Community Service Fee

Warren,

I'm not sure what the "community service fee" is for. However, the property code gives a long list of things they can do. It does appear that Section 204.010 Number 9, would give them this right unless your governing documents specifically prohibit it.

Sec. 204.010. POWERS OF PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATION. (a) Unless otherwise provided by the restrictions or the association's articles of incorporation or bylaws, the property owners' association, acting through its board of directors or trustees, may:

(1) adopt and amend bylaws;

(2) adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves and collect regular assessments or special assessments for common expenses from property owners;

(3) hire and terminate managing agents and other employees, agents, and independent contractors;

(4) institute, defend, intervene in, settle, or compromise litigation or administrative proceedings on matters affecting the subdivision;

(5) make contracts and incur liabilities relating to the operation of the subdivision and the property owners' association;

(6) regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement, modification, and appearance of the subdivision;

(7) make additional improvements to be included as a part of the common area;

(8) grant easements, leases, licenses, and concessions through or over the common area;

(9) impose and receive payments, fees, or charges for the use, rental, or operation of the common area and for services provided to property owners;

(10) impose interest, late charges, and, if applicable, returned check charges for late payments of regular assessments or special assessments;

(11) if notice and an opportunity to be heard are given, collect reimbursement of actual attorney's fees and other reasonable costs incurred by the property owners' association relating to violations of the subdivision's restrictions or the property owners' association's bylaws and rules;

(12) charge costs to an owner's assessment account and collect the costs in any manner provided in the restrictions for the collection of assessments;

(13) adopt and amend rules regulating the collection of delinquent assessments and the application of payments;

(14) impose reasonable charges for preparing, recording, or copying amendments to the restrictions, resale certificates, or statements of unpaid assessments;

(15) purchase insurance and fidelity bonds, including directors' and officers' liability insurance, that the board considers appropriate or necessary;

(16) if the restrictions allow for an annual increase in the maximum regular assessment without a vote of the membership, assess the increase annually or accumulate and assess the increase after a number of years;

(17) subject to the requirements of the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-1.01 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) and by majority vote of its board of directors, indemnify a director or officer of the property owners' association who was, is, or may be made a named defendant or respondent in a proceeding because the person is or was a director;

(18) if the restrictions vest the architectural control authority in the property owners' association or if the authority is vested in the property owners' association under Section 204.011:

(A) implement written architectural control guidelines for its own use or record the guidelines in the real property records of the applicable county; and

(B) modify the guidelines as the needs of the subdivision change;

(19) exercise other powers conferred by the restrictions, its articles of incorporation, or its bylaws;

(20) exercise other powers that may be exercised in this state by a corporation of the same type as the property owners' association; and

(21) exercise other powers necessary and proper for the governance and operation of the property owners' association.

(b) Powers enumerated by this section are in addition to any other powers granted to a property owners' association by this chapter or other law.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 1040, Sec. 2, eff. Aug. 28, 1995.

Mary,

I suspect that the Association is charging a fee for use of the common areas in general, which could be considered legal under the TX property code I posted in an earlier post. The section I am referring to talks about what an association may do unless the bylaws says otherwise. Specifically (emphases added):

(9) impose and receive payments, fees, or charges for the use, rental, or operation of the common area and for services provided to property owners;

I do believe that they are stretching the interpretation of this section by calling it a "COMMUNITY SERVICE FEE". However, this would require a challenge in court for a legal ruling on the law to determine if the Association overstepped it's authority.

Tim

Warren,

As stated earlier, you need to find out exactly what this fee is for. If it is for a particular service or to use an amenity, then the board would have the authority to charge the fee as stated in the TX Prop Code UNLESS your gov docs state the board does not have this authority. IMO, before a determination can be made as to whether or the not the BOD has the authority to impose this fee you need to find out exactly what it is for.

The article you posted has nothing to do with the members voting on this issue; this article only pertains to extending the term of the CCRs.