HOA law in Texas is set mainly by the Residential Property Owners Protection Act, Property Code Chapter 209, with restrictive covenants under Chapter 202 and condominiums under Chapter 82. Texas gives owners some unusually strong protections. An HOA must give you written notice and a chance to cure before it fines you, it generally cannot foreclose without going through a court, you get a 180-day right to buy your home back after a foreclosure sale, and the law bars associations from banning a long list of things, from solar panels and rain barrels to flags, standby generators, and firearms. The catch is that Texas has no state HOA regulator, so those rights are enforced in court. Here is how the framework works, with the citations.
The controlling statutes
Chapter 209 applies to a residential subdivision whose declaration lets the association levy regular or special assessments on all or most of the lots. Chapter 202 governs how restrictive covenants are enforced, and it tilts toward the association: covenants are "liberally construed," and an association's discretionary enforcement is presumed reasonable unless an owner shows it was arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory. Resale disclosures live in Chapter 207, and condominiums follow the separate Uniform Condominium Act. Knowing which chapter applies matters, because foreclosure and redemption rules differ between subdivisions and condos.
Assessments, liens, and foreclosure
Texas makes it hard to lose a home to an HOA quickly. Under § 209.0092, an HOA generally may not foreclose an assessment lien without first obtaining a court order through expedited foreclosure, and under § 209.009 it cannot foreclose at all when the debt is made up solely of fines or the attorney fees tied only to those fines. Before it can even file a lien, the association must send a sequence of notices and wait, and it may not file the lien before the 90th day after the second, certified-mail notice (§ 209.0094).
If a foreclosure does happen, you keep a 180-day right of redemption to buy the property back after the association mails the required post-sale notice (§ 209.011), which is one of the longest owner redemption windows in the country. Removing or adding the HOA's power to foreclose at all requires a vote of at least 67% of owners (§ 209.0093). Condominiums are on a different track: under § 82.113 a condo association may foreclose by nonjudicial power of sale, and the redemption period is 90 days. Our guide on when an HOA can foreclose covers the mechanics.
Owner rights: records, meetings, and elections
Records. You submit a written request by certified mail, and under § 209.005 the association must respond on or before the 10th business day, either producing copies or setting inspection dates. If it cannot meet that deadline, it must notify you and deliver the records no later than the 15th business day after that notice. Associations must also keep governing documents permanently and financial records for years under a required retention policy.
Meetings and elections. Regular and special board meetings must be open to owners, with closed executive sessions allowed only for narrow matters like litigation, personnel, and enforcement (§ 209.0051). Board members whose terms expire must be elected by owner vote, and notice of an election or vote must go out not later than the 10th day and not earlier than the 60th day before it (§ 209.0056). A governing-document provision that disqualifies an owner from voting is void.
Fines, enforcement, and where disputes go
Before an HOA fines you, suspends your common-area rights, or sues you over a covenant, § 209.006 requires written notice by certified mail that describes the violation, gives a reasonable cure period if the violation is curable and not a health or safety threat, and tells you of your right to request a hearing within 30 days. If you cure before the deadline, no fine may be assessed. An HOA that fines must publish an enforcement policy and fine schedule (§ 209.0061), and if you request a hearing the board must hold it within 30 days and give you the evidence packet at least 10 days ahead (§ 209.007).
Texas also protects owners on collections: required payment plans of at least three months (§ 209.0062), a payment "waterfall" that applies your money to assessments before fines (§ 209.0063), and limits on credit reporting (§ 209.0065). When a dispute cannot be resolved, an owner can sue the association for a Chapter 209 violation in the local justice court (§ 209.017). There is no state HOA regulator in Texas, and the Texas Real Estate Commission has no jurisdiction, so the courts are the forum. See Texas fines and enforcement and our guide on disputing an HOA violation.
What a Texas HOA generally cannot ban
Texas voids covenants that try to prohibit any of these:
- Solar energy devices, including solar roof tiles as of 2025 (§ 202.010). See Texas HOA solar rules.
- Rain barrels, composting, drought-resistant landscaping, and efficient irrigation, subject to reasonable screening and location rules (§ 202.007).
- The U.S., Texas, and military-branch flags, and the HOA must allow at least one flagpole up to 20 feet (§ 202.012). See flags and political signs.
- Religious displays motivated by sincere religious belief, with narrow safety exceptions (§ 202.018).
- Permanently installed standby generators meeting the statute's specifications (§ 202.019), and lawful firearms and ammunition (§ 202.021).
- Political signs from 90 days before an election through 10 days after, under Election Code § 259.002 (the HOA may require ground-mounting and bar signs larger than 4 by 6 feet).
- Satellite dishes and antennas under about one meter, protected by the federal FCC OTARD rule rather than a Texas statute. See satellite dish rules.
Leasing is the notable gap. Texas has no statute broadly barring HOA rental caps, so rental restrictions are governed by your recorded declaration, which the courts read in the association's favor.
Recent changes Texas owners should know
- 2025 session: HB 517 bars fining for brown or dormant turf during a mandated watering restriction and for 60 days after (§ 202.008); HB 431 added solar roof tiles to the solar definition; HB 621 bars an HOA from prohibiting owners from inviting government officials and candidates to address members in common areas (§ 202.013).
- 2023 session: HB 614 required a published fine policy and schedule (§ 209.0061, effective January 1, 2024), and HB 886 tightened the pre-lien notice sequence.
- 2021 session: SB 1588 was a broad reform of enforcement notices, hearings, payment priority, collections, and credit-reporting limits, and it remains the backbone of today's owner protections.
How to check your own Texas HOA
The statute sets a strong floor, but Texas courts read covenants in the association's favor, so the exact wording of your recorded declaration matters more here than in many states, especially on leasing, parking, and architectural control. Rather than read the whole packet, upload your governing documents and let AskHOA pull out the operative rules, flag the restrictions, and answer questions grounded in your association's own text with the clause cited. If you are still buying, pair this with our guide on reading CC&Rs before you buy.