New HOA Laws in Texas: Fines, Liens, and Resale Fees

The new HOA laws in Texas, enacted across the 2021, 2023, and 2025 legislative sessions, give homeowners stronger notice rights before fines and liens, cap several fees, and protect specific uses of your property from association override. Senate Bill 1588 (2021) did the heavy lifting, House Bill 614 and House Bill 886 (2023) closed gaps around fine policies and lien notices, and further amendments took effect September 1, 2025.

Fines Now Require Notice, a Cure Period, and a Written Policy

Your association cannot fine you, suspend your access to common areas, or report you to a credit bureau until it sends a written notice by certified mail to your last known address. The notice must describe the specific violation, state the amount owed, and tell you that you can cure the problem within a reasonable time if the violation is fixable and does not threaten public health or safety. Cure it in time and the fine cannot be assessed at all.¹

The same notice must inform you of your right to request a hearing within 30 days of the mailing date, and it must mention potential rights under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act if you are on active military duty. One caveat: if the association already gave you notice for the same violation within the past six months, it does not have to repeat these steps.¹

Written Enforcement Policy Required Since January 1, 2024

Any association authorized to levy fines must now adopt a written enforcement policy under House Bill 614. The policy has to list general categories of covenant violations that can trigger fines, publish a fine schedule showing the amount for each category, and explain the hearing process. The board can adjust individual fines case by case, but only within the published schedule.²

The policy has to reach every owner, either through the HOA’s website (required if one exists) or annually by hand delivery, first-class mail, or email. Because the statute ties the authority to fine to the existence of this published policy, fines from an association that never adopted or distributed one are open to challenge.²

Assessment Liens: A Two-Notice Process Before Filing

If you fall behind on assessments, House Bill 886 (2023) requires the association to send a first delinquency notice by first-class mail or email. At least 30 days later, a second notice must go by certified mail with return receipt requested. The association cannot file the lien until at least 90 days after that second certified notice was mailed.³

A parallel provision in Chapter 209 requires the certified notice to include a detailed breakdown of amounts owed, a description of how to cure the delinquency, and a reminder that you have 30 days to request a hearing. Under that section, the association must wait at least 91 days after the notice is served before filing.⁴

Associations must also offer payment plans for delinquent assessments, with a minimum length of three months. Together, these rules give a homeowner in temporary financial trouble several months of built-in time before a lien lands on the property record.

Collection Agent Fees and Foreclosure Attorney Fees

Before you can be charged for a third-party collection agent’s fees, the association must send a certified-mail notice listing every delinquent amount, the total needed to bring the account current, and your options for avoiding collections, including any payment plan. You get at least 45 days to cure before the collector can take further action.⁵

The provision most homeowners miss: if the association’s agreement with its collection agent makes the agent’s payment contingent on what it recovers from you, or if the contract does not require the association itself to pay the agent’s full fees, the association cannot pass those fees on to you. The collector also cannot block you from contacting the HOA board or management company directly about your debt.⁵

Attorney fees in a nonjudicial foreclosure are capped at the greater of one-third of total costs and assessments (excluding attorney fees, but including permitted interest and court costs) or $2,500. The association can seek higher fees through other legal channels, but not inside the nonjudicial foreclosure itself.⁶

Resale Certificate Fees Are Capped

When you sell, the association’s fee for assembling and delivering the resale certificate is capped at $375. An updated certificate later in the transaction costs no more than $75.⁷

If the association fails to deliver the required resale information within five business days after a second request sent by certified mail or hand-delivered with a receipt, you can seek a court judgment of up to $5,000 against the association, plus court costs and reasonable attorney fees.⁸

Security Cameras and Fencing

Associations cannot block you from installing security cameras, motion detectors, or perimeter fencing on your property. The HOA can still regulate fencing materials, prohibit cameras placed outside your private property (such as on common areas), and require driveway gates to be set back at least 10 feet from the right-of-way where your driveway meets a laned road.⁹

Amendments effective September 1, 2025 added rules for front-yard fencing. A covenant can prohibit fencing in front of the front building line, but two exceptions override that ban: if your residential address is exempt from public disclosure under state or federal law, or if you provide documentation from law enforcement showing a need for enhanced security. Any perimeter or front-yard fencing installed before September 1, 2025 is grandfathered in.⁹

Condominiums and master mixed-use associations governed by Chapter 215 are excluded from these security-measure protections.

Solar Panels, Flags, and Water Conservation

Solar Energy Devices

Your HOA cannot prohibit solar panels, but placement rules are specific. Roof-mounted panels must conform to the slope of the roof, cannot extend past the roofline, and must have frames and wiring in silver, bronze, or black tones. If the association designates a preferred roof area, you can use a different area only if it would boost estimated annual energy production by more than 10 percent, as determined by a National Renewable Energy Laboratory modeling tool. Ground- or yard-mounted panels must sit inside a fenced area and stay below the fence line.¹⁰

If you meet these requirements, the architectural review committee cannot withhold approval unless it finds in writing that your placement would substantially interfere with neighbors’ use and enjoyment. Written approval from every adjoining owner creates a presumption that no such interference exists.¹⁰

Flags

The U.S. flag, the Texas flag, and official military branch flags are all protected. You are entitled to at least one flagpole up to 20 feet tall in your front yard, subject to zoning and setback rules, or a flagpole attached to your home. The HOA can regulate pole materials, illumination, external-halyard noise, and maintenance, but not so as to prevent display.¹¹

Rain Barrels and Drought-Resistant Landscaping

Drought-resistant landscaping, water-conserving turf, rain barrels, drip irrigation, and composting devices for vegetation cannot be banned outright. Associations can regulate materials, size, and placement for aesthetic reasons. Rain barrels must match the home’s color scheme and cannot sit between the home and the street. Rules can restrict gravel, rocks, or cacti, but cannot override your right to install water-conserving turf or efficient irrigation.¹²

Religious Displays

Your HOA cannot prohibit a display of religious items on your property or home if the display is motivated by sincere religious belief. House Bill 1569 (2021) repealed earlier limits that had capped religious displays at 25 square inches and confined them to entry doors, so there is no longer a size cap or door-only rule.¹³

The association keeps narrow authority to act only if a display threatens public health or safety, violates a non-speech law, or contains content patently offensive for reasons unrelated to its religious meaning. Displays cannot be placed on HOA-owned property, common areas, traffic control devices, or utility poles.¹⁴

Pool Enclosures

Associations cannot prohibit a pool enclosure that meets state or local safety requirements. The HOA can set appearance rules including permissible colors, but those rules cannot ban a black-colored enclosure made of transparent mesh in metal frames.⁸

Open Meetings, Minutes, and Website Posting

All regular and special board meetings must be open to owners. Notice of a regular meeting must be posted at least 144 hours in advance, and a special meeting at least 72 hours in advance. The notice goes in a conspicuous physical location within the subdivision and by email to every owner who has provided an address. If the association has a website, the notice must appear there too.¹⁵

The board must keep written minutes of every meeting and provide them to any member who submits a written request to the managing agent listed on the most recent management certificate, or directly to the board if there is no agent.¹⁵

Associations with at least 60 lots, and those that use a management company, must maintain a website and publish their governing documents on it, including bylaws and restrictive covenants. The fine enforcement policy required by HB 614 must appear on that website as well.⁸

A Federal Rule That Overrides Your Covenants

Whatever your covenants say, the FCC’s Over-the-Air Reception Devices rule prohibits any restriction that unreasonably delays, prevents, or increases the cost of installing a satellite dish one meter or smaller, a television antenna, or certain fixed-wireless antennas on property you control. The HOA can suggest a preferred location, but a preferred location that blocks your signal or makes installation impractical is unenforceable. Narrow exceptions exist for genuine safety needs (applied evenhandedly to similar fixtures) and for properties on the National Register of Historic Places, and even those must be no more burdensome than necessary. If your HOA tells you to remove a dish, ask for the specific safety justification in writing, and file a complaint with the FCC if the association persists.¹⁶

1
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.006 – Required Notice Before Enforcement Action
2
Texas Legislature Online. 88th Legislature HB 614 – Enrolled Version
3
Texas Legislature Online. 88th Legislature HB 886 – Enrolled Version
4
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Chapter 209 – Section 209.010
5
State of Texas. Texas Code 209.0064 – Third Party Collections
6
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.008 – Attorneys Fees
7
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 207.003 – Resale Certificates
8
Texas Legislature Online. 87th Legislature SB 1588 – Enrolled Version
9
State of Texas. Texas Code 202.023 – Security Measures
10
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.010 – Solar Energy Devices
11
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.012 – Flag Display
12
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.007 – Water Conservation Measures
13
Texas Legislature Online. 87th Legislature HB 1569 – Regulation of Certain Religious Displays
14
State of Texas. Texas Code 202.018 – Regulation of Display of Certain Religious Items
15
State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0051 – Open Board Meetings
16
eCFR. 47 CFR 1.4000 – Restrictions Impairing Reception of Television Broadcast Signals