By: Hughes S.B. No. 711
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to property owners' associations, including condominium
unit owners' associations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 82.003(a), Property Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (17-a) to read as follows:
(17-a) "Management company" means a person or entity
established or contracted to provide management or administrative
services on behalf of a unit owners' association organized under
Section 82.101.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 82, Property Code, is
amended by adding Section 82.1142 to read as follows:
Sec. 82.1142. ONLINE ASSOCIATION INFORMATION REQUIRED. (a)
This section only applies to:
(1) the association of a condominium composed of at
least 60 units; or
(2) an association that has contracted with a
management company.
(b) An association to which this section applies shall make
the current version of the association's dedicatory instruments
relating to the association and filed in the county deed records
available on an Internet website that is:
(1) maintained by the association or a management
company on behalf of the association; and
(2) accessible to association members.
SECTION 3. Section 82.116, Property Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding Subsections (b-1)
and (d) to read as follows:
(a) An association shall record in each county in which any
portion of the condominium is located a management certificate,
signed and acknowledged by an officer of the association, stating:
(1) the name of the condominium;
(2) the name of the association;
(3) the location of the condominium;
(4) the recording data for the declaration and any
amendments to the declaration;
(5) the mailing address of the association;
(6) [, or] the name, [and] mailing address, telephone
number, and e-mail address of any management company [the person or
entity managing the association];
(7) the website address of any Internet website on
which the association's dedicatory instruments are available in
accordance with Section 82.1142;
(8) the amount and description of a fee or fees charged
to a unit seller or buyer relating to a transfer of a property
interest in a unit of the condominium; and
(9) [(6)] other information the association considers
appropriate.
(b) The association shall record an amended [a] management
certificate not later than the 30th day after the date the
association has notice of a change in any information in a recorded
certificate required by Subsection (a) [Subdivisions (a)(1)-(5)].
(b-1) Not later than the seventh day after the date an
association files a management certificate for recording under
Subsection (a) or files an amended management certificate for
recording under Subsection (b), the association shall
electronically file the management certificate or amended
management certificate with the Texas Real Estate Commission. The
Texas Real Estate Commission shall only collect the management
certificate and amended management certificate for the purpose of
making the data accessible to the public through an Internet
website.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the [The]
association and its officers, directors, employees, and agents are
not subject to liability to any person for delay or failure to
record a management certificate with a county clerk's office or to
electronically file the management certificate with the Texas Real
Estate Commission, unless the delay or failure is wilful or caused
by gross negligence.
(d) A unit owner is not liable for attorney's fees incurred
by an association relating to the collection of a delinquent
assessment against the unit owner, or interest on the delinquent
assessment, if the attorney's fees are incurred by the association
or the interest accrues during the period a management certificate
is not recorded with a county clerk or electronically filed with the
Texas Real Estate Commission, as required by this section.
SECTION 4. Section 82.157, Property Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) An association may charge a reasonable and necessary
fee, not to exceed $375, to furnish a resale certificate under
Subsection (a).
SECTION 5. Section 202.023, Property Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read
as follows:
(c) This section does not prohibit a property owners'
association from:
(1) prohibiting the installation of a security camera
by a property owner in a place other than the property owner's
private property; [or]
(2) regulating the type of fencing that a property
owner may install;
(3) prohibiting the placement of fencing that
obstructs:
(A) a license area, as defined by a written
license agreement or plat;
(B) a sidewalk in the public right-of-way or
otherwise installed for public or community use; or
(C) a drainage easement or drainage area;
(4) requiring a driveway gate to be set back at least
10 feet from the right-of-way if the driveway intersects with a
laned roadway, as defined by Section 541.302, Transportation Code;
or
(5) if provided by a restrictive covenant, prohibiting
the installation of fencing in front of the front-most building
line of a dwelling.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), a property owner may
maintain any perimeter fencing or fencing in front of a dwelling's
front-most building line installed or constructed before September
1, 2025.
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (c)(5), a property owners'
association may not prohibit a property owner from installing
perimeter fencing or fencing in front of the front-most building
line of a dwelling if:
(1) the property owner's residential address is exempt
from public disclosure under state or federal law; or
(2) the property owner provides to the association
documentation from a law enforcement agency of the property owner's
need for enhanced security measures.
SECTION 6. Section 209.00505(c), Property Code, is
redesignated as Section 209.00506, Property Code, and amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 209.00506. ELIGIBILITY TO SERVE ON ARCHITECTURAL
REVIEW AUTHORITY. (a) This section applies only to an
architectural review authority to which Section 209.00505 applies.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a person may not
be appointed or elected to serve on an architectural review
authority unless the person timely notifies the property owners'
association of the person's interest in serving on the authority in
accordance with Section 209.00507.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] person may
not be appointed or elected to serve on an architectural review
authority if the person is:
(1) a current board member;
(2) a current board member's spouse; or
(3) a person residing in a current board member's
household.
(d) If a vacancy remains on the architectural review
authority after each person eligible under Subsection (c) who
timely notifies the property owners' association in accordance with
Section 209.00507 is appointed or elected to the authority, the
association may appoint any person to fill the vacancy, including a
person not otherwise eligible under Subsection (c).
SECTION 7. Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by adding
Section 209.00507 to read as follows:
Sec. 209.00507. SOLICITATION OF CANDIDATES FOR
ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW AUTHORITY. (a) This section applies only to
an architectural review authority to which Section 209.00505
applies.
(b) Not later than the 10th day before the date a property
owners' association or board takes action to elect or appoint or
meets to elect or appoint a person to serve on the architectural
review authority, the association must provide notice to the
association members soliciting persons interested in serving on the
architectural review authority.
(c) The notice required under Subsection (b) must:
(1) be provided:
(A) by mail to each owner; or
(B) by:
(i) posting the notice in a conspicuous
manner reasonably designed to provide notice to property owners'
association members:
(a) in a place located on the
association's common property or, with the property owner's
consent, on other conspicuously located privately owned property
within the subdivision; or
(b) on any Internet website
maintained by the association or other Internet media; and
(ii) sending the notice by e-mail to each
owner who has registered an e-mail address with the property
owners' association; and
(2) contain instructions for a person to notify the
property owners' association of the person's interest in serving on
the architectural review authority, including the date by which the
person's notification must be received by the association.
(d) The date established by a property owners' association
under Subsection (c)(2) by which notification of a person's
interest in serving on the architectural review authority must be
received by the association may not be a date earlier than the 10th
day after the date the association provides the notice described by
Subsection (c).
SECTION 8. A condominium unit owners' association that has
recorded a management certificate or amended management
certificate with a county clerk under Section 82.116, Property
Code, before the effective date of this Act shall electronically
file the most recently recorded management certificate or amended
management certificate with the Texas Real Estate Commission as
required by Section 82.116(b-1), Property Code, as added by this
Act, not later than March 1, 2026.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.