An owner wants to repaint their house a new color. How should our HOA board review the request?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 13, 2026

How an HOA architectural committee reviews a request to repaint a house a new color: building a palette, on-wall samples, TX, FL and CO denial rules, sample wording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

Approve it quickly when the colors come from the community's published palette, and slow down only when they do not. Most repaint requests are routine. The ones that turn into fights are the owner who picks a color nobody on the street has used, the owner whose new color matches the house next door, and the owner who paints first and applies afterward. The review covers appearance: the body, trim, door and accent colors and how they sit next to the neighbors. It does not cover the quality of the paint job, the contractor or the warranty, and the approval letter should say so. No Texas, Florida or Colorado statute protects an owner's choice of paint color the way some statutes protect solar panels or flags. The committee's authority comes from the declaration and the guidelines it authorizes, and each state adds rules about how those guidelines are adopted and how a denial must be written. Rules vary by state and by each community's governing documents. This guide is general education, not legal advice. Have the association's attorney read the palette document and your denial letter template once before the committee starts using them.

A published palette does most of the work

A palette is a short list of approved color schemes, each naming the body, trim and accent colors by manufacturer, color name and color code. With one in place, most applications become a check against a list, and a volunteer can answer them in a day. Florida gives a palette real weight. Under Fla. Stat. 720.3035(2), when the declaration or the published guidelines it authorizes give owners options for material or design, the association and its committee may not restrict an owner's right to choose from those options. Publish eight schemes and an owner who picks scheme five is entitled to it. Section 720.3035(1)(a) also limits review of appearance to authority the declaration states or reasonably infers, and requires the committee to apply its standards reasonably and equitably to every owner. Texas. Property Code 202.006 requires an association to file its dedicatory instruments in the real property records of the county, and an instrument has no effect until it is filed. Treat the palette as part of the architectural guidelines: record it with them, and record it again each time it changes. Colorado. C.R.S. 38-33.3-209.5(1)(b)(VII) requires every association to adopt procedures for adopting and amending its policies, procedures and rules. Follow your own procedure when the palette is first adopted and whenever a scheme is added or dropped. To build one, photograph every house from the street and list the schemes already there. Start the palette from those, then add a few from one paint maker's exterior collection if the board wants more choice. Say in writing whether an owner may use a computer-matched version of an approved color from another brand. If the board allows it, require the application to list the original color name and code.

What the application should ask for

Put this list on the form: - The address and a current photo of the house from the street. - For each surface (body or siding, trim, front door, shutters, garage door and any accent), the manufacturer, color name, color code and sheen. - Whether the colors are a palette scheme, and if so which one. - Photos of the houses on each side and directly across the street. - For any color not on the palette, a painted sample on the front wall of the house, at least 2 feet square, left up until the committee has seen it. - The contractor's name and planned start date, and for a house built before 1978, whether the contractor is lead-safe certified. A paint chip held up under kitchen lights tells the committee very little about how a color will look across 2,000 square feet of siding in afternoon sun. The sample on the wall lets the committee decide in one visit instead of three.

Judging a color that is not on the palette

Go look in daylight, from the street and from the sidewalk in front of the neighbors' houses. Ask the same four questions every time, and print them in the guidelines so owners know them before they apply. 1. Does the body color fall inside the range already on the street, or is it much darker, lighter or brighter than anything nearby? 2. Does it match the house on either side or across the street? A guideline can bar the same body color on adjacent homes. That is a fair reason for a denial, and an easy one for the owner to fix. 3. Do the trim and door colors read as one scheme with the body, or as three unrelated choices? 4. Would the committee approve the same scheme for any other house in the community? Every approval becomes a precedent the next owner will cite. If the answer to the fourth question is yes, add the scheme to the palette at the next update. An owner who proposes a good color has done part of the committee's work.

Writing a denial each state will accept

Texas. Property Code 209.00505 applies to an association with more than 40 lots, outside a development period and once the declarant no longer controls the architectural review authority or holds a veto over it. The denial goes by certified mail, hand delivery or electronic delivery. It must describe the basis for the denial in reasonable detail, list any changes required for approval, and tell the owner they may request a hearing on or before the 30th day after the notice was mailed. The board holds the hearing within 30 days of the request, with at least 10 days' notice, and may affirm, modify or reverse the committee. Florida. Under 720.3035(4)(a), a written denial must state with specificity the rule or covenant relied on and the part of the proposal that does not conform. Under 720.3035(4)(b), an owner whose rights are unreasonably, knowingly and willfully infringed can recover damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees. A vague 'not in harmony' letter is where that risk starts. Colorado. Follow the declaration and the dispute and enforcement policies the association adopted under 209.5(1)(b). A denial paragraph to adapt: 'The architectural committee denies the application dated [date] to repaint [address]. The proposed body color, [manufacturer, color name, code], is the same body color as [adjacent address], and section [__] of the architectural guidelines does not allow the same body color on adjacent homes. The committee will approve the application with any other body color from the approved palette, or with an off-palette body color that does not match an adjacent home.' In Texas, add the hearing sentence the statute requires.

A sample timeline and approval wording

Day 0. Application logged with the date received. Day 1. A committee member checks the colors against the palette. If your procedures let one member approve palette schemes, the approval goes out the same week. Day 3. For an off-palette color, the owner paints the sample on the front wall. Day 7. The committee visits the house. Day 14. Written decision goes out. Read the declaration for a deadline. Some treat an application not acted on within 30 or 45 days as approved. Approval wording to adapt: 'The architectural committee approves the exterior colors for [address] listed below: body [manufacturer, name, code, sheen]; trim [__]; front door [__]; shutters [__]; garage door [__]. Work must start within six months of this letter and finish within 90 days of starting. Any change to these colors needs a new application. This approval covers appearance only. The association has not reviewed the contractor, the materials or the workmanship.' For a house built before 1978, add one more line. EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule covers paid work on pre-1978 homes, and under 40 CFR 745.83 a job that disturbs more than 20 square feet of exterior painted surface, by scraping or sanding for example, is not minor repair. That work must be done by an EPA- or state-certified firm using certified renovators. The committee does not enforce the rule, but a sentence reminding the owner that lead-safe rules may apply costs nothing.

Mistakes boards make

Sitting on palette requests. A repaint scheduled for spring that waits two meetings for a rubber stamp is how a committee loses owners' goodwill. In Florida, a palette choice is the owner's right under 720.3035(2), so there is nothing to deliberate. Keeping the palette in a binder. If owners cannot see it, they cannot choose from it. In Texas, an unrecorded palette has no effect under 202.006. Leaving same-color repaints unanswered. Say in the guidelines whether repainting in the existing colors needs an application. Owners will ask, and the answer belongs in writing. Fining the owner who painted first without following the notice rules. In Texas, Property Code 209.006 requires certified mail describing the violation, a reasonable period to cure a curable violation, and notice that the owner may request a hearing within 30 days before any fine. In Colorado, 209.5(1.7)(b)(III) requires certified mail and 30 days to cure, caps total fines for the violation at $500, and requires two consecutive 30-day cure periods before legal action. Repainting a whole house is expensive, so ask first whether the color would have passed. If it would, approve it after the fact and move on. For the wider design rules, see our guide on how to write HOA architectural guidelines. If the paint is already on the house, use our guide on how to handle an owner who built without HOA architectural approval.

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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