CHAPTER 202. CONSTRUCTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS
PROPERTY CODE
TITLE 11. RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS
CHAPTER 202. CONSTRUCTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIVE
COVENANTS
Sec. 202.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Dedicatory instrument" means each governing instrument
covering the establishment, maintenance, and operation of a
residential subdivision, planned unit development, condominium or
townhouse regime, or any similar planned development. The term
includes a declaration or similar instrument subjecting real
property to restrictive covenants, bylaws, or similar instruments
governing the administration or operation of a property owners'
association, to properly adopted rules and regulations of the
property owners' association, or to all lawful amendments to the
covenants, bylaws, instruments, rules, or regulations.
(2) "Property owners' association" means an incorporated or
unincorporated association owned by or whose members consist
primarily of the owners of the property covered by the dedicatory
instrument and through which the owners, or the board of
directors or similar governing body, manage or regulate the
residential subdivision, planned unit development, condominium or
townhouse regime, or similar planned development.
(3) "Petition" means one or more instruments, however designated
or entitled, by which one or more actions relating to restrictive
covenants are sought to be accomplished.
(4) "Restrictive covenant" means any covenant, condition, or
restriction contained in a dedicatory instrument, whether
mandatory, prohibitive, permissive, or administrative.
Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, Sec. 1, eff. June 18,
1987.
Sec. 202.002. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. (a) This chapter
applies to all restrictive covenants regardless of the date on
which they were created.
(b) This chapter does not affect the requirements of the
Community Homes for Disabled Persons Location Act (Article 1011n,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, Sec. 1, eff. June 18,
1987.
Sec. 202.003. CONSTRUCTION OF RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS. (a) A
restrictive covenant shall be liberally construed to give effect
to its purposes and intent.
(b) In this subsection, "family home" is a residential home that
meets the definition of and requirements applicable to a family
home under the Community Homes for Disabled Persons Location Act
(Article 1011n, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). A dedicatory
instrument or restrictive covenant may not be construed to
prevent the use of property as a family home. However, any
restrictive covenant that applies to property used as a family
home shall be liberally construed to give effect to its purposes
and intent except to the extent that the construction would
restrict the use as a family home.
Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, Sec. 1, eff. June 18,
1987.
Sec. 202.004. ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS. (a) An
exercise of discretionary authority by a property owners'
association or other representative designated by an owner of
real property concerning a restrictive covenant is presumed
reasonable unless the court determines by a preponderance of the
evidence that the exercise of discretionary authority was
arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory.
(b) A property owners' association or other representative
designated by an owner of real property may initiate, defend, or
intervene in litigation or an administrative proceeding affecting
the enforcement of a restrictive covenant or the protection,
preservation, or operation of the property covered by the
dedicatory instrument.
(c) A court may assess civil damages for the violation of a
restrictive covenant in an amount not to exceed $200 for each day
of the violation.
Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, Sec. 1, eff. June 18,
1987.
Sec. 202.005. WITHDRAWAL OF SIGNATURE. (a) A signature may be
withdrawn from a petition authorized to be filed in connection
with terminating restrictive covenants, as provided by this
section.
(b) To withdraw a signature, the signer must request that the
signature be withdrawn.
(c) To be effective, a withdrawal request must:
(1) be in writing and be signed and acknowledged by the signer
of the petition;
(2) be filed with the authority with whom the petition is
required to be filed not later than the day before the petition
filing deadline, if any; and
(3) be delivered in the form of a copy of the request to the
circulator of the petition not later than the date the request is
filed or by the effective date of this chapter, whichever is
later.
(d) A withdrawal request or copy filed or delivered by mail is
considered to be filed or delivered at the time of its receipt by
the appropriate person.
(e) The filing of an effective withdrawal request nullifies the
signature on the petition and places the signer in the same
position as if the signer had not signed the petition.
Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 712, Sec. 1, eff. June 18,
1987.
Sec. 202.006. PUBLIC RECORDS. A property owners' association
shall file the dedicatory instrument in the real property records
of each county in which the property to which the dedicatory
instrument relates is located.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 202.007. CERTAIN RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS PROHIBITED. (a) A
property owners' association may not include or enforce a
provision in a dedicatory instrument that prohibits or restricts
a property owner from:
(1) implementing measures promoting solid-waste composting of
vegetation, including grass clippings, leaves, or brush, or
leaving grass clippings uncollected on grass;
(2) installing rain barrels or a rainwater harvesting system; or
(3) implementing efficient irrigation systems, including
underground drip or other drip systems.
(b) A provision that violates Subsection (a) is void.
(c) A property owners' association may restrict the type of turf
used by a property owner in the planting of new turf to encourage
or require water-conserving turf.
(d) This section does not:
(1) restrict a property owners' association from regulating the
requirements, including size, type, shielding, and materials, for
or the location of a composting device, rain barrel, rain
harvesting device, or any other appurtenance if the restriction
does not prohibit the economic installation of the device or
appurtenance on the property owner's property where there is
reasonably sufficient area to install the device or appurtenance;
(2) require a property owners' association to permit a device or
appurtenance described by Subdivision (1) to be installed in or
on property:
(A) owned by the property owners' association;
(B) owned in common by the members of the property owners'
association; or
(C) in an area other than the fenced yard or patio of a property
owner;
(3) prohibit a property owners' association from regulating the
installation of efficient irrigation systems, including
establishing visibility limitations for aesthetic purposes;
(4) prohibit a property owners' association from regulating the
installation or use of gravel, rocks, or cacti; or
(5) restrict a property owners' association from regulating yard
and landscape maintenance if the restrictions or requirements do
not restrict or prohibit turf or landscaping design that promotes
water conservation.
(e) This section does not apply to a property owners'
association that:
(1) is located in a municipality with a population of more than
175,000 that is located in a county in which another municipality
with a population of more than one million is predominantly
located; and
(2) manages or regulates a development in which at least 4,000
acres of the property is subject to a covenant, condition, or
restriction designating the property for commercial use,
multifamily dwellings, or open space.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1024, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,
2003.
Sec. 202.009. REGULATION OF DISPLAY OF POLITICAL SIGNS. (a)
Except as otherwise provided by this section, a property owners'
association may not enforce or adopt a restrictive covenant that
prohibits a property owner from displaying on the owner's
property one or more signs advertising a political candidate or
ballot item for an election:
(1) on or after the 90th day before the date of the election to
which the sign relates; or
(2) before the 10th day after that election date.
(b) This section does not prohibit the enforcement or adoption
of a covenant that:
(1) requires a sign to be ground-mounted; or
(2) limits a property owner to displaying only one sign for each
candidate or ballot item.
(c) This section does not prohibit the enforcement or adoption
of a covenant that prohibits a sign that:
(1) contains roofing material, siding, paving materials, flora,
one or more balloons or lights, or any other similar building,
landscaping, or nonstandard decorative component;
(2) is attached in any way to plant material, a traffic control
device, a light, a trailer, a vehicle, or any other existing
structure or object;
(3) includes the painting of architectural surfaces;
(4) threatens the public health or safety;
(5) is larger than four feet by six feet;
(6) violates a law;
(7) contains language, graphics, or any display that would be
offensive to the ordinary person; or
(8) is accompanied by music or other sounds or by streamers or
is otherwise distracting to motorists.
(d) A property owners' association may remove a sign displayed
in violation of a restrictive covenant permitted by this section.
Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
1010, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2005.