What do the 2025 Texas HOA law changes mean for volunteer boards?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 23, 2026

2025 Texas HOA law changes for boards: SB 711 fence and architectural committee rules, electronic ballots, drought lawns, plus the 2023 fine and lien rules.

Part of the HOA board handbook: new state laws for boards.

What changed in 2025

The 89th Legislature passed several bills in its 2025 regular session that reach property owners' associations. Most took effect September 1, 2025. SB 711 (Acts 2025, chapter 10, signed May 13, 2025) rewrote the fence rules in Property Code section 202.023 and added sections 209.00506 and 209.00507, which change how architectural review committee members get chosen. SB 2629 (chapter 79, signed May 19, 2025) added an electronic ballot to the list of voting methods in section 209.00592 and confirmed in new section 209.0056(d) that owner meetings may be held by electronic or telephone means. HB 517 (chapter 168) added section 202.008 on brown lawns during drought restrictions. HB 621 (chapter 551) added section 202.013 on inviting officials and candidates into common areas. HB 431 (chapter 254) took effect immediately in 2025 and says a "solar energy device" under section 202.010 includes solar roof tiles. The bill describes that as a clarification of existing law, not a new rule.

2023 changes boards still get wrong

Bills from the 2023 session changed day-to-day enforcement and collections, and plenty of self-managed boards have not caught up. HB 614 (effective January 1, 2024) added section 209.0061. If your governing documents allow fines, the board must adopt an enforcement policy that lists general categories of violations, the fine schedule for each, and the hearing information from section 209.007. The policy may let the board vary a fine case by case. It must be posted on a members' website or sent to every owner each year by hand delivery, first-class mail, or email, and it must also go on any public website the association runs. HB 886 (effective September 1, 2023, for assessments that become delinquent on or after that date) amended section 209.0094. Before filing an assessment lien, the association must send two delinquency notices. The first goes by first-class mail or to an email address the owner gave the association. The second goes by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least 30 days after the first. The lien cannot be filed until 90 days after the second notice. Owners protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act are exempt. A third 2023 bill, HB 1193, added section 202.024, which bars an association from refusing tenants because rent is paid with a Section 8 voucher or other housing assistance.

Who the 2025 rules reach

The architectural committee rules in sections 209.00506 and 209.00507 apply only to associations with more than 40 lots. They do not apply during the development period, or while the declarant controls or can veto the committee. The fence, drought-lawn, candidate-access, and solar provisions sit in chapter 202, which covers deed restrictions generally, so they are not limited by lot count. The candidate-access rule in section 202.013 has its own exceptions for associations that are 501(c)(3) organizations, seasonal-use areas, and areas used only for association, board, or committee meetings. Several headline items in SB 711 apply only to condominiums under chapter 82. Those include the 60-unit website posting rule, the new management certificate contents, and the $375 resale certificate cap. They do not apply to a subdivision association under chapter 209.

The board's to-do list

First, if you have more than 40 lots and are past the developer period, change how you fill architectural committee seats. At least 10 days before appointing or electing members, send owners a request for volunteers. Send it by mail to each owner, or post it conspicuously on common property or the association website and also email every owner with a registered address. The notice must give a response deadline at least 10 days after it goes out. Only people who respond on time can be appointed, and board members, their spouses, and members of their households stay ineligible. If seats remain open after every eligible volunteer is seated, the board may appoint anyone. Second, read your fence rules against section 202.023. The association may still regulate fence type, bar fences that block a sidewalk, license area, or drainage easement, and require driveway gates set back at least 10 feet from the right-of-way on a laned road. A ban on fencing in front of the front-most building line now needs support in a restrictive covenant. Perimeter and front fences installed before September 1, 2025 may stay. The association also cannot bar front or perimeter fencing for an owner whose address is exempt from public disclosure or who gives the association law enforcement documentation of a need for more security. Third, pause lawn violations while a city, utility, or water supplier has a watering restriction in effect, and for 60 days after it is lifted. Fourth, review your election rules. Unless your governing documents say otherwise, section 209.00592 now lists the electronic ballot alongside absentee ballots and proxies, and owners must be offered at least one of those methods. Fifth, check your clubhouse reservation rules against section 202.013. You can charge the same rental fee, deposit, and hours you apply to any other gathering, but you cannot refuse a meeting with an elected official or qualified candidate. Sixth, if you still have no written fine policy under section 209.0061, adopt one and send it out this year, and walk through your collection letters against the two-notice sequence in section 209.0094.

What did not change

SB 711 did not change the violation notice rules in section 209.006, the hearing rules in section 209.007, the payment plan rules, or board meeting notice rules. The enrolled bill has nine sections and none of them touch those provisions. The 7-day filing of a management certificate with the Texas Real Estate Commission is not new for property owners' associations. Section 209.004(b-1) already required it, and section 209.004(e) already said owners do not owe collection attorney's fees or interest that accrue while the certificate is unrecorded or unfiled. The website duty for subdivision associations is also older. Section 207.006, from 2011, requires associations of subdivisions with at least 60 lots, or any association with a management company, to post dedicatory instruments online. Chapter 207 was not amended in 2023 or 2025. HB 517 sits in chapter 202, not chapter 209, so look for it there. Finally, the electronic ballot change does not force a board to offer every method. Unless the governing documents require more, offering one of the listed methods still complies.

Common misreadings

The most repeated error in 2025 summaries is that SB 711 created a new website and management certificate mandate for every Texas HOA. It did that for condominiums. For subdivisions, the rules were already on the books, and a board that has been filing with TREC and posting its documents has nothing new to do on that front. A second error is treating the architectural committee change as a ban on board members reviewing applications. It changes how committee seats are filled and who can be appointed. Board members were already barred from serving on the committee, and that bar still applies. A third is reading the drought rule as a ban on all landscaping enforcement. It covers brown, discolored, or missing grass or turf during and shortly after a watering restriction, not dead trees, weeds, or unapproved landscape changes. We could not find any 2025 bill that changed the fine procedures in sections 209.006 and 209.007, foundation repair rules, or flag display. If you read a claim that one passed, look for the chapter number and the enrolled text before acting.

Where to read the law

The Texas Legislature publishes each bill's history, including the signing date and chapter number, at capitol.texas.gov, and the enrolled text at the same site. The current Property Code, with history notes showing which bills amended each section, is on the Texas Constitution and Statutes site. Read chapter 202 for the fence, drought, solar, rental, and candidate-access rules, and chapter 209 for committee selection, voting, fine policies, and liens. Your association's declaration may set stricter procedures than the statute, and where it does, you generally follow both. This guide covers statute changes only and does not look at special sessions or other codes. Check with an attorney licensed in Texas before relying on this for a specific enforcement action, lien filing, or election.

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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