2005 Texas Property Code CHAPTER 202. CONSTRUCTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS

PROPERTY CODE

CHAPTER 202. CONSTRUCTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS


	§ 202.001. DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:                                   
		(1)  "Dedicatory instrument" means each governing 
instrument covering the establishment, maintenance, 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 restrictive covenants, bylaws, or 
similar instruments governing the administration or operation of a 
property owners' association, to properly adopted rules and 
regulations of the property owners' association, or to all lawful 
amendments to the covenants, bylaws, instruments, rules, or 
regulations.
		(2)  "Property owners' association" means an 
incorporated or unincorporated association owned by or whose 
members consist primarily of the owners of the property covered by 
the dedicatory instrument and through which the owners, or the 
board of directors or similar governing body, manage or regulate 
the residential subdivision, planned unit development, condominium 
or townhouse regime, or similar planned development.
		(3)  "Petition" means one or more instruments, however 
designated or entitled, by which one or more actions relating to 
restrictive covenants are sought to be accomplished.
		(4)  "Restrictive covenant" means any covenant, 
condition, or restriction contained in a dedicatory instrument, 
whether mandatory, prohibitive, permissive, or administrative.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, § 1, eff. June 18, 1987.           


	§ 202.002. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER.  (a) This chapter 
applies to all restrictive covenants regardless of the date on 
which they were created.
	(b)  This chapter does not affect the requirements of the 
Community Homes for Disabled Persons Location Act (Article 1011n, 
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, § 1, eff. June 18, 1987.           


	§ 202.003. CONSTRUCTION OF RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS.  (a) A 
restrictive covenant shall be liberally construed to give effect to 
its purposes and intent.
	(b)  In this subsection, "family home" is a residential home 
that meets the definition of and requirements applicable to a 
family home under the Community Homes for Disabled Persons Location 
Act (Article 1011n, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).  A dedicatory 
instrument or restrictive covenant may not be construed to prevent 
the use of property as a family home.  However, any restrictive 
covenant that applies to property used as a family home shall be 
liberally construed to give effect to its purposes and intent 
except to the extent that the construction would restrict the use as 
a family home.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, § 1, eff. June 18, 1987.           


	§ 202.004. ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS.  (a) An 
exercise of discretionary authority by a property owners' 
association or other representative designated by an owner of real 
property concerning a restrictive covenant is presumed reasonable 
unless the court determines by a preponderance of the evidence that 
the exercise of discretionary authority was arbitrary, capricious, 
or discriminatory.
	(b)  A property owners' association or other representative 
designated by an owner of real property may initiate, defend, or 
intervene in litigation or an administrative proceeding affecting 
the enforcement of a restrictive covenant or the protection, 
preservation, or operation of the property covered by the 
dedicatory instrument.
	(c)  A court may assess civil damages for the violation of a 
restrictive covenant in an amount not to exceed $200 for each day of 
the violation.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, § 1, eff. June 18, 1987.           


	§ 202.005. WITHDRAWAL OF SIGNATURE.  (a) A signature may 
be withdrawn from a petition authorized to be filed in connection 
with terminating restrictive covenants, as provided by this 
section.
	(b)  To withdraw a signature, the signer must request that 
the signature be withdrawn.
	(c)  To be effective, a withdrawal request must:                               
		(1)  be in writing and be signed and acknowledged by the 
signer of the petition;
		(2)  be filed with the authority with whom the petition 
is required to be filed not later than the day before the petition 
filing deadline, if any;  and
		(3)  be delivered in the form of a copy of the request 
to the circulator of the petition not later than the date the 
request is filed or by the effective date of this chapter, whichever 
is later.
	(d)  A withdrawal request or copy filed or delivered by mail 
is considered to be filed or delivered at the time of its receipt by 
the appropriate person.
	(e)  The filing of an effective withdrawal request nullifies 
the signature on the petition and places the signer in the same 
position as if the signer had not signed the petition.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, § 1, eff. June 18, 1987.           


	§ 202.006. PUBLIC RECORDS.  A property owners' 
association shall file the dedicatory instrument in the real 
property records of each county in which the property to which the 
dedicatory instrument relates is located.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1420, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.          


	§ 202.007. CERTAIN RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS 
PROHIBITED.  (a) A property owners' association may not include or 
enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that prohibits or 
restricts a property owner from:
		(1)  implementing measures promoting solid-waste 
composting of vegetation, including grass clippings, leaves, or 
brush, or leaving grass clippings uncollected on grass;
		(2)  installing rain barrels or a rainwater harvesting 
system;  or          
		(3)  implementing efficient irrigation systems, 
including underground drip or other drip systems.
	(b)  A provision that violates Subsection (a) is void.                         
	(c)  A property owners' association may restrict the type of 
turf used by a property owner in the planting of new turf to 
encourage or require water-conserving turf.
	(d)  This section does not:                                                    
		(1)  restrict a property owners' association from 
regulating the requirements, including size, type, shielding, and 
materials, for or the location of a composting device, rain barrel, 
rain harvesting device, or any other appurtenance if the 
restriction does not prohibit the economic installation of the 
device or appurtenance on the property owner's property where there 
is reasonably sufficient area to install the device or 
appurtenance;
		(2)  require a property owners' association to permit a 
device or appurtenance described by Subdivision (1) to be installed 
in or on property:
			(A)  owned by the property owners' association;                              
			(B)  owned in common by the members of the 
property owners' association;  or
			(C)  in an area other than the fenced yard or patio 
of a property owner;   
		(3)  prohibit a property owners' association from 
regulating the installation of efficient irrigation systems, 
including establishing visibility limitations for aesthetic 
purposes;
		(4)  prohibit a property owners' association from 
regulating the installation or use of gravel, rocks, or cacti;  or
		(5)  restrict a property owners' association from 
regulating yard and landscape maintenance if the restrictions or 
requirements do not restrict or prohibit turf or landscaping design 
that promotes water conservation.
	(e)  This section does not apply to a property owners' 
association that:     
		(1)  is located in a municipality with a population of 
more than 175,000 that is located in a county in which another 
municipality with a population of more than one million is 
predominantly located;  and
		(2)  manages or regulates a development in which at 
least 4,000 acres of the property is subject to a covenant, 
condition, or restriction designating the property for commercial 
use, multifamily dwellings, or open space.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1024, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.          


	§ 202.009. REGULATION OF DISPLAY OF POLITICAL SIGNS.  (a) 
Except as otherwise provided by this section, a property owners' 
association may not enforce or adopt a restrictive covenant that 
prohibits a property owner from displaying on the owner's property 
one or more signs advertising a political candidate or ballot item 
for an election:
		(1)  on or after the 90th day before the date of the 
election to which the sign relates;  or
		(2)  before the 10th day after that election date.                            
	(b)  This section does not prohibit the enforcement or 
adoption of a covenant that:
		(1)  requires a sign to be ground-mounted;  or                                
		(2)  limits a property owner to displaying only one 
sign for each candidate or ballot item.
	(c)  This section does not prohibit the enforcement or 
adoption of a covenant that prohibits a sign that:
		(1)  contains roofing material, siding, paving 
materials, flora, one or more balloons or lights, or any other 
similar building, landscaping, or nonstandard decorative 
component;
		(2)  is attached in any way to plant material, a traffic 
control device, a light, a trailer, a vehicle, or any other existing 
structure or object;
		(3)  includes the painting of architectural surfaces;                         
		(4)  threatens the public health or safety;                                   
		(5)  is larger than four feet by six feet;                                    
		(6)  violates a law;                                                          
		(7)  contains language, graphics, or any display that 
would be offensive to the ordinary person;  or
		(8)  is accompanied by music or other sounds or by 
streamers or is otherwise distracting to motorists.
	(d)  A property owners' association may remove a sign 
displayed in violation of a restrictive covenant permitted by this 
section.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 1010, § 1, eff. June 18, 2005.