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] person may
  not be appointed or elected to serve on an architectural review
  authority if the person is:
               (1)  a current board member;
               (2)  a current board member's spouse; or
               (3)  a person residing in a current board member's
  household.
         (d)  If a vacancy remains on the architectural review
  authority after each person eligible under Subsection (c) who
  timely notifies the association in accordance with Section
  209.00507 is appointed or elected to the authority, the association
  may appoint any person to fill the vacancy, including a person not
  otherwise eligible under Subsection (c).
         SECTION 7.  Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by adding
  Section 209.00507 to read as follows:
         Sec. 209.00507.  SOLICITATION OF CANDIDATES FOR
  ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW AUTHORITY. (a) This section applies only to
  an architectural review authority to which Section 209.00505
  applies.
         (b)  Not later than the 10th day before the date a property
  owners' association or board takes action to elect or appoint or
  meets to elect or appoint a person to serve on the architectural
  review authority, the association must provide notice to the
  association members soliciting persons interested in serving on the
  architectural review authority.
         (c)  The notice required under Subsection (b) must:
               (1)  be provided:
                     (A)  by mail to each owner; or
                     (B)  by:
                           (i)  posting the notice in a conspicuous
  manner reasonably designed to provide notice to association
  members:
                                 (a)  in a place located on the
  association's common property or, with the property owner's
  consent, on other conspicuously located privately owned property
  within the subdivision; or
                                 (b)  on any Internet website
  maintained by the association or other Internet media; and
                           (ii)  sending the notice by e-mail to each
  owner who has registered an e-mail address with the association;
  and
               (2)  contain instructions for a person to notify the
  association of the person's interest in serving on the
  architectural review authority, including the date by which the
  person's notification must be received by the association.
         (d)  The date established by an association under Subsection
  (c)(2) by which notification of a person's interest in serving on
  the architectural review authority must be received by the
  association may not be a date earlier than the 10th day after the
  date the association provides the notice described by Subsection
  (c).
         SECTION 8.  A condominium unit owners' association that has
  recorded a management certificate or amended management
  certificate with a county clerk under Section 82.116, Property
  Code, before the effective date of this Act shall electronically
  file the most recently recorded management certificate or amended
  management certificate with the Texas Real Estate Commission as
  required by Section 82.116(b-1), Property Code, as added by this
  Act, not later than April 1, 2024.
         SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect October 1, 2023.