Texas HOA Fines: No Dollar Cap, Strict Process Required

Chapter 209, the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, applies only to a mandatory-membership residential subdivision association; Section 209.003(d) excludes condominiums, which fall under Chapter 82. Before an association can levy a fine, Section 209.006 requires certified-mail notice that describes the violation and states any amount due, tells the owner of the right to a reasonable cure period for a curable violation, tells the owner a hearing under Section 209.007 may be requested by the 30th day after the notice was mailed, mentions Servicemembers Civil Relief Act rights, and states the cure deadline. The statute lists its own examples of uncurable violations, which draw no cure right: shooting fireworks, an act threatening health or safety, a non-ongoing noise violation, property damage including landscape removal, and a prohibited garage sale or event. Curable examples include a parking violation, a maintenance violation, failing to build to approved plans, and an ongoing noise violation such as a barking dog. If the owner cures before the deadline, no fine may be assessed, and an association need not repeat notice and cure for the same violation within six months.

Since January 1, 2024, Section 209.0061 requires the board to adopt a written enforcement policy listing the categories of covenants that can draw a fine, a fine schedule for each category, and hearing information, then post it on the association's website or send it annually by hand delivery, mail, or e-mail; the section does not apply to an association whose governing documents do not authorize fines at all.

At a Section 209.007 hearing, the association must act within 30 days of receiving the owner's request, give 10 days' notice of date, time and place, and hand over its evidence packet at least 10 days out or grant an automatic 15-day postponement; either side gets one 10-day postponement, either side may record, and the board presents its case first.

Section 209.009 bars foreclosing an assessment lien if the debt behind it is solely fines, attorney's fees tied only to those fines, or certain assessment add-ons under Section 209.005(i) or 209.0057(b-4).

A fine issued without Section 209.006's certified-mail notice, cure opportunity, or hearing rights is not enforceable, and the association cannot collect it or send it to a credit bureau. Even a validly assessed fine cannot support foreclosure on its own: Section 209.009 blocks foreclosing a lien whose debt is solely fines, or attorney's fees tied only to those fines. Before filing any assessment lien, the association must also send two delinquency notices under Section 209.0094, at least 90 days before the filing.