TEXAS HOA REFORM: LEGISLATION SUGGESTIONS

I support the efforts of the Texas Reform Coalitions in fighting for resident rights. I received this message from them today:

Dear Texas Homeowner,
The 87th Texas Legislative Session begins in January 2021. The HOA Reform Coalition of Texas is in the process of proposing new legislation. As part of this process, we need real examples of how HOA/POA/COA have treated property owners. If you are willing to share your experiences in response to the questions below, please reply to this email or send an email to txhoareform@gmail.com.
1. Have you been harassed by your HOA/Management Company/HOA Attorney with terrible and/or unreasonable demands within the last few years that you are willing briefly to describe?
2. If you have a demand letter from the HOA/Management Company/HOA Attorney, and if you are willing to share, please attach it.
Please let us know so that we can present the problems homeowners endure to the legislators
HOA Reform Coalition of Texas Website:
http://hoareformcoalition.org/
Thank you for all that you do!
Respectfully,Beanie Adolph – DirectorNancy Kozanecki – Assistant Director

HOA REFORM COALITION

HOA NEPOTISM IN TEXAS HAS ENDED

HB-1025 passed the 86th Texas legislative process and parts of the 209 statute are changing, NOW. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019, except Section 209.00591(a-3), Property Code, as added by this Act, which was enacted on 6/14/2019. That was the day that Governor Abbott signed it. This will not effect any sitting board members, but when their terms are up, they must follow this law.

All future elections can no longer have husband/wife or other relative relationship persons, residing in the same home, running or elected. IMHO, that should have existed all along – too much nepotism. 209.0059 (a-3) states “(a-3) A person may not serve on the board of a property owners’ association if the person cohabits at the same primary residence with another board member of the association.”

I want to thank the HOA Reform Coalition for all their hard work on getting this passed. I would also like to thank Representative Bohac and Senator Whitmore for sponsoring this legislative change and Governor Greg Abbott for signing it. THAT was bipartisanship action, at it’s best!

HOA REFORM COALITION – TEXAS LEGISLATION

FROM TEXAS HOA REFORM COALITION:
http://hoareformcoalition.org/
Beanie Adolph – Director
Nancy Kozanecki – Assistant Director

HOA Reform Coalition Questionnaire

“The Texas Legislature will begin its 86th Session on January 8, 2019. In July the Texas HOA Reform Coalition submitted a questionnaire to the candidates in anticipation of the November elections. Texas homeowners need Senators and Representatives to be aware of the unchecked power exerted by HOAs and the urgent need for laws to protect them.” Read more here: HOA Reform Coalition

HOA Reform Coalition – Texas Legislature

Dear Texas Homeowners:

Our work has begun. The homeowners of Texas must now respond to all bill activity as best as each can. Those who live in or near Austin and can go to the Capitol for hearings, please go to as many as you can. A citizen may testify for or against or one has the option to merely select that choice on the forms found in the back of the Hearing Rooms. Even though not testifying, those positions for or against are tallied and announced. Your presence is most important.

Those a distance from Austin can be very effective by contacting the Committee members and stating their positions on the bill, as well as contacting their own senators and representatives. There is just a very short time to make your voice heard. Let them know homeowners demand their rights. They did not surrender them when they bought their homes.

Below is contact information important for you to let the Committees and your own state senator and representative know of your position on POA/HOA bills in this 85th Legislative Session. Go to the Texas Legislature Online (TLOL) http://www.legis.state.tx.us/ and under House and Senate, click “Members”. Then go to the member’s home site. There will be an email contact option.

Keep this information handy, so that when we share with you information we have just received concerning the progress of bills, you can advise the members of the legislature your preference as their constituent.

There are two Senate Committees listed. When we communicate with you about a Senate Bill, we will let you know which Senate Committee to contact.

Do be sure to list your own senator and representative so they will be contacted as well.

House Committee on Business & Industry (C040)	Clerk: Angelina Lopez
Legislature: 85(R) – 2017	Phone: (512) 463-0766
Appointment Date: 1/10/2017	Room: EXT E2.128

Position	Member
Chair:	Rep. Rene Oliveira
Vice Chair:	Rep. Hugh Shine
Members:	Rep. Nicole Collier
	Rep. Ramon Romero
	Rep. Jonathan Stickland
	Rep. Jason Villalba
	Rep. Paul Workman

Senate Committee on Business & Commerce (C510)	Clerk: Tatum Reagan
Legislature: 85(R) – 2017	Phone: (512) 463-0365
Appointment Date: 1/10/2017	Room: SHB 370

Position	Member
Chair:	Sen. Kelly Hancock
Vice Chair:	Sen. Brandon Creighton
Members:	Sen. Donna Campbell
	Sen. Craig Estes
	Sen. Robert Nichols
	Sen. Charles Schwertner
	Sen. Larry Taylor
	Sen. John Whitmire
	Sen. Judith Zaffirini

Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (C520)	Clerk: Dilip Kanuga
Legislature: 85(R) – 2017	Phone: (512) 463-2527
Appointment Date: 1/10/2017	Room: SHB 475

Position	Member
Chair:	Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr.
Vice Chair:	Sen. Paul Bettencourt
Members:	Sen. Donna Campbell
	Sen. Sylvia Garcia
	Sen. Don Huffines
	Sen. Jose Menendez
	Sen. Van Taylor

Thanks for all that you do.

HOA Reform Coalition of Texas Website:

http://hoareformcoalition.org/

Thank you for all that you do!

Respectfully,

Beanie Adolph – Director

Nancy Kozanecki – Assistant Director

Court Decision Helps Community Organizations

Q. I received a legal update via e-blast from a local law firm that specializes in real estate and condo association law. Apparently there is a new court decision that provides relief for banks and third party investors who buy a property at foreclosure sale. As I understood it, a condo or homeowners association will no longer be able to pursue past due maintenance fees if the association foreclosed its lien and owned the property for a period of time. Can you better explain the court decision and what it means for community associations?

Q. We have an owner who has not paid association fees for almost three years. The bank that financed the unit was apparently involved in “robo signing” and the delinquent owner has successfully fought them every step of the way. Does the association have any recourse against the bank, and if so, do you think it would be worth pursuing?

Q. Our condo association has a management company that uses the same vendors for all of their associations. Many of these vendors are handymen who are jacks of all trades (electrical, mold inspections, painting, plumbing, tile, etc.). The management company does not seem to require proper licenses or make sure they have insurance. Consequently, our board thinks these things are unnecessary. What is the association’s liability if something goes wrong?

…. Read The Answers Here

Gated HOA Gated Community Streets Responsibility

By Robert Lee Long
Citizens say streets in Cross Creek, a private gated community in Hernando, are in need of repair and one of the ways to upgrade their condition is to make them public. One way to achieve improvements and upgrades is to turn the streets over to the city. At issue, however, is the fact that plats of the subdivision will have to be changed, and if the streets are taken into the city, they will have to be accessible to the public.

Leigh Pegram, president of the Cross Creek Homeowners Association, said the group is exploring their options and has retained an attorney. She plans to brief Homeowners Association members on information she received at Tuesday’s board meeting at an upcoming meeting of the Homeowners’ Association.

City Attorney Kenneth Stockton said Cross Creek is platted and recorded as a private gated subdivision. Stockton is seeking an Attorney General’s Opinion on the public access issue. Pegram disagreed slightly, saying the word “private” never appears on the plat. However, at present individuals must have an access code to gain entrance into the subdivision. There are presently two active gates and an emergency gate to allow law enforcement officers and firefighters access to the subdivision.

–> Read Complete Story

Homeowner Association Attorney Ethics

By Jan Bergemann
In a perfect community association world the association attorney would make sure that the interests of all members of the community are represented when acting on behalf of the association. The actions of the attorney would benefit all members of the community – since all are paying the legal bills equally. Board members and owners should be able to rely on an attorney, who acts as the professional the association hired to represent its legal interest.

But since we are not in a perfect community association world, we see lots of problems caused by association attorneys who make it their main objective to protect the members of the board who signed their retainer agreement and who sign the checks – no matter what. It should not be the task of the association attorney to find ways to circumvent the statutes and the governing documents in order to please the board members who may have a private agenda or try to defend their personal egos.

We see frivolous lawsuits filed all the time, filed by overeager association attorneys – just because some board member has something to hide and doesn’t like an outspoken owner to challenge his/her “private agenda.” These lawsuits are definitely not in the best interest of these associations or the paying members.

–> Read Complete Story Here

HOAs Adjust To Texas Law Changes

By MATTHEW WATKINS
Want to go green by harvesting rainwater and installing solar panels at your house? Your homeowners association can no longer stop you, even if it considers the projects eyesores. Religious symbols under a certain height and flagpoles with United States, Texas or military flags are now also fair game.

And if your homeowners association wants to foreclose on your home for missed dues and unpaid fines, there are new hurdles it must clear. That is because of a series of new laws passed during the 2011 legislative session that have shaken up how the state’s numerous and sometimes controversial homeowners associations operate.

The laws cover much more than the regulation of members’ yards. Now, all associations must follow open records and meetings laws, meaning they are subject to freedom of information requests, are required to give 72 hours notice before each board meeting and must take meeting minutes.

They now must obtain an expedited court order to foreclose on a house. And they must offer payment plans for their dues and follow new regulations for how they collect and apply payments.

–> Read Complete Story Here

Texas Homeowner Association Laws

By Bill Oliver
With more than 60 homeowners associations (HOA), the city of College Station TX is devoting staff time to staying on top of new state laws. Barbara Moore of College Station’s neighborhood services office says additional requirements for HOA’s will affect how she does her job. Before new laws took affect January 1st, Moore says they worked with recruiting and training new HOA officers. Now, she will be assisting HOA’s with complying with new open meetings and records requirements among other things.

Moore says a recent meeting with 80 HOA representatives and members of a HOA trade association generated some surprise from HOA leaders about the increased responsibility caused by new state laws.

–> Original Article Here

–> Link To Texas HOA Laws

Legislator ‘oops’ on HOA Legislation HB-2160

by Kathleen Stinson
Arizona House Bill 2160, authored by Scottsdale Republican state Rep. John Kavanagh and approved by the state House earlier this week, sets new standards for condominium and HOA board elections. It will now go before a Senate committee.

Kavanagh said his bill guarantees secret ballots, prohibits an HOA from including endorsements in official board mailings, prohibits counting ballots before the close of an election, allows for a representative from each candidate to observe the counting, and provides that any identifying information be placed on the outer envelope and not on the ballot itself.

Kavanagh said his bill does not require HOAs to disclose the vote counts to its members “because I never imagined an HOA not announcing the vote numbers.

–> Read Complete Article

Associa Announces Opening of Texas HOA Collections Service

There was a recent news article that announced that – HOA Collection Services (HCS), an Associa company, launches this week in Texas and California, providing collection services to community associations.

“When community association Boards find collections services necessary, it is paramount to provide efficient, respectful service at a competitive cost,” said Paul Reyes, president of HCS.

Associa is the largest Homeowner Association and Property Owner Association companies in the United States and is moving into Canada and Mexico. It is a diversified company with branches in every aspect of HOAs, including homeowner association management, insurance, and now collections. Associa also owns a homeowner shopping enterprise, a political PAC, finance corporation, .

At the same time that John Carona, owner and founder of Associa, was building up the company, he was also building up a political career. He is a Texas state Senator and his company, Associa, also founded a Political PAC – Associa PAC. Senator Carona currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, Joint Chairman of the Legislative Oversight Board on Windstorm Insurance and as Co-Chairman of the Joint Interim Committee to Study Seacoast Territory Insurance. He also serves as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting and the Senate Criminal Justice, Education and Jurisprudence committees.

Personal comment begins….. I don’t think that legislators, through their private corporation ownership, should be allowed ‘PAC ownership’. And, I really question the sanity of allowing legislators to own companies that would benefit from their own legislation, especially when they have a way to funnel their own company funds, through a political PAC, into their political candidate choices. This is just too much ‘ownership’ of enterprises that can effect every citizen in that geographic area. I believe that this type of activity may be at the core of the ‘disgruntled voters’ in this country. …. end of personal comment.

What do you think?

Are All HOA Monies Tax Exempt?

By Gary Poliakoff
A Las Vegas HOA is currently fighting with the IRS over the question of whether $2 million held in the HOA’s savings account is subject to a 30% sales tax as corporate surplus.

Associations are generally organized as not-for-profit corporations (some older associations are not incorporated) and therefore must file tax returns like other not-for-profit corporations. Associations are not entitled to tax exempt status like charitable organizations. To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in the Code. To be tax exempt under IRC 501(c)(4), a homeowners’ association must operate for the benefit of the general public, i.e., it must provide a community benefit – not a benefit to the owners or residents. However, homeowners’ associations are still taxed on any income or support received that did not constitute dues or assessments paid by its property owner-members for maintenance and improvement of its property.

–> Read Complete Story Here

Disturbing New Trend Impacting HOA’s

By Donna DiMaggio Berger
Two recent legislative attempts signal a disturbing trend that has the potential to negatively impact Florida’s community associations.

The first is this year’s construction defect bill, HB 1013, sponsored by Representative Artiles and its Senate companion, SB 1196, sponsored by Senator Bennett. These bills would take away a homeowner’s rights to pursue a developer for defects to the driveways, roads, sidewalks. utilities, drainage areas and other so-called “off-site” improvements that are not located on the lot on which a home is constructed or which are located on such a lot but do not contribute to the “habitability” of the home.

–> Read Complete Article Here

Texas HOA Law Changes

By Jennifer Slewer
A slew of changes are now in effect for the state’s homeowners associations, the love-’em-or-hate-’em groups that everyone seems to have an opinion about. The changes grant homeowners more freedoms when it comes to outdoor decorating and installation of environmentally friendly systems. The changes also make it harder for HOAs to foreclose because of unpaid fees.

Now, HOAs won’t be able to keep you from displaying the U.S. or Texas flag, or flags of military branches. Free-standing flagpoles 20 feet tall or less will be allowed, too — legislation filed in response to an HOA that sued a Marine veteran for flying the Stars and Stripes on a flagpole.

HOAs also won’t be able to keep you from hanging a religious display on your front door, but they can require you to keep it at 25 square inches or less. That legislation was filed after a Jewish couple was threatened with a recurring fine for displaying a mezuzah, a parchment with Hebrew verses enclosed in a case affixed to the doorpost.

–> Read Complete Story Here

New Texas Laws Change HOA Powers

By Natalie Solis
Nearly 5 million Texans live in neighborhoods with homeowner associations. Compared to other states, HOAs wield a lot of power. But that’s starting to change. For many North Texans, home owners associations are the norm and not the exception

Angel Long is well versed in the rules. “Just those little things… the arbor on the back that had to be approved, and all the regulations,” she said of her Frisco home. “It wasn’t ever a hard process, but just something that had to be followed.”

Rules are one thing, but taking away someone’s house is another. “Lawyers from other states can’t believe how easy it is to take away someone’s property down here,” said attorney Clint David. “They think it’s like the Old West. They really do.”

Now Texas lawmakers are pulling the reins on HOAs with new laws. Some took effect last year, and others began January 1, 2012. Most of the new laws affect single-family homes, not condos or townhomes.

–> Read Complete Story Here