H.B. No. 1558
AN ACT
relating to the extension or amendment of deed restrictions in
certain older subdivisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 11, Property Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 216 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 216. EXTENSION OR AMENDMENT OF RESTRICTIONS IN CERTAIN
OLDER SUBDIVISIONS
Sec. 216.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Dedicatory instrument" has the meaning assigned
by Section 202.001.
(2) "Lienholder" and "owner" have the meanings
assigned by Section 201.003.
(3) "Older subdivision" means a subdivision described
by a recorded map or plat filed before 1947 in the real property
records of the county in which the subdivision is located.
(4) "Petition" has the meaning assigned by Section
202.001.
(5) "Property owners' association" means an
incorporated or unincorporated homeowners' association, community
association, civic club, or similar entity that:
(A) has a membership primarily consisting of the
owners of real property in a subdivision; and
(B) supports the enforcement of or promotes the
observance of the deed restrictions applicable to all or part of the
property located in the subdivision.
(6) "Restrictions" has the meaning assigned by Section
209.002.
(7) "Subdivision" means land that:
(A) consists of multiple sections that have each
been divided into two or more parts on a map or plat that has been
recorded in the real property records of a county; and
(B) is or was subject to restrictions that:
(i) limit a majority of the land, excluding
streets and public areas, to residential use; and
(ii) were recorded in the real property
records of the county.
(8) "University" means an institution of higher
education or a private or independent institution of higher
education, as those terms are defined by Section 61.003, Education
Code. The term includes a university's affiliate entity, including
an endowment instrument, and a unit, division, institution, or
agency established to operate as a component part of a university.
Sec. 216.002. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) The legislature
finds that:
(1) the inability of owners to extend or amend
property restrictions in older subdivisions in which no zoning
regulations apply creates uncertainty in living conditions and
discourages investments in those subdivisions;
(2) owners in affected older subdivisions are
reluctant or unable to provide proper maintenance, upkeep, and
repairs of structures because of the inability to amend the
restrictions in response to changing circumstances;
(3) these conditions will cause dilapidation of
housing and other structures and cause unhealthful and unsanitary
conditions in affected older subdivisions, contrary to the health,
safety, and welfare of the public; and
(4) the existence of race-related covenants in
restrictions, regardless of their unenforceability, is offensive,
repugnant, and harmful to members of racial or ethnic minority
groups and public policy requires that those covenants be removed.
(b) The purpose of this chapter is to provide a procedure
for extending or amending restrictions for certain older
subdivisions, including the removal of any restriction relating to
race, religion, or national origin that is void and unenforceable
under the United States Constitution or Section 5.026.
Sec. 216.003. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. (a) This chapter
applies only to an older subdivision that:
(1) is wholly or partly located in a municipality with
a population of two million or more;
(2) had original restrictions that:
(A) for at least one section of the subdivision,
did not have an express procedure that provides for successive
extensions of the restrictions;
(B) did not have an express procedure for
amending the restrictions;
(C) under the common law of this state could not
be amended without the unanimous consent of:
(i) all owners in the subdivision; or
(ii) all owners in any section of the
subdivision; and
(D) may no longer be valid due to an inability to
extend or amend the restrictions; and
(3) has a single property owners' association in which
all owners in the subdivision are eligible for membership but in
which membership is not mandatory.
(b) This chapter applies to a restriction regardless of the
date on which the restriction was created.
(c) This chapter supersedes any contrary requirement for
the extension or amendment of a restriction in a dedicatory
instrument of a subdivision to which this chapter applies.
(d) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) a residential subdivision described by Section
209.0041(b);
(2) a condominium, as defined by Section 81.002 or
82.003;
(3) any portion of a residential subdivision in which
restrictions are no longer enforceable due to nonresidential use;
or
(4) property that is owned by a university that was
owned by the university on the effective date of this chapter.
Sec. 216.004. AMENDMENT OF RESTRICTIONS. (a) For purposes
of this chapter, the amendment of restrictions includes the
adoption of new restrictions or the modification or removal of
existing restrictions.
(b) An amendment of restrictions under this chapter may not
create a property owners' association with mandatory membership.
An amendment of restrictions under this chapter that creates a
property owners' association with mandatory membership is void.
Sec. 216.005. PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATION ACTION NOT
REQUIRED. Except as provided by Section 216.008, restrictions may
be extended or amended under this chapter without action by the
property owners' association.
Sec. 216.006. EXTENSION OF RESTRICTIONS. (a) Restrictions
may be extended as provided by Section 216.007 or, if a dedicatory
instrument provides a procedure for an initial extension of the
original restrictions, that procedure may be used for successive
extensions of the original restrictions unless the dedicatory
instrument expressly prohibits the procedure from being used for
successive extensions. If the dedicatory instrument prohibits the
procedure from being used to provide for automatic extension of
restrictions, the procedure may not be used under this subsection
to provide for automatic extension of the restrictions.
(b) A provision in a dedicatory instrument that prohibits
the extension of an existing restriction during a certain period
does not apply to a successive extension under a procedure for
initial extension of original restrictions under Subsection (a).
(c) An extension of restrictions under this chapter may:
(1) be for a period equal to the original term of the
restrictions or a shorter period; and
(2) subject to Subsection (a), provide for additional
automatic extensions of the term of the restrictions for a period of
not more than 10 years for each extension.
(d) A dedicatory instrument that provides for the extension
of restrictions and does not provide for amendment of restrictions
may be amended under this chapter, including by amending the
provision providing for the extension of the restrictions.
Sec. 216.007. CONSENT REQUIRED FOR EXTENSION OR AMENDMENT
OF RESTRICTIONS. (a) A restriction may be extended or amended by a
petition or ballots that indicate the written consent of the owners
of at least 66.6 percent of the total number of separately owned
parcels or tracts in the subdivision, regardless of whether the
parcels or tracts contain part or all of one or more platted lots or
combination of lots, but not including any parcels or tracts
excluded from applicability of this chapter under Section
216.003(d).
(b) A restriction that is extended or amended as described
by Subsection (a) applies to all sections of the subdivision other
than property excluded from applicability of this chapter under
Section 216.003(d) to the extent that the extended or amended
restriction expressly applies to the entire subdivision,
regardless of whether:
(1) each section has separate restrictions; or
(2) each owner is a member of the property owners'
association.
(c) If the original restrictions for a subdivision contain a
lower percentage to extend or amend the restrictions, the
percentage in the original restrictions controls.
Sec. 216.008. PETITION OR BALLOTS. (a) After receiving
written approval of a petition or ballot by the property owners'
association, the petition or ballots for the extension or amendment
of restrictions must be distributed to the owners in the
subdivision by any public method, including:
(1) by United States mail;
(2) by electronic mail or other method of electronic
transmission or publication, including publication on an Internet
website;
(3) by door-to-door circulation;
(4) by publication in a newspaper or similar
publication of general circulation in the municipality in which the
subdivision is located; or
(5) at a meeting of the owners in the subdivision
called for the purpose of voting on the proposed extension or
amendment.
(b) The petition or ballots may be provided to owners in
separate documents. The separate documents are considered to be
one instrument.
(c) If a restriction is amended under this chapter, a
petition or ballot for a subsequent amendment of the restrictions
may not be distributed under Subsection (a) before the fifth
anniversary of the effective date of the amended restriction under
Section 216.010.
Sec. 216.009. EFFECT OF OWNER'S SIGNATURE. (a) An owner's
signature on a petition or ballot conclusively establishes the
owner's consent for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) The vote of multiple owners of a lot, parcel, or tract
may be reflected by the signature of one of the owners.
(c) After an owner signs a petition or ballot for an
extension or amendment of a restriction, the owner's subsequent
conveyance of the owner's interest in real property in the
subdivision covered by the extension or amendment does not affect
the validity of the signature for the purposes of the petition or
ballot.
Sec. 216.010. EFFECTIVE DATE OF EXTENSION OR AMENDMENT. An
extension or amendment of a restriction under this chapter takes
effect on the date the extension or amendment and the petition or
ballots that reflect the written consent of the required number of
owners in the subdivision for the adoption of the extension or
amendment are filed and recorded in the real property records of the
county in which the subdivision is located.
Sec. 216.011. APPLICABILITY OF EXTENSION OR AMENDMENT. (a)
An extension or amendment of a restriction under this chapter is
binding on a lot, parcel, or tract in the subdivision as provided by
the restriction, regardless of whether the owner or owners of the
lot, parcel, or tract consented to the extension or amendment.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, an owner may not opt out
of the applicability to the owner's property of a restriction that
is extended or amended under this chapter.
(c) An extension or amendment of a restriction under this
chapter is binding on a lienholder or a person who acquires title to
property at a foreclosure sale or by deed from a foreclosing
lienholder.
Sec. 216.012. UNCONSTITUTIONAL RESTRICTIONS NOT EXTENDED.
If a provision in restrictions extended under this chapter is void
and unenforceable under the United States Constitution or Section
5.026, the restrictions are considered as if the void and
unenforceable provision was never contained in the restrictions.
Sec. 216.013. PROCEDURES CUMULATIVE. The procedure
provided by this chapter for the extension or amendment of
restrictions is cumulative of and not in lieu of any other method by
which restrictions of a subdivision to which this chapter applies
may be extended or amended.
Sec. 216.014. CONSTRUCTION OF CHAPTER AND RESTRICTIONS.
(a) This chapter and any petition or ballot made or action taken in
connection with an attempt to comply with this chapter shall be
liberally construed to effectuate the intent of this chapter and
the petition, ballot, or action.
(b) A restriction that is extended or amended under this
chapter shall be liberally construed to give effect to the
restriction's purposes and intent.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1558 was passed by the House on April
20, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 117, Nays 29, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1558 on May 25, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 118, Nays 20,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1558 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 18, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays
5.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor