A lot of items were changed to items that affect homeowners living in an HOA / POA subdivision in the multiple 87th Texas Congressional sessions. One of my favorites that my resident rights activism group and I fought for – Property Code, Section 209.017, states: “JUSTICE COURT JURISDICTION. An owner of property in a subdivision may bring an action for a violation of this chapter against the property owners’ association of the subdivision in the justice court of a precinct in which all or part of the subdivision is located.“ If a resident can present their own case in front of a judge, with data and documents to prove the case, this can save them a great deal of time and $$
Senate Bill 1588, considered an ‘omnibus bill’, made extensive changes to multiple property codes, including 202, 207, and 209. One, in Code 202, section 202.022, discusses the building of resident swimming pool enclosures and the POA deed restrictions. Another change in 202, section 202.006, discusses the requirements for filing of Dedicatory documents.
Property Code 207 discusses changes that are required for the handling and filing of management certificates and the charges that may be assessed to the property owner when purchasing property in a subdivision.
Texas Property Code 209 had several changes made to it. One is the charging of late payment fees to a resident if the management certificate is not filed properly and in a timely manner. Section 209.00505 is a new section of the code that discusses Architectural Committees within a subdivision, who can be on them and who cannot be on them, and how appeals to this committee can be handled by both the resident and the committee members. Section 209.0051 was amended to place requirements on the meeting notification time frames and methods for regular meetings. ALL Annual Budget changes must be approved by the Directors in an OPEN meeting. Section 209.006 has been changed and Section 209.0065 has been added to address late payment and the resulting debt collection procedures and the fees involved. Section 209.063 and Section 209.0064 dictates the sequence that payments are applied to a resident account and in what order, as it pertains to current and overdue amounts. Section 209.007 mandates how deed restriction violations need to be handled by the Directors and what evidence they must produce during the violation meeting with the owner and when it must be presented to the home owner. For those who rent out their property, Section 209.016 discusses, in detail, what needs to be presented to the Directors for each person who leases the property.