Open Records Request in Texas

DavidS46 (Texas)
Posts: 1

Posted:

I live in Texas. I would like to find out how much money our HOA Board has spent pursuing frivolous law suits. I did read the Texas Open Records Request laws. They seem to state that the statutes only apply to a government.

Is a HOA Board considered a government in Texas and subject to the Open Records Act?

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

David - a a Member you are entitled to copies of the Minutes of all meetings, where a financial report should have been given. Balance Sheet and Y-T-D Revenue and Expenses. It would be attached to the minutes, as ready for audit later.

Get this copy. It should reveal Legal Fees.

PS. "frivolous" is your defintion.

PjW (Virginia)
Posts: 71

Posted:

I know in VA as a member of an association you have a right to see all records that pertain to the association (other then something dealing specific homes), Does Texas have something like our Property Owner's Act?

LynetteB (Texas)
Posts: 141

Posted:

David,
Google Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act Sec 209.005 or just type in Texas, 209.005.
You have the right to review the financial records, this does not include the review of an attorney's files and records relating to the association, but you can find out out much was spent on attorney fees.

There are many references to Government entities in the Property Code and many times you will see a reference that says something like, "this chapter applies to an Association in the same manner as a government body".

If you click on the link on the side of this page to Community Associations Network, go to State, then click Texas, it will list the pertinent statutes or codes you should be familiar with.

You probably can't do anything about money that is already spent. If you feel your board is not acting in your best interest, I suggest becoming a part of it. I prefer to be in the middle of it than to wonder what "they" are doing.

MilesT (Texas)
Posts: 34

Posted:

LynetteB -

I need the same help your post responded to, but the link you mention on the left is a dead link. I could not find the article you mention in Google. I need to cite the Texas law to my HOA so I can obtain a copy of the reserve study, YTD financial records, contract between our management company and the HOA and copy of our HOA insurance policy. Also, without asking about lawsuit case specifics, can I legally ask detailed questions on how much money was spent on the issue. In other words, I do not care about legal matters on people past dues, but I am interested in how much the HOA is spending on a particular liability they are ignoring from a homeowner. Short story: The owners foundation has been deemed failed by a civil engineer and the HOA is fully responsible for all aspects of the foundation (clearly written in the bylaws), but the HOA has drug this out for five months and will not repair it. The owner asked to put on the HOA agenda to discuss the matter and the next day the owner received a letter from the HOA attorney prohibiting him from speaking to the management company, its agents and the Board about his foundation issues. They would not put him on the agenda.

Thanks!

MilesT (Texas)
Posts: 34

Posted:

LynetteB -

I need the same help your post responded to, but the link you mention on the left is a dead link. I could not find the article you mention in Google. I need to cite the Texas law to my HOA so I can obtain a copy of the reserve study, YTD financial records, contract between our management company and the HOA and copy of our HOA insurance policy. Also, without asking about lawsuit case specifics, can I legally ask detailed questions on how much money was spent on the issue. In other words, I do not care about legal matters on people past dues, but I am interested in how much the HOA is spending on a particular liability they are ignoring from a homeowner. Short story: The owners foundation has been deemed failed by a civil engineer and the HOA is fully responsible for all aspects of the foundation (clearly written in the bylaws), but the HOA has drug this out for five months and will not repair it. The owner asked to put on the HOA agenda to discuss the matter and the next day the owner received a letter from the HOA attorney prohibiting him from speaking to the management company, its agents and the Board about his foundation issues. They would not put him on the agenda.

Thanks!

MilesT (Texas)
Posts: 34

Posted:

LynetteB -

I need the same help your post responded to, but the link you mention on the left is a dead link. I could not find the article you mention in Google. I need to cite the Texas law to my HOA so I can obtain a copy of the reserve study, YTD financial records, contract between our management company and the HOA and copy of our HOA insurance policy. Also, without asking about lawsuit case specifics, can I legally ask detailed questions on how much money was spent on the issue. In other words, I do not care about legal matters on people past dues, but I am interested in how much the HOA is spending on a particular liability they are ignoring from a homeowner. Short story: The owners foundation has been deemed failed by a civil engineer and the HOA is fully responsible for all aspects of the foundation (clearly written in the bylaws), but the HOA has drug this out for five months and will not repair it. The owner asked to put on the HOA agenda to discuss the matter and the next day the owner received a letter from the HOA attorney prohibiting him from speaking to the management company, its agents and the Board about his foundation issues. They would not put him on the agenda.

Thanks!

MilesT (Texas)
Posts: 34

Posted:

LynetteB -

I need the same help your post responded to, but the link you mention on the left is a dead link. I could not find the article you mention in Google. I need to cite the Texas law to my HOA so I can obtain a copy of the reserve study, YTD financial records, contract between our management company and the HOA and copy of our HOA insurance policy. Also, without asking about lawsuit case specifics, can I legally ask detailed questions on how much money was spent on the issue. In other words, I do not care about legal matters on people past dues, but I am interested in how much the HOA is spending on a particular liability they are ignoring from a homeowner. Short story: The owners foundation has been deemed failed by a civil engineer and the HOA is fully responsible for all aspects of the foundation (clearly written in the bylaws), but the HOA has drug this out for five months and will not repair it. The owner asked to put on the HOA agenda to discuss the matter and the next day the owner received a letter from the HOA attorney prohibiting him from speaking to the management company, its agents and the Board about his foundation issues. They would not put him on the agenda.

Thanks!

MilesT (Texas)
Posts: 34

Posted:

LynetteB -

I need the same help your post responded to, but the link you mention on the left is a dead link. I could not find the article you mention in Google. I need to cite the Texas law to my HOA so I can obtain a copy of the reserve study, YTD financial records, contract between our management company and the HOA and copy of our HOA insurance policy. Also, without asking about lawsuit case specifics, can I legally ask detailed questions on how much money was spent on the issue. In other words, I do not care about legal matters on people past dues, but I am interested in how much the HOA is spending on a particular liability they are ignoring from a homeowner. Short story: The owners foundation has been deemed failed by a civil engineer and the HOA is fully responsible for all aspects of the foundation (clearly written in the bylaws), but the HOA has drug this out for five months and will not repair it. The owner asked to put on the HOA agenda to discuss the matter and the next day the owner received a letter from the HOA attorney prohibiting him from speaking to the management company, its agents and the Board about his foundation issues. They would not put him on the agenda.

Thanks!

MilesT (Texas)
Posts: 34

Posted:

LynetteB -

I need the same help your post responded to, but the link you mention on the left is a dead link. I could not find the article you mention in Google. I need to cite the Texas law to my HOA so I can obtain a copy of the reserve study, YTD financial records, contract between our management company and the HOA and copy of our HOA insurance policy. Also, without asking about lawsuit case specifics, can I legally ask detailed questions on how much money was spent on the issue. In other words, I do not care about legal matters on people past dues, but I am interested in how much the HOA is spending on a particular liability they are ignoring from a homeowner. Short story: The owners foundation has been deemed failed by a civil engineer and the HOA is fully responsible for all aspects of the foundation (clearly written in the bylaws), but the HOA has drug this out for five months and will not repair it. The owner asked to put on the HOA agenda to discuss the matter and the next day the owner received a letter from the HOA attorney prohibiting him from speaking to the management company, its agents and the Board about his foundation issues. They would not put him on the agenda.

Thanks!

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Here is a link to the Texas Civil Statute:

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PR/htm/PR.209.htm

Scroll down to Sec. 209.005. ASSOCIATION RECORDS.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

NOTE: The Community Association Network link does give an error page (error code 404).

I had written them a month or so ago about a broken link and they replied that they were planning on updating the site. It's probable that they are in the process of doing this.

Tim

MilesT (Texas)
Posts: 34

Posted:

Thank you Tim! I don't know why my question posted so many times. Sorry for the annoyance.