By: West S.B. No. 238
(In the Senate - Filed November 10, 2008; February 11, 2009,
read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
Relations; March 30, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0;
March 30, 2009, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 238 By: West
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the availability of a property owners' association's
books and records.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 209.005, Property Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
as follows:
(a) A property owners' association shall make the books and
records of the association, including financial records,
reasonably available to an owner in accordance with Section B,
Article 2.23, Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-2.23,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), or a successor to that statute.
(c) In addition to the requirements of Subsection (a), a
property owners' association shall maintain a copy of the
association's books and records, including financial records and
invoices in a building:
(1) in which the books and records are appropriately
stored and which is accessible to members of the association during
regular business hours; and
(2) located:
(A) on property commonly owned by the association
within the boundaries of the subdivision governed by the
association; or
(B) if a building described by this subsection
does not exist on property described by Paragraph (A):
(i) in a municipality or extraterritorial
jurisdiction of a municipality in which all or part of the
subdivision is located or in whose extraterritorial jurisdiction
the subdivision is located; or
(ii) if the subdivision is not located in a
municipality or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality,
in a county in which all or part of the subdivision is located.
(d) If a property owners' association subject to Subsection
(a) fails to comply with Subsection (a), an owner may seek one or
more of the following remedies:
(1) a court order directing the property owners'
association to provide the required information;
(2) a judgment against the property owners'
association for a penalty of not more than $1,500;
(3) a judgment against the property owners'
association for court costs and attorney's fees incurred in
connection with seeking a remedy under this section; or
(4) a judgment authorizing the owner or the owner's
assignee to deduct the amounts awarded under Subdivisions (2) and
(3) from any future regular or special assessments payable to the
property owners' association.
SECTION 2. Subsection (d), Section 209.005, Property Code,
as added by this Act, applies only to a property owners'
association's failure to comply with Subsection (a), Section
209.005, Property Code, on or after the effective date of this Act.
A property owners' association's failure to comply with that
subsection before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2010.
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