HOA and condo association foreclosure in Texas

HOA and condo collection rules in Texas, step by step

• Find out which Texas law covers your community

  Before you answer any letter

  Chapter 209 covers residential subdivisions where membership in the association is mandatory and the declaration lets it collect assessments. It does not cover condominiums. Condos whose declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 1994 are under chapter 82, and older condos are under chapter 81 plus the parts of chapter 82 that the law applies to them, including the lien rules.

  Tex. Prop. Code §§ 209.003, 82.002

• Two delinquency notices, then a 90-day wait before a lien is filed

  At least 90 days after the second notice

  Before a subdivision association files an assessment lien in the county records, it must send a first notice of delinquency by regular mail or e-mail, then a second notice by certified mail at least 30 days later. It cannot file the lien until 90 days after the second notice was sent.

  Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0094

• A 45-day cure letter and a payment plan before collectors

  At least 45 days before collection fees can be charged

  Before you can be charged a collection agent's fees, the association must send a certified letter listing each amount owed, explaining how to avoid collections (including any payment plan), and giving you at least 45 days to cure. An association with more than 14 lots must offer a payment plan of 3 to 18 months, without added penalties beyond interest and reasonable plan costs. It can refuse a plan if you defaulted on one in the last 2 years, already had one in the last 12 months, or ask after the 45-day cure period ends.

  Tex. Prop. Code §§ 209.0062, 209.0064

• Payments go to assessments first, and fines alone cannot lead to foreclosure

  Every payment you make

  Unless you are in default on a payment plan, the association must apply your payment to delinquent assessments, then current assessments, then collection costs tied to assessments, then other attorney's fees, and fines last. A subdivision association cannot foreclose if the debt is only fines and attorney's fees tied to fines. A condo association cannot foreclose a lien that consists solely of fines.

  Tex. Prop. Code §§ 209.0063, 209.009, 82.113(e)

• How the sale happens: court order for subdivisions, power of sale for condos

  After the notices and cure periods

  A subdivision association must get a court order first, through the expedited process in Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 735 and 736 or a regular lawsuit, unless you agree in writing at that time to waive it. Before it files, it must give your mortgage lender written notice and 61 days to cure. A condo association has a power of sale and can sell without a court using the same notice rules as a mortgage trustee's sale in Property Code section 51.002.

  Tex. Prop. Code §§ 209.0091, 209.0092, 82.113(d), (e)

• Your mortgage usually stays on the home

  If the association forecloses

  For condos, the association's lien does not come ahead of a first deed of trust recorded before the assessment became delinquent, so Texas has no condo super priority. Chapter 209 does not set a priority rule for subdivision associations; your declaration and the recording dates decide it. Either way, you still owe your mortgage, so keep paying it.

  Tex. Prop. Code § 82.113(b)

• You can buy the home back after an association sale

  180 days after the notice of sale (subdivision); 90 days after the sale (condo)

  A subdivision association must mail you a notice of the sale within 30 days, and you can redeem until 180 days after it mails that notice by paying the amounts the statute lists, including the sale price, interest and costs. The buyer cannot sell to anyone else during that time and must file an eviction case to get possession. A condo owner can redeem within 90 days after the sale.

  Tex. Prop. Code §§ 209.010, 209.011, 82.113(g)

Common questions in Texas