By: West S.B. No. 238
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) through (k) 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), and
except as provided by this section, a property owners' association
shall maintain a copy of the association's books and records,
including financial records and invoices, in a building:
(1) staffed during normal business hours;
(2) in which the books and records are appropriately
stored; and
(3) that is:
(A) accessible to members of the association
during normal business hours; and
(B) located on property commonly owned by the
association within the boundaries of the subdivision governed by
the association.
(d) Books and records stored in a building described by
Subsection (c) shall be made available within three business days
of a request by a member of the association.
(e) If a building described by Subsection (c) does not exist
on property described by Subsection (c), the property owners'
association shall make the books and records available to the
requesting party within a reasonable time after the property
owners' association receives the request, in accordance with
Subsections (f) and (g).
(f) A reasonable time for providing information requested
under Subsection (a) is considered to be 10 business days after the
date the property owners' association receives a request, except as
otherwise provided by this section.
(g) If the property owners' association is unable to produce
a requested book or record on or before the 10th business day after
the date the information is requested, the property owners'
association must provide to the requestor, not later than the 10th
business day after the date the property owners' association
receives the request, notice that:
(1) informs the requestor that the property owners'
association is unable to produce the information on or before the
10th business day after the date of the request; and
(2) states a date by which the information will be
available for inspection that is reasonable in light of:
(A) the nature, age, and quantity of records
requested; and
(B) the staffing and other resources available to
the property owners' association.
(h) A property owners' association shall make books and
records requested under this section available to the requestor in
one or more of the following formats, as specified by the requestor:
(1) an electronic format:
(A) delivered to an electronic mail address
provided by the requestor; or
(B) delivered in a disc or other standard
electronic format:
(i) to the mailing address of the
requestor; or
(ii) if the requesting party does not
provide a mailing address, to the address of the requestor's
property in the subdivision; or
(2) a hard-copy format, with the records being made
available for review by the requesting party at a location not
farther than 25 miles from the boundary of the subdivision governed
by the association.
(i) If a property owners' association subject to Subsection
(a) fails to comply with this section, 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.
(j) This section does not require a property owners'
association to staff a building described by Subsection (c).
(k) For the purposes of this section, "business day" means a
day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a state or federal holiday.
SECTION 2. Subsection (i), Section 209.005, Property Code,
as added by this Act, applies only to a property owners'
association's failure to comply with Section 209.005, Property
Code, on or after the effective date of this Act. A property
owners' association's failure to comply with that section 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.