Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2234 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R11844 AJA-D
2	2	By: Menéndez S.B. No. 2234
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the collection of past due assessments and certain
8	8	other charges by a property owners' association.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by adding
11	11	Sections 209.0061, 209.00611, and 209.00612 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 209.0061. COLLECTION OF PAST DUE ASSESSMENTS: FEES AND
13	13	COLLECTION COSTS. (a) If a property owners' association's
14	14	dedicatory instruments authorize the association to impose late
15	15	fees on, or recover costs associated with the collection of, past
16	16	due regular or special assessments, the association may collect
17	17	only the following fees and costs:
18	18	(1) a single late fee for each past due assessment that
19	19	does not exceed 10 percent of the past due assessment;
20	20	(2) if any interest or administrative costs are
21	21	authorized by the dedicatory instruments, a monthly charge that:
22	22	(A) does not exceed one-half of one percent of
23	23	all unpaid past due assessments; and
24	24	(B) is payable directly to the association,
25	25	regardless of whether the amount is ultimately used to pay the
26	26	association's property manager;
27	27	(3) if the association sends a follow-up letter
28	28	authorized by Section 209.00611(b), a charge for attorney's fees
29	29	that does not exceed 25 percent of the past due assessments; and
30	30	(4) for a payment plan, regardless of whether the
31	31	association is required to offer the plan under Section 209.0062, a
32	32	monthly charge that does not exceed three percent of the sum of:
33	33	(A) the past due assessments; and
34	34	(B) any charges authorized by Subdivision (1),
35	35	(2), or (3) incurred as of the date the payment plan is accepted.
36	36	(b) A property owners' association may not impose a charge
37	37	other than the charge authorized by Subsection (a)(1) before the
38	38	31st day after the date the association sends the property owner a
39	39	letter that complies with Section 209.00611(a).
40	40	(c) A property owners' association may not impose attorney's
41	41	fees or any other charges on a property owner for:
42	42	(1) documentation or other information requested by
43	43	the owner in order to:
44	44	(A) confirm the amount of assessments due; or
45	45	(B) understand:
46	46	(i) an assessment or a related charge; or
47	47	(ii) a payment plan being offered to the
48	48	owner; or
49	49	(2) the negotiation of the terms of a payment plan.
50	50	(d) Subsection (c)(2) does not require a property owners'
51	51	association to offer a payment plan other than as required by
52	52	Section 209.0062.
53	53	Sec. 209.00611. COLLECTION OF PAST DUE ASSESSMENTS:
54	54	COLLECTION LETTERS. (a) A letter sent to a property owner by or on
55	55	behalf of a property owners' association seeking to collect a past
56	56	due regular or special assessment must:
57	57	(1) be sent to the owner by certified mail to the
58	58	address to which the association usually sends invoices or other
59	59	official communications and, if the association uses e-mail to
60	60	communicate with property owners, to each e-mail address provided
61	61	by the owner for that purpose;
62	62	(2) itemize each charge the association seeks to
63	63	collect and reference to each provision in the dedicatory
64	64	instruments on which the charge is based;
65	65	(3) state:
66	66	(A) a total amount certain that the association
67	67	claims is due;
68	68	(B) the date on which that amount was determined;
69	69	and
70	70	(C) that payments made after that date will be
71	71	credited as provided by law;
72	72	(4) if Section 209.0062 applies to the association or
73	73	the association's dedicatory instruments require a payment plan to
74	74	be offered, include the terms of an available payment plan that
75	75	complies with that section;
76	76	(5) state that the owner must pay the total amount
77	77	claimed or, if applicable, accept and deliver the first amount due
78	78	under the payment plan on or before the 30th day after the date the
79	79	letter was sent to avoid additional charges related to collection
80	80	of the assessments;
81	81	(6) provide the owner with a phone number the owner may
82	82	use at no cost to ask questions about the charges or the payment
83	83	plan terms;
84	84	(7) provide an address to which the owner may send a
85	85	check or money order as payment and notify the owner of any
86	86	available online payment portal; and
87	87	(8) notify the owner that attorney's fees and other
88	88	charges may be imposed and that a lawsuit may be filed to collect
89	89	the unpaid amount if:
90	90	(A) the owner does not pay the total amount
91	91	claimed or, if applicable, accept and deliver the first payment
92	92	under the payment plan in the time provided by Subdivision (5); or
93	93	(B) the owner accepts a payment plan and does not
94	94	comply with the plan.
95	95	(b) Not earlier than the 31st day after the date a letter
96	96	described by Subsection (a) is sent to a property owner, the
97	97	property owners' association may send a follow-up letter that
98	98	includes a charge for attorney's fees authorized by Section
99	99	209.0061(a)(3).
100	100	Sec. 209.00612. COLLECTION OF PAST DUE ASSESSMENTS:
101	101	LAWSUITS. (a) In a lawsuit filed by a property owners' association
102	102	to collect past due assessments, the original petition:
103	103	(1) must prominently state that:
104	104	(A) the property owner may resolve the entire
105	105	claim by paying, on or before the 60th day after the date the owner
106	106	is served with the petition, an amount certain stated in the
107	107	petition that the association claims is due:
108	108	(i) determined as of a date stated in the
109	109	petition; and
110	110	(ii) that includes only the itemized
111	111	amounts described by Subdivision (2); and
112	112	(B) any payment received after the stated date on
113	113	which the amount certain was determined will be credited towards
114	114	the amount claimed in the petition; and
115	115	(2) may include a claim only for the following
116	116	itemized amounts:
117	117	(A) past due regular and special assessments;
118	118	(B) costs or fees the association may collect
119	119	under Section 209.0061;
120	120	(C) filing fees, fees for service of process,
121	121	certified mail charges incurred in connection with the suit, and
122	122	any other charges paid by the association in connection with the
123	123	suit that the association is authorized to collect under the
124	124	dedicatory instruments; and
125	125	(D) additional attorney's fees in an amount that
126	126	does not exceed $500.
127	127	(b) A payment received from a property owner after the
128	128	stated date on which the amount certain claimed in the petition was
129	129	determined must be credited towards the claimed amount.
130	130	(c) A property owners' association may not impose any
131	131	additional collection-related charges in connection with the past
132	132	due assessments being claimed before the 61st day after the date the
133	133	association's petition is served on the property owner.
134	134	(d) A property owner must be allowed to make a payment in
135	135	satisfaction of the claim by check or money order to the attorney or
136	136	law firm representing the association.
137	137	(e) In a lawsuit described by Subsection (a), the court may
138	138	award reasonable and necessary attorney's fees as are equitable and
139	139	just.
140	140	SECTION 2. Section 209.0062, Property Code, is amended by
141	141	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
142	142	follows:
143	143	(a) A property owners' association composed of more than 14
144	144	lots shall adopt reasonable guidelines to establish an alternative
145	145	payment schedule by which an owner may make partial payments to the
146	146	property owners' association for delinquent regular or special
147	147	assessments or any other amount owed to the association without
148	148	accruing additional monetary penalties other than amounts
149	149	authorized by Section 209.0061.
150	150	(a-1) A payment plan offered by a property owners'
151	151	association for payment of past due assessments, regardless of
152	152	whether the association is subject to Subsection (a):
153	153	(1) may not be conditioned on payment of any amount not
154	154	authorized by Section 209.0061; and
155	155	(2) must allow the owner to pay off at any time without
156	156	additional penalty or requirement for further payments under the
157	157	plan the outstanding balance of the past due assessments and any
158	158	charges authorized by Section 209.0061(a)(1), (2), or (3) that were
159	159	incurred as of the date the payment plan was entered into [For
160	160	purposes of this section, monetary penalties do not include
161	161	reasonable costs associated with administering the payment plan or
162	162	interest].
163	163	SECTION 3. The heading to Section 209.0063, Property Code,
164	164	is amended to read as follows:
165	165	Sec. 209.0063. PRIORITY OF PAYMENTS; LATE OR PARTIAL
166	166	PAYMENTS.
167	167	SECTION 4. Section 209.0063, Property Code, is amended by
168	168	adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
169	169	(c) A property owners' association must accept a partial
170	170	payment on any amount due to the association, regardless of whether
171	171	the owner is subject to a payment plan, to be applied in accordance
172	172	with this section. If the association uses an online payment
173	173	portal, the association may not block an owner's ability to make a
174	174	late or partial payment through the portal.
175	175	SECTION 5. Section 209.009, Property Code, is amended to
176	176	read as follows:
177	177	Sec. 209.009. FORECLOSURE SALE PROHIBITED IN CERTAIN
178	178	CIRCUMSTANCES. A property owners' association may not foreclose a
179	179	property owners' association's assessment lien unless the debt
180	180	secured by the lien includes more than $5,000 of debt described by
181	181	Section 209.0063(a)(1), (2), or (3) [if the debt securing the lien
182	182	consists solely of:
183	183	[(1) fines assessed by the association;
184	184	[(2) attorney's fees incurred by the association
185	185	solely associated with fines assessed by the association; or
186	186	[(3) amounts added to the owner's account as an
187	187	assessment under Section 209.005(i) or 209.0057(b-4)].
188	188	SECTION 6. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
189	189	section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to
190	190	collection of regular and special assessments that become due on or
191	191	after the effective date of this Act. Collection of assessments
192	192	that became due before the effective date of this Act is governed by
193	193	the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this
194	194	Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
195	195	(b) Section 209.0063(c), Property Code, as added by this
196	196	Act, applies to a payment made by a property owner on or after the
197	197	effective date of this Act.
198	198	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.