Texas HOA laws are changing board responsibilities. Here’s how communities can keep up.

Serving on a homeowners’ association (HOA) board has always meant balancing the needs of the community with the responsibility of managing its finances and addressing resident concerns. However, these responsibilities are only becoming more demanding as Texas communities expand. From mid-2024 to mid-2025, five Texas cities led the nation in population growth among cities with at least 20,000 residents, with four located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. 

With rapid development comes larger associations, more residents and greater operational demands. At the same time, recent legislative changes have added more formal requirements around board decisions and homeowner communication. For volunteer directors, matters once handled through an informal email exchange or a general reference to governing documents may now require advance notice, a written policy or a formal opportunity for the homeowner to respond.

Meeting these requirements is only part of effective governance. Boards also need dependable processes that help residents understand how decisions are made and give directors the information they need to respond consistently, all while making HOA management actually manageable.

Board business requires more structure

Texas Senate Bill 1588, which took effect in 2021, expanded meeting notice requirements and identified decisions that generally must be considered and voted on during an open board meeting with prior notice to owners. These include fines, assessment increases, special assessments, foreclosure actions, annual budgets, certain enforcement matters and major capital improvements.

The law also increased the advance notice required for regular board meetings from 72 to 144 hours when notice is posted and emailed rather than mailed directly to owners. Notices must include the following: 

• Meeting date
• Time
• Location
• General subject
• A general description of matters expected to be discussed in executive session

For boards, these provisions add another layer of complexity to meeting and agenda preparation. Agendas must give homeowners enough detail about the business being considered, while directors need timely access to the financial information, governing documents and supporting materials required to make informed decisions.

A consistent agenda process can reduce last-minute issues and help volunteer directors determine which matters can be handled administratively and which require formal board action. The same need for clarity and consistency applies when boards enforce community rules and issue fines.

Enforcement policies must be clear and consistently applied

House Bill 614 requires associations authorized to levy fines to adopt an enforcement policy. The policy must outline the types of violations that may result in fines, establish a fine schedule and explain homeowners’ rights to a hearing. Depending on the association, it must be posted online or distributed annually.

A written policy makes enforcement more predictable, but consistency still matters. Homeowners are likely to question the process when similar violations lead to different outcomes, or when notices don’t clearly explain how to resolve an issue.

Violation notices should identify the rule, explain the concern and provide the homeowner with a clear deadline to respond or correct the violation. Boards should also retain supporting records to explain how and why a decision was made.

Access to information raises the importance of sound recordkeeping

Texas law gives homeowners more formal ways to review association information and question certain decisions. Senate Bill 1588 requires some associations to provide online access to current dedicatory instruments and to file management certificate information that may be made publicly available through the Texas Real Estate Commission.

The legislation also strengthened procedures surrounding architectural decisions. In applicable communities, a homeowner who receives a denial must be given the reason in reasonable detail, told what changes may be needed for approval and informed of the right to request a hearing. The board may then affirm, modify or reverse the architectural review authority’s decision.

For certain enforcement hearings, associations must provide the homeowner with the materials they intend to present so both sides can discuss the facts.

These requirements make organized recordkeeping part of responsive community service. Important documents should be stored in a shared system rather than scattered across personal email accounts or relying on one board member to remain available. Centralized records help directors explain decisions, preserve continuity as leadership changes and spend less time searching for information.

This addresses legal requirements while removing the long list of document types and combining repeated points about incomplete records, personal email accounts and board turnover.

Transparency requires more than posting information

Meeting notices, online documents and written policies may meet procedural requirements, but residents still need enough background to understand how a decision affects the community.

An assessment increase can look like poor planning when the budget is posted without explanation. A repair project may frustrate residents when they do not know what led to the timing, and a violation notice can feel arbitrary when it quotes a covenant without detailed explanation.

Boards can avoid some of that frustration by briefly explaining why a decision was made and what it means for residents. Sharing that information through the community’s usual communication channel can reduce confusion and help homeowners feel more confident in how the association is being managed.

Residents should also know where to find official updates and where to direct questions. Keeping that process consistent makes it easier to provide accurate answers and prevents volunteer board members from having to address the same concern in multiple places.

Certain legal, personnel and delinquency matters must remain confidential. In those cases, boards can still explain why details are limited and share whatever general information is appropriate. That helps protect the association while showing residents that their concerns are being taken seriously.

Legislative readiness belongs in routine board work

Ongoing legislative changes are inevitable, but easier to manage when boards don’t have to rebuild their processes each time a new requirement takes effect. Regular reviews of governance practices can help communities catch outdated policies, unclear responsibilities and missing information before those gaps create problems.

Board education matters just as much. New directors need a practical understanding of how the association operates, especially when a community is moving from developer control to homeowner leadership. They may be taking responsibility for a large budget, ongoing contracts and long-term maintenance decisions with little prior experience.

As communities move from developer control to homeowner leadership, governing documents may set transition milestones based on the number of lots conveyed. Board education and access to reliable community information become especially important before volunteer directors assume broader responsibility.

Volunteer directors need enough structure, support and reliable information to make sound decisions with confidence. With that foundation in place, boards can adapt to new requirements while staying focused on the day-to-day work of serving the community.

Nikkole Luna, Regional President, Texas at RealManage
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.