How do we fix a typo or error in our recorded HOA declaration or plat?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 18, 2026

How an HOA board fixes a typo or error in a recorded declaration, bylaws or plat: when a vote is needed, correction routes in TX, FL and CO, and recording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

A recorded declaration is changed the way the declaration and state law say it can be changed, and in most HOAs that means an owner vote, even for a typo. Very few statutes give an HOA board the power to correct the declaration on its own. What a board can do is sort the error first: some mistakes are harmless and can be left alone with a note in the records, some can be fixed through a route that skips the owner vote (a plat correction through the city, for example), and the rest need a short, narrow amendment. Whatever the route, the fix has to be recorded in the county records before it binds anyone. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, so treat this as education, not legal advice, and have the association's attorney draft anything that will be recorded.

Sort the error before you fix it

Pull a certified copy of the recorded document from the county clerk, not the PDF on the website, and compare it with what the board thinks it says. Many errors turn out to live only in an unofficial retyped copy. Then put each real error in one of three groups. Harmless errors are misspellings or wrong cross-references where the meaning is still clear to any reader. Mechanical errors are wrong lot numbers, bearings, distances, recording references or a missing exhibit page. Substantive errors change what owners can do or what they pay, such as an assessment share that does not total 100 percent or a use restriction that says the opposite of what was intended. Harmless errors usually do not justify the cost of a vote. Write a short board resolution stating how the association reads the provision, keep it in the permanent records, and fold the fix into the next amendment the community adopts for other reasons. Mechanical and substantive errors need an actual correction.

Texas

Property Code section 202.006 requires a Texas association to file its dedicatory instruments, including the declaration, bylaws and all amendments, in the real property records of each county, and says an instrument has no effect until it is filed. So the first question for any Texas board is whether the version it enforces is the one on file. Chapter 202 has no board correction procedure. Property Code sections 5.027 to 5.031 allow correction instruments, but they are written for an original instrument of conveyance, such as a deed, and the statute does not say it reaches a declaration of restrictive covenants. Do not assume it does without a lawyer's opinion. For a plat inside a city, Local Government Code section 212.016 allows an amending plat to fix a course or distance error, a lot number, acreage, a street name or any other scrivener or clerical error. The city's plat authority approves it, and notice, a hearing and the approval of other lot owners are not required for those purposes. A plat correction that moves a lot line is different and needs the affected lot owners to join. Texas boards should check the declaration's own amendment clause for everything else.

Florida and Colorado

Florida section 720.306(1)(b) sets a default of two-thirds of the voting interests to amend HOA governing documents unless the documents or law say otherwise, and section 720.306(1)(e) makes an amendment effective when recorded in the county public records. Chapter 720 has no scrivener's error shortcut. Condominium boards are different: Florida section 718.110(5) lets a condo fix a scrivener's error in a unit's share of the common elements or expenses by an amendment approved by the board or a majority of unit owners, and section 718.110(9) covers other errors and omissions. Those condo sections do not apply to a chapter 720 HOA. In Colorado, section 38-33.3-217(1)(a)(I) of the Common Interest Ownership Act sets the amendment vote, including for plats and maps, at more than 50 percent or a higher figure in the declaration, capped at 67 percent. Section 38-33.3-205(4) lets a declarant correct clerical, typographical or technical errors without that vote, but there is no matching power for the association. If the developer is still around and still holds declarant rights, ask it to record the correction. Otherwise the board uses the regular amendment process, which section 38-33.3-217(3) says is effective only when recorded, and a challenge to it must be brought within one year of recording under section 38-33.3-217(2).

California and the board-only exceptions

California shows what a true board-only correction looks like, and how narrow it is. Civil Code section 4225 requires the board, without a member vote, to amend out restrictive covenant language that discriminates in violation of state fair housing law, restate the document with no other change, and record it. Section 4235 lets the board update outdated cross-references to the Davis-Stirling Act by resolution. Anything else goes through section 4270, which requires approval by the required percentage of members, a signed and acknowledged certification by the designated officer or president, and recording in each county. If the declaration's threshold is unreachable, section 4275 lets the association petition the superior court to approve an amendment that more than 50 percent of members voted for. Several states have a similar rule for discriminatory language, so check yours before paying for a vote on that alone.

Running a correction amendment

Keep the amendment to the error. A correction that grows into a rewrite invites opposition and defeats the reason owners will sign quickly. The usual sequence looks like this. Week 1: the board identifies the error, orders a certified copy and asks the attorney which route applies. Weeks 2 to 4: the attorney drafts a one-page amendment quoting the current text, the corrected text and the reason. Week 5: the board adopts a resolution sending it to owners, with the ballot or written consent method the documents allow. Weeks 6 to 10: collect votes, with reminders. Week 11: the president or designated officer signs the certificate, and the attorney or title company records it. Within 30 days after recording, Florida section 720.306(1)(b) requires sending owners a copy of the recorded amendment. Put the recording book and page, or instrument number, in the minutes and on every copy you hand out from then on. A cover note owners can understand helps the vote: "The recorded declaration lists Lot 14 in the pool easement in Article 6. The plat and every survey show it is Lot 41. This amendment changes one number and nothing else. The board recommends a yes vote."

Mistakes boards make

The most common is enforcing the version the board believes was intended instead of the version on record, which loses fights an owner raises at the worst moment, such as a fine hearing. The second is editing the website copy of the declaration to fix the typo, which creates two versions and a records problem. Third, boards bundle the correction with a controversial change, and both fail. Fourth, they skip recording, or record in one county when the community spans two. Fifth, they ask a title company or surveyor to record an affidavit and assume it rewrote the declaration. Colorado section 38-35-109(5) lets a recorded affidavit serve as evidence of a scrivener's error, but it is aimed at title and does not replace an amendment. Last, boards forget lenders. Some declarations require mortgagee consent for certain amendments, so read the amendment clause in full. Our guide on how to amend HOA CC&Rs covers turnout and vote-counting for larger changes.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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