2005 Texas Property Code CHAPTER 207. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION BY PROPERTY OWNERS\' ASSOCIATIONS

PROPERTY CODE

CHAPTER 207. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION BY PROPERTY OWNERS' 
ASSOCIATIONS


	§ 207.001. DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:                                   
		(1)  "Restrictions" has the meaning assigned by Section 
201.003.            
		(2)  "Dedicatory instrument," "property owners' 
association," and "restrictive covenant" have the meanings 
assigned by Section 202.001.
		(3)  "Owner" means a person who owns record title to 
property in a subdivision or the personal representative of an 
individual who owns record title to property in a subdivision.
		(4)  "Regular assessment" and "special assessment" 
have the meanings assigned by Section 204.001.
		(5)  "Resale certificate" means a written statement 
issued, signed, and dated by an officer or authorized agent of a 
property owners' association that contains the information 
specified by Section 207.003(b).
		(6)  "Subdivision" means all land that has been divided 
into two or more parts and that is or was burdened by restrictions 
limiting at least the majority of the land area burdened by 
restrictions, excluding streets and public areas, to residential 
use only, if the instrument or instruments creating the 
restrictions are recorded in the deed or real property records of a 
county.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1198, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.          


	§ 207.002. APPLICABILITY.  This chapter applies to a 
subdivision with a property owners' association that is entitled to 
levy regular or special assessments.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1198, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.          


	§ 207.003. DELIVERY OF SUBDIVISION INFORMATION TO 
OWNER.  (a) Not later than the 10th day after the date a written 
request for subdivision information 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:
		(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 that complies with Subsection 
(b).                
	(b)  A resale certificate under Subsection (a) must contain:                   
		(1)  a statement of any right of first refusal 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 of any special assessment that is due 
after the date the resale certificate is 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 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.
	(c)  A property owners' association may charge a reasonable 
fee to assemble, copy, and deliver the information required by this 
section and may charge a reasonable fee to prepare and deliver an 
update of a resale certificate.
	(d)  The property owners' association shall deliver the 
information required by Subsection (a) to the person specified in 
the written request.  A written request that does not specify the 
name and location to which the information is to be sent is not 
effective.  The property owners' association may deliver the 
information required by Subsection (a) and any update to the resale 
certificate by mail, hand delivery, or alternative delivery means 
specified in the written request.
	(e)  Unless required by a dedicatory instrument, neither a 
property owners' association or its agent is required to inspect a 
property before issuing a resale certificate or an update to a 
resale certificate.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1198, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.          


	§ 207.004. OWNER'S REMEDIES FOR FAILURE BY PROPERTY 
OWNERS' ASSOCIATION TO TIMELY DELIVER INFORMATION.  (a) If a 
property owners' association does not timely deliver information in 
accordance with Section 207.003, the owner, owner's agent, or title 
insurance company or its agent acting on behalf of the owner may 
submit a second request for the information.
	(b)  If a property owners' association fails to deliver the 
information required under Section 207.003 before the seventh day 
after the second request for the information was mailed by 
certified mail, return receipt requested, or hand delivered, 
evidenced by receipt, the owner:
		(1)  may seek one or any combination of the following:                        
			(A)  a court order directing the property owners' 
association to furnish the required information;
			(B)  a judgment against the property owners' 
association for not more than $500;
			(C)  a judgment against the property owners' 
association for court costs and attorney's fees;  or
			(D)  a judgment authorizing the owner or the 
owner's assignee to deduct the amounts awarded under Paragraphs (B) 
and (C) from any future regular or special assessments payable to 
the property owners' association;  and
		(2)  may provide a buyer under contract to purchase the 
owner's property an affidavit that states that the owner, owner's 
agent, or title insurance company or its agent acting on behalf of 
the owner made, in accordance with this chapter, two written 
requests to the property owners' association for the information 
described in Section 207.003 and that the association did not 
timely provide the information.
	(c)  If the owner provides a buyer under contract to purchase 
the owner's property an affidavit in accordance with Subsection 
(b)(2):
		(1)  the buyer, lender, or title insurance company or 
its agent is not liable to the property owners' association for:
			(A)  any money that is due and unpaid to the 
property owners' association on the date the affidavit was 
prepared;  and
			(B)  any debt to the property owners' association 
or claim by the property owners' association that accrued before 
the date the affidavit was prepared;  and
		(2)  the property owners' association's lien to secure 
the amounts due the property owners' association on the owner's 
property on the date the affidavit was prepared shall automatically 
terminate.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1198, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.          


	§ 207.005. EFFECT OF RESALE CERTIFICATE;  LIABILITY.  (a) 
A property owners' association may not deny the validity of any 
statement in the resale certificate.  The property owners' 
association's lien to secure undisclosed amounts due the property 
owners' association on the date the resale certificate is prepared 
shall automatically terminate as a lien securing the undisclosed 
amount.  A buyer, buyer's agent, owner, owner's agent, lender, and 
title insurance company and its agent are not liable for any debt or 
claim existing on the preparation date of the resale certificate 
that is not disclosed in the resale certificate.
	(b)  A resale certificate does not affect:                                     
		(1)  the right of a property owners' association to 
recover debts or claims that arise or become due after the date the 
resale certificate is prepared;  or
		(2)  a lien on a property securing payment of future 
assessments held by the property owners' association.
	(c)  The owner's agent and the title insurance company and 
its agent are not liable to a buyer for any delay or failure by the 
property owners' association in delivering the information 
required by Section 207.003.
	(d)  Except as provided by Section 207.004, the property 
owners' association is not liable to an owner selling property in 
the subdivision for delay or failure to deliver the information 
required by Section 207.003.  An officer or agent of the property 
owners' association is not liable for a delay or failure to furnish 
a resale certificate.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1198, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.