Understanding Texas HOA laws, rules and regulations in 2026

You bought a rental in a Frisco subdivision, and the HOA fined you $200 for a trash can visible from the street. Whether that fine is enforceable depends on which layer of a five-tier governing hierarchy authorized it, and whether the board followed notice, fine, lien, meeting, and transparency rules Texas lawmakers changed across the 2021, 2023, and 2025 sessions. The newest restrictions took effect September 1, 2025, and condominium associations that recorded certificates earlier faced a March 1, 2026 TREC filing deadline.

What are HOA bylaws in Texas?

HOA bylaws in Texas are the association's internal operating manual: how many directors sit on the board, how they're elected, when meetings happen, what counts as a quorum, and how votes get counted. Many Texas HOAs organize as nonprofit corporations, so their bylaws operate under BOC Chapter 22 in addition to the Property Code.

Bylaws govern procedure. The CC&Rs (the declaration, recorded in county real property records) restrict how you can use the property itself: rental terms, fence heights, paint colors. Owners frequently blame "the bylaws" for a restriction that lives in the CC&Rs.

The hierarchy of Texas HOA governing documents

When documents conflict, the higher-priority document controls. Federal law sits above everything, including any Texas statute or HOA document (Texas HOA hierarchy):

1. Federal law has the highest priority. The FHA and ADA override any conflicting state law or HOA document. So do the FCC OTARD rule and Flag Act.
2. Texas statutes come next. Property Code Chapters 202 and 209 impose mandatory rules that supersede contrary HOA provisions. BOC Chapter 22 supplies nonprofit-corporation rules.
3. The CC&Rs or declaration control property-use restrictions that run with the land.
4. Bylaws control board structure, elections, meetings, and voting procedure.
5. Rules and regulations sit at the bottom of the hierarchy; these are the board-adopted rules and regulations covering day-to-day operational details like pool hours and parking.

Bylaws cannot be amended into conflict with the declaration (Section 209.0041), and that same section prevails over any conflicting provision in Title 11 of the Property Code.

Texas laws that govern HOA bylaws

Chapter 209, the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, covers board governance, elections, records, liens, and foreclosure for residential subdivision HOAs with mandatory membership. Chapter 202 lists what restrictive covenants cannot prohibit, including solar panels and rain barrels. Chapter 22 of the Business Organizations Code supplies nonprofit-corporation defaults (quorum, director terms, member voting) wherever Chapter 209 is silent.

Chapter 209 expressly excludes condominiums, which run under Chapter 82 instead.

Chapter 209 in depth

Before an HOA can fine you, suspend your common-area rights, sue you (other than to collect assessments or foreclose), charge you for property damage, or report a delinquency to a credit bureau, the HOA must give you written notice by certified mail under Section 209.006. You then have 30 days from mailing to request a hearing before the board.

The hearing itself runs on fixed deadlines under Section 209.007:

• 30-day scheduling: The association must hold the hearing no later than the 30th day after receiving your request.
• 10-day notice: You must receive the date, time, and place at least 10 days before the hearing.
• Document packet: The HOA must hand you every document, photo, and communication it plans to introduce at least 10 days ahead. If it doesn't, you get an automatic 15-day postponement.
• Recording: Either side may make an audio recording.

Section 209.0051 also requires open board meetings, with at least 144 hours' notice by posting plus email for a regular meeting and 72 hours for a special meeting.

Bylaws vs. CC&Rs

For a rental investor, whether the HOA can ban short-term rentals is answered in the recorded declaration, which binds every lot; whether the board had authority to vote on that ban at last Tuesday's meeting is answered by the bylaws and Chapter 209. And the HOA's master policy stops at the common areas: landlord insurance in Texas is what covers your unit, your liability, and lost rent.

What Texas HOA bylaws typically cover

Typical bylaw provisions include:

• Board composition and size
• Officer roles (president, secretary, treasurer)
• Election procedures and terms
• Quorum requirements for board and member meetings
• Meeting notice and frequency
• Voting rights and proxy rules
• Committee structure

Where bylaws say nothing, Texas law supplies the default rule. Many Texas bylaws also name Robert's Rules of Order as the parliamentary fallback, and where they do, that manual governs motions and debate at meetings. Under BOC Chapter 22, members holding one-tenth of the votes entitled to be cast constitute a quorum (§ 22.159), each member gets one vote per matter, and a majority of votes cast at a quorum meeting carries the day.

Board of directors: elections, terms, and removal

A Texas nonprofit HOA must have at least three directors, and the same person cannot serve as both president and secretary (BOC § 22.204). Absent a governing-document provision, a director serves until the next annual election (§ 22.208). Bylaws commonly set staggered terms, typically two or three years, arranged so only part of the board turns over each year.

Texas lawmakers added Chapter 209 owner protections on top of those corporate defaults:

• Expired terms: Any board member whose term has expired must be elected by the owners; the board may appoint members only to fill mid-term vacancies for the unexpired term (§ 209.00593).
• Owner voting rights: Section 209.0059 voids any provision that would strip a property owner of the right to vote in board elections.
• ARC independence: Since September 1, 2025, for covered associations with an architectural review authority, current board members, their spouses, and household residents cannot serve on the architectural review committee, subject to a limited vacancy-fill exception, and the association must solicit ARC candidates at least 10 days before appointing anyone (SB 711).

The removal of directors is not spelled out in Chapter 209, so owner-initiated removal runs through the bylaws' special-meeting petition and vote, together with BOC Chapter 22; an owner petition for a special meeting is the nearest statutory lever. Separately, owners holding at least 10% of voting interests may petition for a special meeting to add or remove the association's foreclosure authority, which takes 67% of total voting interests (§ 209.0093). Chapter 82 ends condominium declarant control no later than 120 days after 75% of units are conveyed (§ 82.103); Chapter 209 sets no comparable schedule for subdivisions.

Fiduciary duties of board members

Directors of a nonprofit HOA must act in good faith, with ordinary care, and in a manner they reasonably believe serves the corporation's best interest (BOC § 22.221). Loyalty sits inside that duty: self-dealing and contracts with directors, their relatives, or their businesses are where owners most often challenge a board. Condominium board members are expressly designated fiduciaries for unit owners under § 82.103; Chapter 209 has no equivalent explicit provision for subdivisions.

Selective enforcement is the practical exposure. Under § 202.004, courts presume an HOA's exercise of discretionary authority is reasonable unless a court finds it arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory. A board that fines your tenant's trash can but ignores the president's boat trailer is building that record itself. The same section authorizes civil damages of up to $200 per day against anyone who violates a restrictive covenant.

HOA assessments, fines, liens, and foreclosure

Regular assessments fund the annual budget; special assessments cover one-time costs. Since January 1, 2024, any board authorized to levy fines must adopt a written enforcement policy listing the categories of violations and a fine schedule for each, posted on the association's website or sent to owners annually (§ 209.0061).

Texas sets no fixed dollar cap on fines; lawmakers introduced a bill that would have required a reasonable cap on continuing-violation fines (SB 1935, 89th Legislature), but the Legislature did not enact it. Fines still require the certified-mail notice and hearing rights under §§ 209.006 and 209.007, and since September 1, 2025, an HOA cannot fine you for brown turf during mandated watering restrictions or for 60 days after they end (HB 517).

An HOA can turn unpaid assessments into a lien only after a mandatory sequence under § 209.0094:

1. The first delinquency notice starts the process. The HOA sends it by first-class mail or email.
2. The second delinquency notice must go by certified mail, return receipt requested. The HOA cannot send it earlier than 30 days after the first notice.
3. The lien filing comes last. The HOA cannot record the lien in county records before the 90th day after the second notice.

That's a minimum of 120 days from first notice to lien. Before passing your account to a collection agent, the HOA must also give a 45-day cure period by certified mail (§ 209.0064), and associations with more than 14 lots must offer payment plans of 3 to 18 months (§ 209.0062). Payments apply to delinquent assessments first and fines near last (§ 209.0063).

An HOA cannot foreclose at all if the debt consists solely of fines or fine-related attorney's fees (§ 209.009). For assessment debt, it must first obtain a court order through expedited foreclosure under Texas Supreme Court rules (§ 209.0092), and it must give junior lienholders a 61-day cure opportunity before filing (§ 209.0091). After a sale, the owner has 180 days from the post-sale notice to redeem the property (§ 209.011).

How to amend HOA bylaws in Texas

Under BOC § 22.102(c), the board may amend, repeal, or adopt bylaws unless the certificate of formation (the nonprofit corporation's articles of incorporation) reserves that power to members or members barred board amendment of a specific bylaw when adopting it.

If members vote, the default threshold is a majority of votes cast at a meeting with quorum. Texas sets no statutory minimum or maximum for bylaw amendments; your governing documents can require more.

CC&R amendments require 67% of total allocated votes under § 209.0041, and that 67% is a ceiling: a declaration demanding more is superseded by statute, while a lower stated percentage controls. Amending restrictive covenants by petition under Chapter 204 takes 75% of owners, unless the original dedicatory instrument allows a smaller percentage. Notice of a member meeting must go out 10 to 60 days ahead (BOC § 22.156; § 209.0056), and a vote taken outside a meeting requires at least 20 days' notice before the ballot deadline.

Owners must be allowed to vote by at least one statutory method: absentee ballot, proxy, or electronic ballot, and owners may now hold meetings electronically or by phone (SB 2629, effective September 1, 2025). An electronic ballot is one sent by email, fax, or website posting where the owner's identity can be confirmed and the owner can get a receipt. The HOA must file an amended dedicatory instrument in the real property records of each county where the property sits before it takes effect (§ 202.006). Only authorized filers such as licensed Texas attorneys, title companies, or county-approved vendors may e-record, and clerks that accept electronic documents must keep accepting paper (Local Government Code § 195.003).

What Texas HOA bylaws cannot legally restrict

Chapter 202 voids whole categories of restriction no matter what the governing documents say:

• Solar energy devices (§ 202.010): An HOA cannot prohibit solar installation; any such provision is void. It can still regulate placement. HB 431 (2025) added solar roof tiles to the protected definition.
• Flags (§ 202.012): The U.S. flag, Texas flag, and official military branch flags cannot be banned. The HOA may regulate flagpole size, number, and location but must allow at least one flagpole per property, up to 20 feet tall in the front yard or attached to the residence.
• Political signs (Election Code § 259.002): Signs for candidates or ballot measures are protected from 90 days before an election through 10 days after. The HOA can require ground mounting, one sign per candidate or measure, and no sign larger than 4 by 6 feet.
• Standby generators (§ 202.019): Permanently installed generators rated at least 7 kilowatts, in a manufacturer sound enclosure with a transfer switch, cannot be prohibited. Location rules are unenforceable if they raise installation cost more than 10% or line-connection cost more than 20%.
• Rain barrels, composting, and drought-resistant landscaping (§ 202.007): Chapter 202 protects these water-conservation measures.
• Religious displays (§ 202.018): Chapter 202 protects religious displays on entry doors and door frames.
• Security devices (§ 202.023): Chapter 202 protects security cameras, motion detectors, and perimeter fences, with new fencing-location limits from SB 711.
• Roofing (§ 202.011): Chapter 202 protects energy-efficient and solar-generating roofing.
• Tenant payment method (§ 202.024): An HOA cannot restrict an owner from renting based on method of payment, including Section 8 vouchers, effective September 1, 2023.

Federal law overrides every Texas HOA document. The OTARD rule preempts restrictions on satellite dishes of 1 meter or less and TV antennas of any size on property you exclusively control. The Flag Act protects U.S. flag display, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner rules. The Fair Housing Act requires reasonable accommodations and modifications for residents with disabilities, who usually pay for structural changes. The ADA covers common areas only when they are public accommodations, like a pool selling memberships to the public, and there the HOA pays.

Board meeting requirements

Regular and special board meetings must be open to owners. Mailed notice of a regular meeting runs 10 to 60 days before the meeting under § 209.0051. Except for electronic meetings, the board must meet in a county containing part of the subdivision or an adjacent one. Boards may meet electronically if every director can hear every other director, attending owners can listen by the same method, and the notice includes access instructions.

Board quorum defaults to the lesser of a majority of directors or a governing-document number not below three (BOC Chapter 22).

The board may adjourn into a closed executive session only for personnel matters, pending or threatened litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement actions, confidential attorney communications, individual owners' privacy, or matters agreed to remain confidential. Any decision made in executive session must be summarized orally in the minutes in general terms, including approved expenditures.

Other items may never be considered or voted on outside an open, noticed meeting:

• Fines and damage assessments
• Initiation of foreclosure or enforcement actions (excluding temporary restraining orders and health-or-safety matters)
• Assessment increases and special assessments
• Architectural-control appeals
• Suspension of owner rights
• Lending or borrowing money
• Annual budget approval
• Adoption or amendment of dedicatory instruments
• Sale or purchase of real property
• Filling board vacancies
• Capital improvements
• Officer elections

Homeowner rights: records access and dispute resolution

You, or your attorney, CPA, or designated agent, may inspect and copy the association's books and records, including financials, under § 209.005. Send a certified-mail request to the address on the current management certificate, describing the records and stating whether you want to inspect first or get copies. The association must respond on or before the 10th business day, extendable to a dated deadline no later than 15 business days after an extension notice.

State law caps copy fees at 1 T.A.C. § 70.3 rates, $0.10 per page and $15.00 per hour for labor, and the HOA cannot charge unless it has recorded a copying policy as a dedicatory instrument. The HOA may withhold other owners' violation histories, payment records, and contact information, plus employee personnel files.

If the HOA stonewalls, you can petition the justice of the peace in a precinct containing the subdivision after 10 business days' written notice of intent to sue; a winning owner gets an access order plus court costs and attorney's fees. Associations with at least 60 lots, or any that use a management company, must also post their current dedicatory instruments on a member-accessible website under § 207.006.

For enforcement disputes, start with the § 209.007 hearing, since the board cannot lawfully skip it. Many declarations then require mediation or arbitration before suit. § 209.017 lets owners bring Chapter 209 violation claims against the association in justice court, and claims above the justice court's jurisdictional limit go to district court.

Resale certificates and management certificates

When you buy into an HOA subdivision, the resale certificate under § 207.003 is your due-diligence file. Its 16 required items include:

• Assessment amounts and frequency
• Any approved special assessment due after delivery
• Total amounts owed and unpaid to the association
• Existing violations on the property
• Whether the restrictions allow foreclosure for unpaid assessments
• A certificate of insurance for the association's property and liability coverage

State law caps fees at $375 for the initial certificate and $75 for an update, and the association must deliver within 10 business days of a verified request. The certificate binds the association: it cannot deny any statement in it, and any lien securing amounts it failed to disclose terminates as to those amounts (§ 207.005). Texas lawmakers did not create a Chapter 207 cancellation period for buyers. That right comes from TREC Form 36-11, amended February 9, 2026 to clarify that a buyer who obtains the Subdivision Information need not give it to the seller.

Separately, every Chapter 209 association must record a management certificate with the county clerk and file it electronically with TREC within 7 days after recording, updating within 30 days of any change (§ 209.004). The certificate lists the subdivision and association and manager contact details. It also lists transfer fees and the dedicatory-instruments website. The filing duty applies to all Chapter 209 HOAs. The 14-lot threshold triggers the records-retention policy and payment-plan obligations. Without a filing on record, the association's lien is enforceable only for amounts incurred after a sale to a bona fide purchaser, and owners owe no attorney's fees or interest accrued while no certificate is on file.

Condo associations vs. residential subdivision HOAs

Condominiums run under Chapter 82, the Uniform Condominium Act, which covers declarations recorded on or after January 1, 1994; older regimes may opt in under § 82.002. Chapter 209 excludes them, and the regimes diverge on points that matter to an investor:

• Foreclosure: Chapter 82 condos may use judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure with no court order required. Chapter 209 subdivisions need a court order before foreclosure.
• Redemption after sale: Condo owners get 90 days. Chapter 209 subdivision owners get 180 days after post-sale notice.
• Fiduciary duty: Chapter 82 makes board members express fiduciaries. Chapter 209 has no equivalent explicit provision.
• Pre-enforcement hearing framework: Chapter 82 has none. Chapter 209 requires certified-mail notice, cure periods, and document packets.
• Member quorum: Chapter 82 uses 20% of votes, with a floor of 10%. Chapter 209 uses the BOC default of 10%.
• Declaration amendment: Chapter 82 uses 67%, and the declaration may require more. Chapter 209 treats 67% as a statutory ceiling.

SB 711 extended TREC filing and online posting to condominiums (§ 82.116), with a March 1, 2026 deadline for condos with previously recorded certificates; SB 2629 added electronic owner meetings and voting.

Recent Texas HOA legislative updates

SB 1588 (2021) built the current framework: the TREC certificate database, website posting for 60-lot and manager-run associations, resale fee caps, the court-order foreclosure requirement, the 144-hour meeting notice, justice-court jurisdiction for Chapter 209 claims, and mandatory bidding for service contracts over $50,000. Two sessions followed:

• 2023 (88th Legislature): HB 614 added the mandatory written fine policy; HB 886 created the two-notice, 90-day-wait lien sequence; HB 1193 barred payment-method discrimination against tenants. The Governor vetoed SB 1668, which would have extended transparency rules to condos, on June 18, 2023.
• 2025 (89th Legislature): SB 711 (ARC independence, condominium certificate filing), SB 2629 (electronic owner meetings and voting), HB 431 (solar roof tiles, effective May 29, 2025), HB 517 (no fines for brown turf during watering restrictions), and HB 621, which barred HOAs from blocking owners who invite government officials or candidates to meet members in common areas.

How to find your HOA bylaws in Texas

Start with the county. Every dedicatory instrument, including bylaws, CC&Rs, and amendments, must be filed in the real property records of the county where the property sits, and an unfiled instrument has no legal effect. Search the county clerk's records under the subdivision or association name.

Then check hoa.texas.gov, TREC's public management certificate database, searchable by location or association name. It won't contain the bylaws but names the association's contact and the website hosting its dedicatory instruments. TREC only collects these certificates; it has no licensing or enforcement authority over HOAs.

The Texas Secretary of State does not maintain nonprofit bylaws, so skip it for document retrieval. If you're under contract, request the resale certificate: delivery is due within 10 business days.

FAQ

These are the questions Texas owners usually ask first: which document controls, what voting rights remain, and what the HOA cannot restrict. Start with the governing document, then check the statute that overrides it.

Do bylaws or CC&Rs win when they conflict?

The CC&Rs control. Section 209.0041 bars bylaw amendments that conflict with the declaration.

Which laws govern Texas HOAs?

Four statutes do the work: Property Code Chapter 209 covers subdivisions, Chapter 82 covers condominiums, Chapter 202 caps what restrictions can prohibit, and BOC Chapter 22 supplies nonprofit defaults.

What must bylaws contain?

The Property Code does not prescribe bylaw contents; bylaws normally cover board size and terms, officers, elections, quorum, meetings, and voting methods.

What vote does it take to amend bylaws?

A board vote under BOC § 22.102(c) usually suffices, or a majority of votes cast at a quorum meeting when members decide.

Can I see the HOA's financial records?

Yes, through a certified-mail request under § 209.005, answered within 10 business days at capped copy rates.

What can't an HOA restrict?

An HOA cannot prohibit solar devices, U.S./Texas/military flags, political signs near elections, 7 kW+ standby generators, security devices, or tenants paying with Section 8 vouchers.

Do board members owe me a fiduciary duty?

Condo directors are express fiduciaries under § 82.103, while subdivision directors owe good faith and ordinary care under BOC § 22.221.

What are my options in a dispute?

Request the § 209.007 hearing, then file Chapter 209 claims in justice court under § 209.017.