H.B. No. 1821

	AN ACT
	relating to certain information or guidelines provided by or
	concerning a property owners' association or concerning
	subdivisions that are subject to restrictive covenants.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 5.012, Property Code, is amended by
	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (f), and (g)
	to read as follows:
	(a)  A seller of residential real property that is subject to
	membership in a property owners' association and that comprises not
	more than one dwelling unit located in this state shall give to the
	purchaser of the property a written notice that reads substantially
	similar to the following:
	NOTICE OF MEMBERSHIP IN PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATION CONCERNING THE
	PROPERTY AT (street address) (name of residential community)
	As a purchaser of property in the residential community in
	which this property is located, you are obligated to be a member of
	a property owners' association. Restrictive covenants governing
	the use and occupancy of the property and all [a] dedicatory
	instruments [instrument] governing the establishment, maintenance,
	or [and] operation of this residential community have been or will
	be recorded in the Real Property Records of the county in which the
	property is located. Copies of the restrictive covenants and
	dedicatory instruments [instrument] may be obtained from the county
	clerk.
	You are obligated to pay assessments to the property owners'
	association. The amount of the assessments is subject to change.
	Your failure to pay the assessments could result in enforcement of
	the association's [a] lien on and the foreclosure of your property.
	Section 207.003, Property Code, entitles an owner to receive
	copies of any document that governs the establishment, maintenance,
	or operation of a subdivision, including, but not limited to,
	restrictions, bylaws, rules and regulations, and a resale
	certificate from a property owners' association. A resale
	certificate contains information including, but not limited to,
	statements specifying the amount and frequency of regular
	assessments and the style and cause number of lawsuits to which the
	property owners' association is a party, other than lawsuits
	relating to unpaid ad valorem taxes of an individual member of the
	association. These documents must be made available to you by the
	property owners' association or the association's agent on your
	request.
	Date: ____________________________________________
	Signature of Purchaser
	(a-1)  The second paragraph of the notice prescribed by
	Subsection (a) must be in bold print and underlined.
	(f)  On the purchaser's request for a resale certificate from
	the property owners' association or the association's agent, the
	association or its agent shall promptly deliver a copy of the most
	recent resale certificate issued for the property under Chapter 207
	so long as the resale certificate was prepared not earlier than the
	60th day before the date the resale certificate is delivered to the
	purchaser and reflects any special assessments approved before and
	due after the resale certificate is delivered.  If a resale
	certificate that meets the requirements of this subsection has not
	been issued for the property, the seller shall request the
	association or its agent to issue a resale certificate under
	Chapter 207, and the association or its agent shall promptly
	prepare and deliver a copy of the resale certificate to the
	purchaser.
	(g)  The purchaser shall pay the fee to the property owners'
	association or its agent for issuing the resale certificate unless
	otherwise agreed by the purchaser and seller of the property.  The
	property owners' association may require payment before beginning
	the process of providing a resale certificate requested under
	Chapter 207 but may not process a payment for a resale certificate
	until the certificate is available for delivery.  The association
	may not charge a fee if the certificate is not provided in the time
	prescribed by Section 207.003(a).
	SECTION 2.  Subdivision (1), Section 202.001, Property Code,
	is amended to read as follows:
	(1)  "Dedicatory instrument" means each document
	governing [instrument covering] the establishment, maintenance, or
	[and] operation of a residential subdivision, planned unit
	development, condominium or townhouse regime, or any similar
	planned development. The term includes a declaration or similar
	instrument subjecting real property to:
	(A)  restrictive covenants, bylaws, or similar
	instruments governing the administration or operation of a property
	owners' association;
	(B)[, to]  properly adopted rules and regulations
	of the property owners' association; or
	(C)[, or to]  all lawful amendments to the
	covenants, bylaws, instruments, rules, or regulations.
	SECTION 3.  Section 202.006, Property Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 202.006.  PUBLIC RECORDS.  (a)  A property owners'
	association shall file all [the] dedicatory instruments
	[instrument] in the real property records of each county in which
	the property to which the dedicatory instruments relate [instrument
	relates] is located.
	(b)  A dedicatory instrument has no effect until the
	instrument is filed in accordance with this section.
	SECTION 4.  Section 207.003, Property Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a), (b), and (f) and adding Subsections (a-1)
	and (c-1) to read as follows:
	(a)  Not later than the 10th business day after the date a
	written request for subdivision information is received from an
	owner or the[,] owner's agent, a purchaser of property in a
	subdivision or the purchaser's agent, or a title insurance company
	or its agent acting on behalf of the owner or purchaser and the
	evidence of the requestor's authority to order a resale certificate
	under Subsection (a-1) is received and verified, the property
	owners' association shall deliver to the owner or the[,] owner's
	agent, the purchaser or the purchaser's agent, or the title
	insurance company or its agent:
	(1)  a current copy of the restrictions applying to the
	subdivision;
	(2)  a current copy of the bylaws and rules of the
	property owners' association; and
	(3)  a resale certificate prepared not earlier than the
	60th day before the date the certificate is delivered that complies
	with Subsection (b).
	(a-1)  For a request from a purchaser of property in a
	subdivision or the purchaser's agent, the property owners'
	association may require the purchaser or purchaser's agent to
	provide to the association, before the association begins the
	process of preparing or delivers the items listed in Subsection
	(a), reasonable evidence that the purchaser has a contractual or
	other right to acquire property in the subdivision.
	(b)  A resale certificate under Subsection (a) must contain:
	(1)  a statement of any right of first refusal, other
	than a right of first refusal that is prohibited by statute, and any
	[or] other restraint contained in the restrictions or restrictive
	covenants that restricts the owner's right to transfer the owner's
	property;
	(2)  the frequency and amount of any regular
	assessments;
	(3)  the amount and purpose of any special assessment
	that has been approved before and is due after [the date] the resale
	certificate is delivered [prepared];
	(4)  the total of all amounts due and unpaid to the
	property owners' association that are attributable to the owner's
	property;
	(5)  capital expenditures, if any, approved by the
	property owners' association for the property owners' association's
	current fiscal year;
	(6)  the amount of reserves, if any, for capital
	expenditures;
	(7)  the property owners' association's current
	operating budget and balance sheet;
	(8)  the total of any unsatisfied judgments against the
	property owners' association;
	(9)  the style and cause number of any pending lawsuit
	in which the property owners' association is a party, other than a
	lawsuit relating to unpaid ad valorem taxes of an individual member
	of the association [defendant];
	(10)  a copy of a certificate of insurance showing the
	property owners' association's property and liability insurance
	relating to the common areas and common facilities;
	(11)  a description of any conditions on the owner's
	property that the property owners' association board has actual
	knowledge are in violation of the restrictions applying to the
	subdivision or the bylaws or rules of the property owners'
	association;
	(12)  a summary or copy of notices received by the
	property owners' association from any governmental authority
	regarding health or housing code violations existing on the
	preparation date of the certificate relating to the owner's
	property or any common areas or common facilities owned or leased by
	the property owners' association;
	(13)  the amount of any administrative transfer fee
	charged by the property owners' association for a change of
	ownership of property in the subdivision;
	(14)  the name, mailing address, and telephone number
	of the property owners' association's managing agent, if any; [and]
	(15)  a statement indicating whether the restrictions
	allow foreclosure of a property owners' association's lien on the
	owner's property for failure to pay assessments; and
	(16)  a statement of all fees associated with the
	transfer of ownership, including a description of each fee, to whom
	each fee is paid, and the amount of each fee.
	(c-1)  The property owners' association may require payment
	before beginning the process of providing a resale certificate but
	may not process a payment for a resale certificate until the
	certificate is available for delivery. The association may not
	charge a fee if the certificate is not provided in the time
	prescribed by Subsection (a).
	(f)  Not later than the seventh business day after the date a
	written request for an update of [to] a resale certificate
	delivered under Subsection (a) is received from an owner, owner's
	agent, or title insurance company or its agent acting on behalf of
	the owner, the property owners' association shall deliver to the
	owner, owner's agent, or title insurance company or its agent an
	updated resale certificate that contains the following
	information:
	(1)  if a right of first refusal or other restraint on
	sale is contained in the restrictions, a statement of whether the
	property owners' association waives the restraint on sale;
	(2)  the status of any unpaid special assessments,
	dues, or other payments attributable to the owner's property; and
	(3)  any changes to the information provided in the
	resale certificate issued under Subsection (a).
	SECTION 5.  Chapter 207, Property Code, is amended by adding
	Section 207.006 to read as follows:
	Sec. 207.006.  ONLINE SUBDIVISION INFORMATION REQUIRED. A
	property owners' association shall make dedicatory instruments
	relating to the association or subdivision and filed in the county
	deed records available on a website if the association has, or a
	management company on behalf of the association maintains, a
	publicly accessible website.
	SECTION 6.  Section 209.003, Property Code, is amended by
	adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
	(e)  Section 209.0062 does not apply to a property owners'
	association that is a mixed-use master association that existed
	before January 1, 1974, and that does not have the authority under a
	dedicatory instrument or other governing document to impose fines.
	SECTION 7.  Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by adding
	Section 209.0062 to read as follows:
	Sec. 209.0062.  ALTERNATIVE PAYMENT SCHEDULE FOR CERTAIN
	ASSESSMENTS. (a)  A property owners' association shall file the
	association's alternative payment schedule guidelines adopted
	under this section in the real property records of each county in
	which the subdivision is located.
	(b)  A property owners' association composed of more than 14
	lots shall adopt reasonable guidelines to establish an alternative
	payment schedule by which an owner may make partial payments to the
	property owners' association for delinquent regular or special
	assessments or any other amount owed to the association without
	accruing additional monetary penalties.  For purposes of this
	section, monetary penalties do not include reasonable costs
	associated with administering the payment plan or interest.
	(c)  The minimum term for a payment plan offered by a
	property owners' association is three months.
	(d)  A property owners' association may not allow a payment
	plan for any amount that extends more than 18 months from the date
	of the owner's request for a payment plan.  The association is not
	required
	to enter into a payment plan with an owner who failed to
	honor the terms of a previous payment plan during the two years
	following the owner's default under the previous payment plan.
	(e)  A property owners' association's failure to file as
	required by this section the association's guidelines in the real
	property records of each county in which the subdivision is located
	does not prohibit a property owner from receiving an alternative
	payment schedule by which the owner may make partial payments to the
	property owners' association for delinquent regular or special
	assessments or any other amount owed to the association without
	accruing additional monetary penalties, as defined by Subsection
	(b).
	SECTION 8.  (a)  Section 5.012, Property Code, as amended by
	this Act, applies only to a sale of property that occurs on or after
	the effective date of this Act. For the purposes of this
	subsection, a sale of property occurs before the effective date of
	this Act if the executory contract binding the purchaser to
	purchase the property is executed before that date. A sale of
	property that occurs before the effective date of this Act is
	governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that
	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	(b)  Section 202.006, Property Code, as amended by this Act,
	applies to a provision in a dedicatory instrument or a restrictive
	covenant enacted before, on, or after the effective date of this
	Act, except that any action taken before the effective date of this
	Act based on an unfiled dedicatory instrument is not invalidated by
	Section 202.006, Property Code, as amended by this Act.
	(c)  Section 207.003, Property Code, as amended by this Act,
	applies only to a request for information received by a property
	owners' association on or after the effective date of this Act. A
	request for information received by a property owners' association
	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
	effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that
	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	(d)  Section 209.0062, Property Code, as added by this Act,
	applies only to an assessment or other debt that becomes due on or
	after the effective date of this Act. An assessment or other debt
	that becomes due before the effective date of this Act is governed
	by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this
	Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 9.  Not later than January 1, 2012, each property
	owners' association shall present for recording with the county
	clerk as prescribed by Section 202.006, Property Code, as amended
	by this Act, each dedicatory instrument governing the association
	that has not been previously recorded in the real property records
	of the county.
	SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2012.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1821 was passed by the House on May 5,
	2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 0, 2 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 1821 on May 25, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 139, Nays 4,
	2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1821 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 23, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
	0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor