Texas HOA rules come from a stack of documents, and the order matters: the Texas Property Code sits on top, your neighborhood’s Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions comes next, and the association’s bylaws handle the internal wiring. When any private document conflicts with state law, the statute wins. That single principle is what lets homeowners push back on boards that overreach, because Texas has written specific limits into Chapters 202, 204, and 209 of the Property Code covering everything from solar panels to foreclosure.1Justia. Texas Property Code Title 11 Chapter 209 – Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act
Chapter 209, the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, is the one most homeowners end up reading. It provides the core consumer protections. Chapter 202 governs how restrictive covenants are enforced and lists the property features an HOA cannot prohibit no matter what the CC&Rs say. Chapter 204 addresses the powers of associations in certain subdivisions. Your CC&Rs and bylaws fill in the gaps, but they cannot go beyond what state law permits.
Property Features Your HOA Cannot Prohibit
Texas has steadily expanded the list of things your association must allow, regardless of neighborhood aesthetics. Each protection comes with conditions the HOA can still enforce.
Solar Panels
An HOA cannot ban a solar energy device on your roof or in a fenced yard you own and maintain.2State of Texas. Texas Property Code Chapter 202 – Construction and Enforcement of Restrictive Covenants Roof panels must sit within the roofline, follow its slope with a top edge parallel to the roofline, and use frames and visible piping in silver, bronze, or black. Yard panels cannot rise above the fence line. The only way an HOA overrides these protections is a court finding that the installation threatens public health or safety. The rule does not apply to condominiums.
Flags
You can display the U.S. flag, the Texas flag, or an official flag of any branch of the U.S. armed forces.3State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 202.012 – Flag Display The HOA can regulate size, number, and pole location, but must allow at least one flagpole per property up to 20 feet tall in the front yard or attached to the home. Flags and poles have to be kept in good condition.
Religious Displays
An HOA cannot force you to remove a religious item motivated by a sincere religious belief.4State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 202.018 – Regulation of Display of Certain Religious Items Around your entry door or door frame, displays up to 25 square inches in combined area are protected. The narrow exception: the HOA can prohibit language or graphics that would be patently offensive to a passerby for reasons unrelated to religious content.
Security Cameras and Fencing
As of September 2025, an HOA cannot prevent you from installing security cameras, motion detectors, or perimeter fencing.5State of Texas. Texas Property Code 202.023 – Security Measures The association can still regulate fence type and can require cameras to point at your own property rather than common areas. If your address is exempt from public disclosure under state or federal law, or you have law enforcement documentation showing an enhanced security need, the HOA cannot prohibit front-yard fencing even where the CC&Rs otherwise restrict it.
Political Signs
Political signs are protected from 90 days before an election through 10 days after. The association can require ground mounting, limit you to one sign per candidate or ballot item, and prohibit signs larger than four feet by six feet. Signs with offensive language, sounds, or streamers can be restricted.
Water Conservation and Landscaping
Composting, rain barrels, rainwater harvesting systems, drip irrigation, and drought-resistant landscaping are all protected.6State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 202.007 – Certain Restrictive Covenants Prohibited A 2023 amendment also bars associations from requiring you to plant or maintain living grass or turf. The HOA can still require that landscaping look maintained and that composting equipment does not create odors or attract pests.
How Fines and Violations Have to Be Handled
Before an HOA can fine you, suspend your common-area access, charge you for property damage, or report a delinquency to a credit bureau, it must send written notice by certified mail describing the specific violation and any amount owed.7State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.006 – Notice Required Before Enforcement Action The notice must tell you three things: that you have a reasonable period to cure the violation (if it is fixable and does not threaten public health or safety), that you can request a hearing within 30 days, and that active-duty military members may have additional rights under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
Repeat notices for the same violation within six months let the HOA skip the cure period. Uncurable violations, like setting off fireworks, also do not require a cure period even on the first notice. The distinction between curable and uncurable is where a lot of enforcement fights start, because an association that labels a curable problem uncurable is trying to short-circuit your rights.
The Hearing You Can Demand
Request a hearing within 30 days of the notice and the board must hold it within 30 days of your request, giving you at least 10 days’ advance notice of the date and time.8State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 209.007 – Hearing The association also has to send you a packet, at least 10 days out, with every document, photograph, and communication it intends to introduce. Miss that deadline and you are entitled to an automatic 15-day postponement.
The association presents first, then you or your representative. Either side can request one postponement of up to 10 days. You can make an audio recording. If things break down, either party can move to compel mediation.
The Published Fine Schedule
Any HOA that levies fines must adopt a written enforcement policy listing the general categories of violations, the fine amount for each category, and information about the hearing process.9Texas Legislature. Texas HB 614 – Enrolled Version It must distribute the policy by website, mail, hand delivery, or email. A fine amount that appears nowhere in any published schedule is not enforceable against you.
Assessments, Payment Plans, and Foreclosure
Associations with more than 14 lots must offer alternative payment plans when a homeowner falls behind on regular or special assessments.10State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 209.0062 – Alternative Payment Schedule for Certain Assessments The plan runs at least three months and no more than 18 months from the request date. While you are paying under the plan, the association cannot add monetary penalties, though it can charge reasonable administrative costs and interest.
The protection has limits. If you defaulted on a plan within the past two years, the HOA does not have to offer another. You get one payment plan per 12-month period. Associations with 14 or fewer lots have no obligation to offer plans at all.
What Foreclosure Actually Requires
Unpaid assessments can lead to an assessment lien on your property, but converting that lien into a foreclosure sale is harder than many owners assume. The HOA cannot foreclose if the debt consists solely of fines or attorney fees associated with fines.11State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.009 – Foreclosure Sale Prohibited in Certain Circumstances Actual unpaid assessments have to be part of the debt.
Even when the debt qualifies, the association must first get a court order through an expedited judicial foreclosure process before it can sell your home.12State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0092 – Judicial Foreclosure Required You can waive that requirement in writing at the time foreclosure is sought, but the HOA cannot make waiver a condition of buying the property in the first place.
If a sale happens, you have 180 days from the date the association mails written notice to redeem the property by paying all delinquent amounts, interest, and costs the purchaser incurred.13State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 209.011 – Right of Redemption After Foreclosure Any lienholder of record has the same right. It is a real protection, but reaching it means you have already lost control of the home and are racing to buy it back.
Records and Open Meetings
You have a right to examine your HOA’s books and records, including financial statements and meeting minutes. Submit a written request by certified mail describing what you want.14State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 209.005 – Association Records The association has 10 business days to respond by setting an inspection time or sending copies, and can extend that by up to 15 additional business days with written notice. Copying charges cannot exceed what a state agency would charge for equivalent records.
Board meetings must be open to homeowners.15State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0051 – Open Board Meetings The board can go into executive session for personnel matters, pending litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement actions, or attorney communications, but the big decisions have to happen in the open with prior notice: fines, damage assessments, foreclosure actions, enforcement actions, assessment increases, and special assessments. Mailed notice must go out at least 10 days before the meeting; posted and emailed notice requires at least 144 hours for regular meetings and 72 hours for special ones. The notice must include date, time, place, and a general description of what will be discussed, including any executive session topics.
Federal Protections That Override the HOA
State law is not the only ceiling on association authority. Federal law can override both the Texas Property Code and your CC&Rs where they conflict.
The Fair Housing Act requires HOAs to make reasonable accommodations in their rules when necessary for a person with a disability to have equal use and enjoyment of the home.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices In practice, that means an association cannot refuse a wheelchair ramp that extends into a setback area, or deny an emotional support animal in a pet-restricted community, when the resident can show a disability-related need. The HOA can ask for verification from a medical provider but cannot demand detailed medical records.
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act adds protection for active-duty military. The Texas notice statute specifically requires the association to alert homeowners to potential SCRA rights.7State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.006 – Notice Required Before Enforcement Action Under federal law, foreclosure generally cannot proceed against a servicemember on active duty, or within 90 days after active duty ends, without a court order, and the servicemember can request additional time when deployment prevents a response.