Enforcement is where boards get into trouble
Deed-restriction enforcement keeps a Houston neighborhood looking the way owners expected when they bought. It is also the area where boards most often face complaints of unfairness. Texas Property Code Chapter 209 sets a detailed sequence that a property owners' association must follow before it fines an owner, and a board that follows it consistently is in a much stronger position than one that improvises.
Chapter 209 applies to residential subdivisions with mandatory membership and assessment authority, including townhouse regimes. It does not apply to condominiums, which follow Chapter 82 and their own declarations. Condo boards should ask their attorney which steps apply to them.
Step 1: the written notice by certified mail
Section 209.006(a) says that before an association may suspend an owner's right to use a common area, file certain suits against an owner, charge an owner for property damage, levy a fine for a violation of the restrictions, bylaws or rules, or report an owner's delinquency to a credit reporting service, the association or its agent must give the owner written notice by certified mail.
Under Section 209.006(b), the notice must:
- Describe the violation or property damage and state any amount due.
- Inform the owner that the owner is entitled to a reasonable period to cure the violation and avoid the fine or suspension, if the violation is curable and does not threaten public health or safety.
- Inform the owner that the owner may request a hearing under Section 209.007 on or before the 30th day after the notice was mailed.
- Inform the owner that the owner may have special rights or relief under federal law, including the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, if serving on active military duty.
- Specify the date by which a curable violation must be cured.
- Be sent by verified mail to the owner's last known address in the association's records.
If the owner cures the violation within the cure period, Section 209.006(e) says a fine may not be assessed for that violation. Under subsection (d), the notice and cure requirements do not apply to a violation for which the owner was already given notice and the opportunity to exercise these rights in the preceding six months.
Curable versus uncurable violations
The statute gives boards examples. Section 209.006(h) lists acts considered uncurable: shooting fireworks, an act constituting a threat to health or safety, a noise violation that is not ongoing, property damage including removal or alteration of landscape, and holding a garage sale or other event prohibited by a dedicatory instrument. Section 209.006(i) lists curable acts: a parking violation, a maintenance violation, failure to build improvements according to approved plans, and an ongoing noise violation such as a barking dog.
A violation is considered a threat to public health or safety if it could materially affect the physical health or safety of an ordinary resident (subsection (f)). Most everyday Houston violations, such as overgrown yards, trash cans left out, boats or trailers in driveways and unapproved exterior changes, fall on the curable side, which means a real cure period comes first.
Step 2: the owner's hearing
If the owner is entitled to an opportunity to cure, Section 209.007 gives the owner the right to request a hearing before the board. The association must hold the hearing no later than the 30th day after the board receives the request and notify the owner of the date, time and place at least 10 days before. Either side may request a postponement of up to 10 days, and further postponements may be agreed. Either side may make an audio recording.
At least 10 days before the hearing, the association must give the owner a packet of all documents, photographs and communications it intends to introduce (subsection (f)). If it does not, the owner is entitled to an automatic 15-day postponement (subsection (g)). At the hearing, a board member or the association's designated representative presents the association's case first, and then the owner presents theirs (subsection (h)).
Fines are also one of the items Section 209.0051(h) says a board may not consider or vote on outside an open meeting with prior notice to owners, so the decision itself belongs on a properly noticed agenda.
Step 3: a written enforcement and fine policy
Since January 1, 2024, Section 209.0061 requires the board of an association that is authorized to levy fines to adopt an enforcement policy that includes general categories of restrictive covenants for which fines may be assessed, a schedule of fines for each category, and information about hearings under Section 209.007. The policy may reserve the board's authority to vary a fine from the schedule on a case-by-case basis.
The association must provide the policy to owners, either by posting it on an association website accessible to members or by sending it annually by hand delivery, first-class mail or e-mail, and must also make it available on any publicly accessible website the association or its agent maintains.
Attorney's fees and foreclosure limits
Under Section 209.008(a), an association may collect reasonable attorney's fees related to enforcement only if the owner was given written notice that fees will be charged if the violation continues after a date certain. Subsection (b) adds that an owner is not liable for attorney's fees incurred before the hearing concludes or, if no hearing is requested, before the deadline to request one.
Section 209.009 prohibits foreclosing the association's assessment lien when the debt consists solely of fines, attorney's fees associated solely with fines, or certain amounts added for records or recount costs. Fines are also last in line when payments are applied under Section 209.0063, after assessments and attorney's fees. Our assessment collections guide covers that order.
Architectural denials are a separate track
For associations with more than 40 lots and outside declarant control, Section 209.00505 provides that an architectural review denial may be appealed to the board, with written notice of the denial describing the basis and any required changes, and a hearing within 30 days of the owner's request. Boards should keep architectural appeals and violation hearings on separate, documented tracks.
Common Houston enforcement mistakes
The problems boards run into are usually procedural rather than substantive. Typical examples include sending the first notice by regular mail when the statute calls for certified mail, setting a cure date so short that it is not a reasonable period, fining an owner who already fixed the problem, deciding fines in an e-mail thread instead of a noticed meeting, and enforcing a rule against some owners but not others. Each of these gives an owner a strong argument that the fine should not stand. A written policy, a tracking log and a manager who calendars each deadline remove most of that risk.
A consistent enforcement routine
- Inspect on a regular schedule and photograph each observed violation with a date.
- Start with a courtesy letter where the governing documents and policy allow, then the certified-mail Section 209.006 notice.
- Track the cure date, the 30-day hearing request window and any prior notice within six months.
- Prepare the hearing packet at least 10 days before any hearing.
- Vote on fines only in an open, properly noticed board meeting.
- Apply the published fine schedule the same way to every owner, including board members.
Boards that self-manage can find letter and policy templates among these free board templates. Protige manages Houston HOAs with a documented, uniform enforcement process; contact Protige to talk about yours.
Related: Chapter 209 board basics.