86R4908 PMO-D
By: Huffman S.B. No. 639
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation and management of certain condominium
unit owners' associations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 82.002(c), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) This section and the following sections apply to a
condominium in this state for which the declaration was recorded
before January 1, 1994: Sections 82.005, 82.006, 82.007, 82.053,
82.054, 82.102(a)(1)-(7), (a)(12)-(21), (f), and (g), 82.1031,
82.1032, 82.1051, 82.108, 82.1081 through 82.1087, 82.111, 82.113,
82.114, 82.1141, 82.116, 82.118, 82.157, and 82.161. The
definitions prescribed by Section 82.003 apply to a condominium in
this state for which the declaration was recorded before January 1,
1994, to the extent the definitions do not conflict with the
declaration. The sections listed in this subsection apply only
with respect to events and circumstances occurring on or after
January 1, 1994, and do not invalidate existing provisions of the
declaration, bylaws, or plats or plans of a condominium for which
the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994.
SECTION 2. Section 82.067, Property Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) A unit owner may cast or give a vote to adopt an
amendment to a declaration under Subsection (a) by any method
authorized by Section 82.1085.
SECTION 3. Section 82.102(g), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(g) If a dedicatory instrument requires a vote of members of
the association to borrow money or assign the association's right
to future income or the association's lien rights, the loan or
assignment must be approved as provided by the dedicatory
instrument. The [board may determine whether a] vote for that
purpose may be cast as provided by Section 82.1085 [electronically,
by absentee ballot, in person or by proxy] at a meeting called for
that purpose[,] or by written consent. If a lower approval
threshold is not provided by the dedicatory instrument, approval
requires the consent of owners holding 67 percent of all voting
interests.
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 82, Property Code, is
amended by adding Sections 82.1031, 82.1032, and 82.1051 to read as
follows:
Sec. 82.1031. ELECTION OF BOARD MEMBERS. (a)
Notwithstanding any provision in a dedicatory instrument, any board
member whose term has expired must be elected by unit owners who are
members of the association. A board member may be appointed by the
board to fill a vacancy on the board. A board member appointed to
fill a vacant position shall serve for the remainder of the
unexpired term of the position.
(b) At least 10 days before the date an association
disseminates absentee ballots or other ballots to association
members for purposes of voting in a board member election, the
association must provide notice to the association members
soliciting candidates interested in running for a position on the
board. The notice must contain instructions for an eligible
candidate to notify the association of the candidate's request to
be placed on the ballot and the deadline to submit the candidate's
request. The deadline may not be earlier than the 10th day after
the date the association provides the notice required by this
subsection.
(c) The notice required by Subsection (b) must be:
(1) mailed to each unit owner; or
(2) provided by:
(A) posting the notice in a conspicuous manner
reasonably designed to provide notice to unit owners:
(i) in a place located on the common
elements or, with the unit owner's consent, on other conspicuously
located privately owned property in or on the condominium; or
(ii) on any Internet website maintained by
the association or other Internet media; and
(B) sending the notice by e-mail to each unit
owner who has registered an e-mail address with the association.
(d) An association shall include on each absentee ballot or
other ballot for a board member election the name of each eligible
candidate from whom the association received a request to be placed
on the ballot in accordance with this section.
(e) The board of an association may amend the bylaws of the
association to provide for elections to be held as required by
Subsection (a).
(f) The appointment of a board member in violation of this
section is void.
(g) This section does not apply to the appointment of a
board member during a period of declarant control.
Sec. 82.1032. BOARD MEMBERSHIP. (a) Except as provided by
this section, a provision in a dedicatory instrument that restricts
a unit owner's right to run for a position on the board of the
association is void.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an
association's bylaws may require one or more board members to
reside in the condominium subject to the dedicatory instruments but
may not require all board members to reside in the condominium. A
requirement described by this subsection is not applicable during
the period of declarant control.
(c) If a board is presented with written, documented
evidence from a database or other record maintained by a
governmental law enforcement authority that a board member was
convicted of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude not more
than 20 years before the date the board is presented with the
evidence, the board member is immediately ineligible to serve on
the board of the association, automatically considered removed from
the board, and prohibited from future service on the board.
Sec. 82.1051. ASSOCIATION CONTRACTS. (a) This section
does not apply to a contract entered into by an association during a
period of declarant control.
(b) An association may enter into an enforceable contract
with a current association board member, a person related to a
current association board member within the third degree by
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code, a company in which a current association board
member has a financial interest in at least 51 percent of profits,
or a company in which a person related to a current association
board member within the third degree by consanguinity or affinity,
as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, has a financial
interest in at least 51 percent of profits only if the following
conditions are satisfied:
(1) the board member, relative, or company bids on the
proposed contract and the association has received at least two
other bids for the contract from persons not associated with the
board member, relative, or company, if reasonably available in the
community;
(2) the board member:
(A) is not given access to the other bids;
(B) does not participate in any board discussion
regarding the contract; and
(C) does not vote on the award of the contract;
(3) the material facts regarding the relationship or
interest with respect to the proposed contract are disclosed to or
known by the association board and the board, in good faith and with
ordinary care, authorizes the contract by an affirmative vote of
the majority of the board members who do not have an interest
governed by this subsection; and
(4) the association board certifies that the other
requirements of this subsection have been satisfied by a resolution
approved by an affirmative vote of the majority of the board members
who do not have an interest governed by this subsection.
SECTION 5. Section 82.108(b), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Meetings of the association and board must be open to
unit owners as provided by Section 82.1081[, subject to the right of
the board to adjourn a meeting of the board and reconvene in closed
executive session to consider actions involving personnel, pending
litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement actions, matters
involving the invasion of privacy of individual unit owners, or
matters that are to remain confidential by request of the affected
parties and agreement of the board. The general nature of any
business to be considered in executive session must first be
announced at the open meeting].
SECTION 6. Subchapter C, Chapter 82, Property Code, is
amended by adding Sections 82.1081 through 82.1087 to read as
follows:
Sec. 82.1081. OPEN MEETINGS. (a) In this section, "board
meeting":
(1) means a deliberation between a quorum of the
association board, or between a quorum of the board and another
person, during which association business is considered and the
board takes formal action; and
(2) does not include the gathering of a quorum of the
board at a social function unrelated to the business of the
association or the attendance by a quorum of the board at a
regional, state, or national convention, ceremonial event, or press
conference, if formal action is not taken and any discussion of
association business is incidental to the social function,
convention, ceremonial event, or press conference.
(b) Meetings of the association and regular and special
board meetings must be open to unit owners, subject to the right of
the board to adjourn a board meeting and reconvene in closed
executive session to consider actions involving personnel, pending
or threatened litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement
actions, confidential communications with the association's
attorney, matters involving the invasion of privacy of individual
unit owners, or matters that are to remain confidential by request
of the affected parties and agreement of the board. Following an
executive session, any decision made in the executive session must
be summarized orally and placed in the minutes, in general terms,
without breaching the privacy of individual unit owners, violating
any privilege, or disclosing information that was to remain
confidential at the request of the affected parties. The oral
summary must include a general explanation of expenditures approved
in executive session.
(c) Except for a meeting held by electronic or telephonic
means under Subsection (d), a board meeting must be held in a county
in which all or any part of the condominium is located or in a county
adjacent to that county.
(d) A board meeting may be held by electronic or telephonic
means provided that:
(1) each board member may hear and be heard by every
other board member;
(2) except for any portion of the meeting conducted in
executive session:
(A) all unit owners in attendance at the meeting
may hear all board members; and
(B) unit owners are allowed to listen using any
electronic or telephonic communication method used or expected to
be used by a board member to participate; and
(3) the notice of the meeting includes instructions
for unit owners to access any communication method required to be
accessible under Subdivision (2)(B).
(e) The board shall keep a record of each regular or special
board meeting in the form of written minutes of the meeting. The
board shall make meeting records, including approved minutes,
available to a unit owner for inspection and copying on the unit
owner's written request to the association's managing agent at the
address appearing on the most recently filed management certificate
or, if there is not a managing agent, to the board.
(f) Unit owners shall be given notice of the date, hour,
place, and general subject of a meeting of the association or a
regular or special board meeting, including a general description
of any matter to be brought up for deliberation in executive
session. Except as provided by Section 82.070, the notice shall be:
(1) mailed to each unit owner not later than the 10th
day or earlier than the 60th day before the date of the meeting; or
(2) provided at least 72 hours before the start of the
meeting by:
(A) posting the notice in a conspicuous manner
reasonably designed to provide notice to unit owners:
(i) in a place located on the common
elements or, with the unit owner's consent, on other conspicuously
located privately owned property in or on the condominium; or
(ii) on any Internet website maintained by
the association or other Internet media; and
(B) sending the notice by e-mail to each unit
owner who has registered an e-mail address with the association.
(g) It is a unit owner's duty to keep an updated e-mail
address registered with the association under Subsection
(f)(2)(B).
(h) If the board recesses a regular or special board meeting
to continue the following regular business day, the board is not
required to post notice of the continued meeting if the recess is
taken in good faith and not to circumvent this section. If a
regular or special board meeting is continued to the following
regular business day, and on that following day the board continues
the meeting to another day, the board shall give notice of the
continuation in at least one manner prescribed by Subsection
(f)(2)(A) not later than two hours after adjourning the meeting
being continued.
(i) Except as provided by this subsection, a board may take
action outside of a meeting, including voting by electronic or
telephonic means, without prior notice to unit owners under
Subsection (f), if each board member is given a reasonable
opportunity to express the board member's opinion to all other
board members and to vote. Any action taken without notice to unit
owners under Subsection (f) must be summarized orally, including an
explanation of any known actual or estimated expenditures approved
at the meeting, and documented in the minutes of the next regular or
special board meeting. The board may not, unless done in an open
meeting for which prior notice was given to unit owners under
Subsection (f), consider or vote on:
(1) fines;
(2) damage assessments;
(3) initiation of foreclosure actions;
(4) initiation of enforcement actions, excluding
temporary restraining orders or violations involving a threat to
health or safety;
(5) increases in assessments;
(6) levying of special assessments;
(7) appeals from a denial of a request for approval of
an alteration of a unit under Section 82.061;
(8) a suspension of a right of a particular unit owner
before the unit owner has an opportunity to attend a board meeting
to present the unit owner's position, including any defense, on the
issue;
(9) lending or borrowing money;
(10) the adoption or amendment of a dedicatory
instrument;
(11) the approval of an annual budget or the approval
of an amendment of an annual budget that increases the budget by
more than 10 percent;
(12) the sale or purchase of real property;
(13) the filling of a vacancy on the board;
(14) the construction of capital improvements other
than the repair, replacement, or enhancement of existing capital
improvements; or
(15) the election of an officer.
(j) This section applies to a meeting of an association
board during a period of declarant control only if the meeting is
conducted for the purpose of:
(1) adopting or amending the governing documents,
including declarations, bylaws, rules, and regulations of the
association;
(2) increasing the amount of regular assessments of
the association or adopting or increasing a special assessment;
(3) electing non-declarant board members of the
association or establishing a process by which those members are
elected; or
(4) changing the voting rights of members of the
association.
Sec. 82.1082. NOTICE OF ELECTION OR ASSOCIATION VOTE. (a)
Except as provided in Section 82.070, for an election or vote taken
at a meeting of the unit owners, not later than the 10th day or
earlier than the 60th day before the date of the election or vote,
an association shall give written notice of the election or vote to:
(1) each unit owner in the association, for purposes
of an association-wide election or vote; or
(2) each unit owner in the association entitled under
the dedicatory instruments to vote in a particular representative
election, for purposes of a vote that involves election of
representatives of the association who are vested under the
dedicatory instruments of the association with the authority to
elect or appoint board members of the association.
(b) For an election or vote of unit owners not taken at a
meeting, the association shall give notice of the election or vote
to all unit owners entitled to vote on any matter under
consideration. The notice shall be given not later than the 20th
day before the latest date on which a ballot may be submitted to be
counted.
(c) This section supersedes any contrary requirement in a
dedicatory instrument.
Sec. 82.1083. RIGHT TO VOTE. A provision in a dedicatory
instrument that would disqualify a unit owner from voting in an
association election of board members or on any matter concerning
the rights or responsibilities of the unit owner is void.
Sec. 82.1084. BALLOTS. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (d), any vote cast in an election or vote by an
association member must be in writing and signed by the member.
(b) Electronic votes cast under Section 82.1085 constitute
written and signed ballots.
(c) In an association election, written and signed ballots
are not required for uncontested races.
(d) An association may adopt rules to allow voting by secret
ballot by members of the association. The association must take
measures to reasonably ensure that:
(1) a member cannot cast more votes than the member is
eligible to cast in an election or vote; and
(2) the association counts every vote cast by a member
that is eligible to cast a vote.
Sec. 82.1085. VOTING METHODS; ABSENTEE OR ELECTRONIC
BALLOTS. (a) Subject to Subsection (b), the voting rights of a
unit owner may be cast or given:
(1) in person or by proxy at a meeting of the
association;
(2) by absentee ballot in accordance with this
section;
(3) by electronic ballot in accordance with this
section; or
(4) by any method of representative or delegated
voting provided by a dedicatory instrument.
(b) Except as provided by this subsection, unless a
dedicatory instrument provides otherwise, an association is not
required to provide a unit owner with more than one voting method.
A unit owner must be allowed to vote by absentee ballot or proxy.
(c) An absentee or electronic ballot:
(1) may be counted as a unit owner present and voting
for the purpose of establishing a quorum only for items appearing on
the ballot;
(2) may not be counted, even if properly delivered, if
the unit owner attends any meeting to vote in person, so that any
vote cast at a meeting by a unit owner supersedes any vote submitted
by absentee or electronic ballot previously submitted for that
proposal; and
(3) may not be counted on the final vote of a proposal
if the motion was amended at the meeting to be different from the
exact language on the absentee or electronic ballot.
(d) For purposes of Subsection (c), a nomination taken from
the floor in a board member election is not considered an amendment
to the proposal for the election.
(e) A solicitation for votes by absentee ballot must
include:
(1) an absentee ballot that contains each proposed
action and provides an opportunity to vote for or against each
proposed action;
(2) instructions for delivery of the completed
absentee ballot, including the delivery location; and
(3) the following language: "By casting your vote via
absentee ballot you will forgo the opportunity to consider and vote
on any action from the floor on these proposals, if a meeting is
held. This means that if there are amendments to these proposals
your votes will not be counted on the final vote on these measures.
If you desire to retain this ability, please attend any meeting in
person. You may submit an absentee ballot and later choose to
attend any meeting in person, in which case any in-person vote will
prevail."
(f) For the purposes of this section, "electronic ballot"
means a ballot:
(1) given by:
(A) e-mail;
(B) facsimile; or
(C) posting on an Internet website;
(2) for which the identity of the unit owner
submitting the ballot can be confirmed; and
(3) for which the unit owner may receive a receipt of
the electronic transmission and receipt of the unit owner's ballot.
(g) If an electronic ballot is posted on an Internet
website, a notice of the posting shall be sent to each unit owner
that contains instructions on obtaining access to the posting on
the website.
(h) This section supersedes any contrary provision in a
dedicatory instrument.
Sec. 82.1086. TABULATION OF AND ACCESS TO BALLOTS. (a)
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any other
law, a person who is a candidate in an association election or who
is otherwise the subject of an association vote, or a person related
to that person within the third degree by consanguinity or
affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, may not
tabulate or otherwise be given access to the ballots cast in that
election or vote except as provided by this section.
(b) A person other than a person described by Subsection (a)
may tabulate votes in an association election or vote.
(c) A person who tabulates votes under Subsection (b) or who
performs a recount under Section 82.1087 may not disclose to any
other person how an individual voted.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or
any other law, only a person who tabulates votes under Subsection
(b) or who performs a recount under Section 82.1087 may be given
access to the ballots cast in the election or vote.
(e) This section may not be construed to affect a person's
obligation to comply with a court order for the release of ballots
or other voting records.
Sec. 82.1087. RECOUNT OF VOTES. (a) Any unit owner may,
not later than the 15th day after the later of the date of any
meeting of unit owners at which the election or vote was held or the
date of the announcement of the results of the election or vote,
require a recount of the votes. A demand for a recount must be
submitted in writing either:
(1) by verified mail or by delivery by the United
States Postal Service with signature confirmation service to the
association's mailing address as reflected on the latest management
certificate filed under Section 82.116; or
(2) in person to the association's managing agent as
reflected on the latest management certificate filed under Section
82.116 or to the address to which absentee and proxy ballots are
mailed.
(b) The association must estimate the costs for performance
of the recount by a person qualified to tabulate votes under
Subsection (f) and must send an invoice for the estimated costs to
the requesting unit owner at the unit owner's last known address
according to association records not later than the 20th day after
the date the association receives the unit owner's demand for the
recount.
(c) The unit owner demanding a recount under this section
must pay the invoice described by Subsection (b) in full to the
association on or before the 30th day after the date the invoice is
sent to the unit owner.
(d) If the invoice described by Subsection (b) is not paid
by the deadline prescribed by Subsection (c), the unit owner's
demand for a recount is considered withdrawn and a recount is not
required.
(e) If the estimated costs under Subsection (b) are lesser
or greater than the actual costs, the association must send a final
invoice to the unit owner on or before the 30th business day after
the date the results of the recount are provided. If the final
invoice includes additional amounts owed by the unit owner, any
additional amounts not paid to the association before the 30th
business day after the date the invoice is sent to the unit owner
may be added to the unit owner's account as an assessment. If the
estimated costs exceed the final invoice amount, the unit owner is
entitled to a refund. The refund shall be paid to the unit owner at
the time the final invoice is sent under this subsection.
(f) Following receipt of payment under Subsection (c), the
association shall, at the expense of the unit owner requesting the
recount, retain for the purpose of performing the recount the
services of a person qualified to tabulate votes under this
subsection. The association shall enter into a contract for the
services of a person who:
(1) is not a member of the association or related to a
member of the association board within the third degree by
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code; and
(2) is:
(A) a current or former:
(i) county judge;
(ii) county elections administrator;
(iii) justice of the peace; or
(iv) county voter registrar; or
(B) a person agreed on by the association and
each person requesting the recount.
(g) On or before the 30th day after the date of receipt of
payment for a recount in accordance with Subsection (c), the
recount must be completed and the association must provide each
unit owner who requested the recount with notice of the results of
the recount. If the recount changes the results of the election,
the association shall reimburse the requesting unit owner for the
cost of the recount not later than the 30th day after the date the
results of the recount are provided. Any action taken by the board
in the period between the initial election vote tally and the
completion of the recount is not affected by any recount.
SECTION 7. Section 82.114(b), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) All financial and other records of the association shall
be reasonably available at its registered office or its principal
office in this state for examination and production in accordance
with Section 82.1141 [by a unit owner and the owner's agents. An
attorney's files and records relating to the association are not
records of the association and are not subject to inspection by unit
owners or production in a legal proceeding].
SECTION 8. Subchapter C, Chapter 82, Property Code, is
amended by adding Section 82.1141 to read as follows:
Sec. 82.1141. ACCESS TO ASSOCIATION RECORDS. (a) This
section applies to all associations governed by this chapter and
controls over other law not specifically applicable to an
association.
(b) Notwithstanding a provision in a dedicatory instrument,
an association shall make the books and records of the association,
including financial records, open to and reasonably available for
examination by a unit owner, or a person designated in a writing
signed by the unit owner as the unit owner's agent, attorney, or
certified public accountant, in accordance with this section. A
unit owner is entitled to obtain from the association copies of
information contained in the books and records.
(c) Except as provided by this subsection, an attorney's
files and records relating to the association, excluding invoices
requested by a unit owner for attorney's fees and other costs
relating only to a matter for which the association seeks
reimbursement of fees and costs, are not records of the association
and are not subject to inspection by the unit owner or production in
a legal proceeding. If a document in an attorney's files and
records relating to the association would be responsive to a
legally authorized request to inspect or copy association
documents, the document shall be produced by using the copy from the
attorney's files and records if the association has not maintained
a separate copy of the document. This subsection does not require
production of a document that constitutes attorney work product or
that is privileged as an attorney-client communication.
(d) A unit owner or the unit owner's authorized
representative described by Subsection (b) must submit a written
request for access or information under Subsection (b) by certified
mail, with sufficient detail describing the association's books and
records requested, to the mailing address of the association or
authorized representative as reflected on the most current
management certificate filed under Section 82.116. The request
must contain an election either to inspect the books and records
before obtaining copies or to have the association forward copies
of the requested books and records and:
(1) if an inspection is requested, the association, on
or before the 10th business day after the date the association
receives the request, shall send written notice of dates during
normal business hours that the unit owner may inspect the requested
books and records to the extent those books and records are in the
possession, custody, or control of the association; or
(2) if copies of identified books and records are
requested, the association shall, to the extent those books and
records are in the possession, custody, or control of the
association, produce the requested books and records for the
requesting party on or before the 10th business day after the date
the association receives the request, except as otherwise provided
by this section.
(e) If the association is unable to produce the books or
records requested under Subsection (d) on or before the 10th
business day after the date the association receives the request,
the association must provide to the requestor written notice that:
(1) informs the requestor that the association is
unable to produce the information on or before the 10th business day
after the date the association received the request; and
(2) states a date by which the information will be sent
or made available for inspection to the requesting party that is not
later than the 15th business day after the date notice under this
subsection is given.
(f) If an inspection is requested or required, the
inspection shall take place at a mutually agreed on time during
normal business hours, and the requesting party shall identify the
books and records for the association to copy and forward to the
requesting party.
(g) An association may produce books and records requested
under this section in hard copy, electronic, or other format
reasonably available to the association.
(h) An association board must adopt a records production and
copying policy that prescribes the costs the association will
charge for the compilation, production, and reproduction of
information requested under this section. The prescribed charges
may include all reasonable costs of materials, labor, and overhead
but may not exceed costs that would be applicable for an item under
1 T.A.C. Section 70.3. The policy required by this subsection must
be recorded as a dedicatory instrument in accordance with Section
202.006. An association may not charge a unit owner for the
compilation, production, or reproduction of information requested
under this section unless the policy prescribing those costs has
been recorded as required by this subsection. A unit owner is
responsible for costs related to the compilation, production, and
reproduction of the requested information in the amounts prescribed
by the policy adopted under this subsection. The association may
require advance payment of the estimated costs of compilation,
production, and reproduction of the requested information. If the
estimated costs are lesser or greater than the actual costs, the
association shall submit a final invoice to the unit owner on or
before the 30th business day after the date the information is
delivered. If the final invoice includes additional amounts due
from the unit owner, the additional amounts, if not reimbursed to
the association before the 30th business day after the date the
invoice is sent to the unit owner, may be added to the unit owner's
account as an assessment. If the estimated costs exceeded the final
invoice amount, the unit owner is entitled to a refund, and the
refund shall be issued to the unit owner not later than the 30th
business day after the date the invoice is sent to the unit owner.
(i) An association must estimate costs under this section
using amounts prescribed by the policy adopted under Subsection
(h).
(j) Except as provided by Subsection (k) and to the extent
the information is provided in the meeting minutes, the association
is not required to release or allow inspection of any books or
records that identify the dedicatory instrument violation history
of an individual unit owner of an association, a unit owner's
personal financial information, including records of payment or
nonpayment of amounts due the association, a unit owner's contact
information, other than the unit owner's address, or information
related to an employee of the association, including personnel
files. Information may be released in an aggregate or summary
manner that would not identify an individual unit owner.
(k) The books and records described by Subsection (j) shall
be released or made available for inspection if:
(1) the express written approval of the unit owner
whose records are the subject of the request for inspection is
provided to the association; or
(2) a court orders the release of the books and records
or orders that the books and records be made available for
inspection.
(l) In addition to retaining records as necessary for
compliance with Section 82.114 an association shall adopt and
comply with a document retention policy that includes, at a
minimum, the following requirements:
(1) certificates of formation, bylaws, dedicatory
instruments, and all amendments to the certificates of formation,
bylaws, and dedicatory instruments shall be retained permanently;
(2) financial books and records shall be retained for
seven years;
(3) account records of current unit owners shall be
retained for five years;
(4) contracts with a term of one year or more shall be
retained for four years after the expiration of the contract term;
(5) minutes of meetings of the unit owners and the
board shall be retained for seven years; and
(6) tax returns and audit records shall be retained
for seven years.
(m) A member of an association who is denied access to or
copies of association books or records to which the member is
entitled under this section may file a petition with the justice of
the peace of a justice precinct in which all or part of the
condominium is located requesting relief in accordance with this
subsection. If the justice of the peace finds that the member is
entitled to access to or copies of the records, the justice of the
peace may grant one or more of the following remedies:
(1) a judgment ordering the association to release or
allow access to the books or records;
(2) a judgment against the association for court costs
and attorney's fees incurred in connection with seeking a remedy
under this section; or
(3) a judgment authorizing the unit owner or the unit
owner's assignee to deduct the amounts awarded under Subdivision
(2) from any future regular or special assessments payable to the
association.
(n) If the association prevails in an action under
Subsection (m), the association is entitled to a judgment for court
costs and attorney's fees incurred by the association in connection
with the action.
(o) On or before the 10th business day before the date a
person brings an action against an association under this section,
the person must send written notice to the association of the
person's intent to bring the action. The notice must:
(1) be sent certified mail, return receipt requested,
or delivered by the United States Postal Service with signature
confirmation service to the mailing address of the association or
authorized representative as reflected on the most current
management certificate filed under Section 82.116; and
(2) describe with sufficient detail the books and
records being requested.
(p) For the purposes of this section, "business day" means a
day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a state or federal holiday.
SECTION 9. Sections 82.108(c), (d), (e), and (f), Property
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 10. (a) Section 82.1051, Property Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a contract entered into on or after the
effective date of this Act.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an
election or vote held on or after the effective date of this Act.
(c) Section 82.1141, Property Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a request for association records or information
made on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.