Specifications regarding Texas Open Board Meeting (209.0051)

In short, subsection e states that notice must include date, hour, place & general subject of each regular or special board meeting and if only posted on the HOA website, it must also be emailed to all owners with email addresses on file at least 144 hours before a regular meeting.

If notice is not given as described above, subsection (h)(10) says the board may not vote on the adoption or amendment of a dedicatory instrument.

Our HOA amended a resolution without proper notice. Notice was provided on the HOA website, but it did not include a general subject. It only provided date, time & location. And no email sent. Homeowners claim the amendment is unenforceable due to the failure of proper notice. The board claims they questioned the HOA Attorney and was told the notice they provided was all that was necessary. No need to email or provide a general description. The statute seems very clear. The board says, "take us to court". What say you?

As an owner, I have requested to see a copy of the communication between the board and attorney regarding whether notice was adequate and amendment enforceable. I doubt the board will provide me access, citing privilege.

Yes! Regular meeting of the Board of Directors.

For history, according to Texas Prop Code 209.0051, regular meetings must be noticed with date, time, location & general subject of meetings. If posted on website, it must also be emailed to homeowners with email addresses on file. Until August 23rd, the HOA was noticing on the website, but not emailing homeowners. And they were not including a general subject of the meetings, just the date, time & location.

In 2014, the Board created and filed a resolution regarding regulations on exterior fencing. The bylaws were very vague on the construction of fencing, so the Board created the resolution in 2014 to clarify. The ACC at that time (one of which was a board member) was enforcing the resolution based on their opinion and not how the resolution was written. In Sept 2021, board members could no longer server on ACC, so this board member could no longer enforce the resolution as he saw fit, so he chose to amend the resolution.

Maybe I am incorrect in thinking that the resolution would be a dedicatory instrument. It is a document, filed with the county, that the HOA and ACC are using to enforce restrictions.

But that brings me back to, our prop code indicates what is required for notice. Notice was not valid since no agenda or subject was noticed. So can the board amend a 9 year old resolution that can be used to enforce change to fencing? I believe since proper notice not given - no agenda or subject - then the business taken place at the meetings can't be enforcable.

209.0051 (e)

(e) Members shall be given notice of the date, hour, place, and general subject of a regular or special board meeting, including a general description of any matter to be brought up for deliberation in executive session. The notice shall be:

(1) mailed to each property owner not later than the 10th day or earlier than the 60th day before the date of the meeting; or

(2) provided at least 144 hours before the start of a regular board meeting and at least 72 hours before the start of a special board meeting by:

(A) posting the notice in a conspicuous manner reasonably designed to provide notice to property owners' association members:

(i) in a place located on the association's common property or, with the property owner's consent, on other conspicuously located privately owned property within the subdivision; or

(ii) on any Internet website available to association members that is maintained by the association or by a management company on behalf of the association; and

(B) sending the notice by e-mail to each owner who has registered an e-mail address with the association.

209.0051 (h)

(h) Except as provided by this subsection, a board may take action outside of a meeting, including voting by electronic or telephonic means, without prior notice to owners under Subsection (e), if each board member is given a reasonable opportunity to express the board member's opinion to all other board members and to vote. Any action taken without notice to owners under Subsection (e) must be summarized orally, including an explanation of any known actual or estimated expenditures approved at the meeting, and documented in the minutes of the next regular or special board meeting. The board may not, unless done in an open meeting for which prior notice was given to owners under Subsection (e), consider or vote on:

(1) fines;

(2) damage assessments;

(3) initiation of foreclosure actions;

(4) initiation of enforcement actions, excluding temporary restraining orders or violations involving a threat to health or safety;

(5) increases in assessments;

(6) levying of special assessments;

(7) appeals from a denial of architectural control approval;

(8) a suspension of a right of a particular owner before the owner has an opportunity to attend a board meeting to present the owner's position, including any defense, on the issue;

(9) lending or borrowing money;

(10) the adoption or amendment of a dedicatory instrument;

(11) the approval of an annual budget or the approval of an amendment of an annual budget;

(12) the sale or purchase of real property;

(13) the filling of a vacancy on the board;

(14) the construction of capital improvements other than the repair, replacement, or enhancement of existing capital improvements; or

(15) the election of an officer.

As Ellen wrote, the HOA/Board attorney is not a judge, quite the opposite -they represent the Board and advocate for the Board's view on a subject. So if you have a position counter to your Board's do not put value in anything the Board's attorney states on the subject. Instead, if the Board will not give weight to your position, then you only have two options, live with the Board's decision, or bring suit.

You can do that fairly cheaply because since this situation has to do with Chapter 209 of the Texas Property Code, Justice of the Peace now have direct jurisdiction, and because recent Texas legislation, a single member has standing to bring suit for Chapter 209 violation in a JP court.

Warning, JP judges can be loose cannons, and while unlikely, you could get stuck with Association legal fees, so it is not a risk free decision, but it does seem cut-and-dry enough to handle, and the State has change the law to make it easy.

This is where I initially got the idea that HUD and FHA would help in my situation.

https://www.txhomesrealty.com/property-management/hoa-responsibility-for-neighbor-to-neighbor-disputes-harassment/