Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB240 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: West S.B. No. 240
2	2	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 240:
3	3	By: Quintanilla C.S.S.B. No. 240
4	4
5	5
6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to the enforcement of deed restrictions.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Section 202.004, Property Code,
11	11	is amended to read as follows:
12	12	(c) For a violation of a restrictive covenant of a planned
13	13	development governed by a property owner's association that
14	14	existed before January 1, 1974, and that does not have the
15	15	authority under a dedicatory instrument or other governing
16	16	document to impose fines, a [A] court may assess civil damages [for
17	17	the violation of a restrictive covenant] in an amount not to exceed
18	18	$200 for each day of the violation.
19	19	SECTION 2. Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by adding
20	20	Sections 209.0061, 209.0062, 209.0063, 209.0064, and 209.0091 to
21	21	read as follows:
22	22	Sec. 209.0061. ASSESSMENT OF FINES. (a) A fine assessed by
23	23	the property owners' association must be reasonable in the context
24	24	of the nature and frequency of the violation and the effect of the
25	25	violation on the subdivision as a whole. If the association allows
26	26	fines for a continuing violation to accumulate against a lot or an
27	27	owner, the association must establish a reasonable maximum fine
28	28	amount for a continuing violation at which point the total fine
29	29	amount is capped.
30	30	(b) If a lot occupant other than the owner violates a
31	31	provision of the dedicatory instrument, the property owners'
32	32	association, in addition to exercising any of the association's
33	33	powers against the owner, may assess a fine directly against the
34	34	nonowner occupant in the same manner as provided for an owner but
35	35	may not require payment from both the owner and a nonowner occupant
36	36	for the same violation.
37	37	(c) If the property owners' association assesses a fine
38	38	against a nonowner occupant under this section, the notice
39	39	provisions of Section 209.006 and the hearing provisions of
40	40	Section 209.007 apply to the nonowner occupant in the same manner
41	41	as those provisions apply to an owner.
42	42	Sec. 209.0062. ALTERNATIVE PAYMENT SCHEDULE FOR CERTAIN
43	43	ASSESSMENTS. (a) A property owners' association shall adopt
44	44	reasonable guidelines to establish an alternative payment schedule
45	45	by which an owner may make partial payments to the property owners'
46	46	association for delinquent regular or special assessments or any
47	47	other amount owed to the association without accruing additional
48	48	monetary penalties. For purposes of this section, monetary
49	49	penalties do not include reasonable costs associated with
50	50	administering the payment plan or interest.
51	51	(b) For any approved special assessment in an amount greater
52	52	than the equivalent of the sum of all regular assessments payable in
53	53	the year the special assessment is approved, a property owners'
54	54	association shall allow partial payments of the special assessment
55	55	for 12 months unless the property owner requests a shorter payment
56	56	period in writing at the time the property owner requests an
57	57	alternative payment plan. A property owners' association may offer
58	58	a reasonable discount for an owner making a one-time lump sum
59	59	payment of the special assessment.
60	60	(c) For any approved special assessment in an amount
61	61	greater than the equivalent of one-half the sum of all regular
62	62	assessments payable in the year the special assessment is
63	63	approved, a property owners' association shall allow partial
64	64	payments of the special assessment for six months unless the
65	65	property owner requests a shorter payment period in writing at the
66	66	time the property owner requests an alternative payment plan. A
67	67	property owners' association may offer a reasonable discount to an
68	68	owner making a one-time lump sum payment of the special assessment.
69	69	(d) A property owners' association is not required to allow
70	70	a payment plan for any amount that extends more than 12 months from
71	71	the date of the owner's request for a payment plan or to enter into a
72	72	payment plan with an owner who failed to honor the terms of a
73	73	previous payment plan during the five years following an owner's
74	74	default under a previous payment plan.
75	75	(e) A property owners' association shall file the
76	76	association's guidelines under this section in the real property
77	77	records of each county in which the subdivision is located.
78	78	(f) A property owners' association's failure to file as
79	79	required by this section the association's guidelines in the real
80	80	property records of each county in which the subdivision is located
81	81	does not prohibit a property owner from receiving an alternative
82	82	payment schedule by which the owner may make partial payments to
83	83	the property owners' association for delinquent regular or special
84	84	assessments or any other amount owed to the association without
85	85	accruing additional monetary penalties, as defined by Subsection
86	86	(a).
87	87	Sec. 209.0063. PRIORITY OF PAYMENTS. Unless otherwise
88	88	provided in writing by the property owner at the time payment is
89	89	made, a payment received by a property owners' association from the
90	90	owner shall be applied to the owner's debt in the following order of
91	91	priority:
92	92	(1) any delinquent assessment;
93	93	(2) any current assessment;
94	94	(3) any attorney's fees incurred by the association
95	95	associated solely with assessments or any other charge that could
96	96	provide the basis for foreclosure;
97	97	(4) any fines assessed by the association;
98	98	(5) any attorney's fees incurred by the association
99	99	that are not subject to Subdivision (3); and
100	100	(6) any other amount owed to the association.
101	101	Sec. 209.0064. COLLECTIONS. A property owners' association
102	102	must bring suit or otherwise initiate against an owner a collection
103	103	action authorized by the dedicatory instruments or other law on or
104	104	before the 10th anniversary of the date on which the cause of action
105	105	for collection of the debt accrues. Section 16.004, Civil Practice
106	106	and Remedies Code, does not apply to the collection of a debt owed
107	107	by an owner to a property owners' association.
108	108	SECTION 3. (a) Subsection (c), Section 202.004, Property
109	109	Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to an action filed on or
110	110	after the effective date of this Act. An action filed before the
111	111	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
112	112	immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
113	113	continued in effect for that purpose.
114	114	(b) Sections 209.0061, 209.0062, and 209.0064, Property
115	115	Code, as added by this Act, apply only to an assessment or other
116	116	debt that becomes due on or after the effective date of this Act. An
117	117	assessment or other debt that becomes due before the effective date
118	118	of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
119	119	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
120	120	that purpose.
121	121	(c) Section 209.0063, Property Code, as added by this Act,
122	122	applies only to a payment received by a property owners'
123	123	association on or after the effective date of this Act. A payment
124	124	received by a property owners' association before the effective
125	125	date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before
126	126	the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
127	127	for that purpose.
128	128	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 2010.