Texas POA Bills    84th Legislature (2015)

A Periodic Report by Sharon Reuler 

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Issued March 8, 2015  
  

Friends,

 

The 84th Legislature starts the final week of bill filings and the first week of committee hearings. Only 12 weeks until Sine Die (Session's end).  My fourth report on pending POA bills - filed through 3/6/15 - is available on this link:

 

REPORT #4 - 2015 Texas POA Bills

  

So far I've identified 17 POA-Specific bills, of which three have "companions".  A companion is the same bill filed in both chambers (House and Senate) to increase the odds of passage, in case one chamber moves faster than the other.

 

All 17 POA-Specific bills are described on  the first 6 pages of the attached report. The three bills that are new to the report are also mentioned here. 

 

Voting in Subdivision POAs.  Two bills by the team of Rep. Keffer (of Eastland) and Senator Birdwell (of Granbury) are considered "clean-up" of two of the election reforms enacted in 2011. Although neither bill appears controversial on its face, some folks have reason to be suspicious of anything dealing with voting. Both bills amend Chapter 209 of the Property Code, which does not apply to condos.

 

HB 2148/SB 862 clarifies that the subdivision POA is not required by statute to provide a smorgasbord of voting methods just because Chapter 209 has procedures for three methods - electronic ballots, absentee ballots, and voting in person or by proxy.        

 

HB 2147/SB 864 restores the venerable "secret ballot" to subdivision POAs if the POA has a ballot box with safeguards.

 

Rentals in Condos & Subdivisions. The third bill may be a camel's nose under the proverbial tent. (Or, is the camel proverbial??) In previous sessions, efforts to prevent HOAs from restricting rentals went down in flames, even when tacked onto bills as floor amendments in the hurly burly finals days of a session. HB 2489 by Rep. Leach of Plano seems less ambitious. It would prevent condo and subdivision HOAs from screening renters, requiring copies of leases, and charging extra fees because a home is rented. Watch out. The bill's caption is broad enough for the bill to evolve into a complete ban on rental restrictions of every kind. The bill amends Chapter 202 of the Property Code, which applies to both condos and subdivisions.

 

Sidebar. The rental issue pits the property rights of individual investors against the collective property rights of homesteaders. As long as national lenders require high rates of owner occupants in condos to qualify a home for favorable mortgage financing, public policy should support the HOA's role in limiting the number of rentals. Seems to me. Hard to know where to draw the line.

 

As I've done since 2005, I will periodically report on bills that seem likely to affect the creation and operation of common interest developments in Texas - subdivisions and condominiums - anything with mandatory membership and assessments.

New Day for POA Bills in Senate
  

For the first time since 2001, POA bills are not being referred to the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations ("IGR"). What's the connection between POAs and "intergovernmental relations"? Nothing!

  

So far this Session, POA bills in the Senate are being assigned to the Committee on Business & Commerce ("B&C"). Hurrah! B&C is the Senate counterpart to the House Committee on Business & Industry ("B&I"), which has been the custodian of POA bills in the House since at least 1993. Hopefully POA bills have found a new permanent nest in the Senate.

 

Sidenote. Houston Senator John Whitmire, who worked on POA bills in 2001 while on IGR, is now on the B&C Committee. Four of the nine B&C Committee members are from the Houston area. It's a given that every lawmaker from the greater Houston area has HOA constituents and a lifetime of personal HOA experience, and is fed a steady diet of "bad HOA" stories by the local media. It's not that way everywhere else in Texas . . . yet.  Very different perspectives.
How to Use the 3-Part Report
 

FIRST PART is a 5-column table of POA-Specific Bills, organized alphabetically by the topic I assign to the bill.  The bill number and author are in the first column.  My thumbnail description of the bill is in the second column.  Where the bill fits into the Texas statutes is shown in the third column. Next I identify whether the bill pertains to condos only, to single-family subdivisions only, or to both. The last column identifies the bill's progress, using the "keys" at the bottom of the page. 

 

SECOND PART is a 5-column table of " Sundry Bills " - bills that are not POA-Specific, but which interest me for some reason. The 5 columns are same as for the POA-Specific Bills. As the Session progresses, the Sundry Bills may disappear from the report.
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THIRD PART is the " Numerical Order of Bills " - a list of reported bills in order of bill numbers, with cross-references of where to find each bill in the topical tables.  This is an improvement over my reports in prior sessions. 
TLO Website
  

The Texas Legislature Online website is the second best thing about our Legislature. (The first being the hiatus between sessions.) TLO is chock full of information and fueled by a powerful search engine that's easy to learn and use. Open 24/7 for free. If you have any interest in legislation, you'll love exploring this amazing website. Look for the "My TLO" tab next to "Home" in the top left corner. Here you can sign up for automatic email alerts of bills that interest you, or topics, or committee meetings.   
HOA/POA Slang
  
If you're Type A about terminology for common interest communities, this report may drive you bonkers. I use HOA and POA interchangeably - and inconsistently - to refer to mandatory membership associations for all types of common interest development - condos, townhomes, subdivisions, masters, mixed-use, and subs.
 
Texas laws, however, do distinguish between condos and non-condos. Condos are subject to Chapter 82 (TUCA) of the Property Code (and maybe also Chapter 81, depending on age).  The non-condos are subject to Chapter 209 of the Property Code, which refers to the developments as "subdivisions."  So, a property is either a condo or a subdivision, and its owners association may be called either HOA or POA or "condo association" or "townhome association" or "neighborhood association" or . . . the options are endless.
 
Speaking of townhomes . . . . contrary to popular belief, Texas law does not recognize townhomes as something other than a condo or subdivision. Townhomes are a style of building that can be condominium in ownership (Chapter 82) or non-condo (Chapter 209).
 
Of course, there's more to it than this windshield tour. But, you get the idea.  Don't bet on what a word means. :-)  
Numbers
  
Since the 84th Session started, 3,562 House and Senate bills (combined) have been filed - about 65% of the 5,500 bills that we expect to see filed before midnight on Friday, March 13.  We expect many more bills to be filed this week. Also expect about 25% of the filed bills to become law. Too soon to know if the 84th Session is statistically typical or extraordinary.  
Trivia
  
The Texas Legislature first created a subject category for HOA\POA bills in the 1999 Session, when an astounding 25 bills were filed. That was the beginning of the furor at the Capitol that culminated in the 2011 HOA Reform Laws.  Since 1999, an average of 29 POA bills have been filed each session - the banner years being 2009 and 2011, with 51 and 52 bills filed, respectively. 
Dates of Interest 

January 13, 2015 - Opening day of 84th Regular Session
March 13, 2015 - Deadline for filing bills (with some exceptions)
June 1, 2015 - Last day of Session (no exceptions)
June 21, 2015 - Last day Governor can veto a bill that passed
August 31, 2015 - Effective date for bills without specific effective dates

Sharon's Perspective 

 

All views expressed are entirely my own, and my views have been known to change. I receive no income for my legislative reporting. I'm not a lobbyist ~ don't head any group or promote any cause ~ don't expect to go to Austin for hearings.

 

I'm a Texas real estate lawyer who works with developers of common interest developments. I write the "HOA docs" for new communities and advise developers on HOA issues that arise during build-out. My developer practice is enriched by an earlier decade of representing established homeowner-controlled POAs.

 

Before becoming a lawyer in 1987, I was a real estate broker specializing in the resales of condominiums and townhomes. Also, I have the sensitivities of a homeowner from 38 years of living in common interest communities, and three bumpy HOA experiences as a home buyer.  

 

My interest in POAs began in 1977. Four years later I was drawn to POA legislation by the then proposed Texas Uniform Condominium Act. I was privileged to play a pivotal role in TUCA's passage in 1993.

 

My nearly 40 years (omg!) of involvement with POA legislation has always been as a volunteer. In recent years I have done little more than report on what's going on under the dome.  I try to call it like I see it.        


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contact info
Although I aspire to be active on social media, I'm still old school. I can be reached at the street address below, by email sreuler@txlandlaw.com, and by phone (972) 720-9727. If I'm not responsive, it's because my day job keeps me plenty busy.
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