HB 5011

relating to certain protections for owners in a property owners'
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1.  Section 209.005(o), Property Code, is amended to
(o)  A party that [If the property owners' association]
prevails in an action under Subsection (n)[, the association] is
entitled to a judgment for court costs and attorney's fees incurred
by the party [association] in connection with the action.
SECTION 2.  Chapter 209, Property Code, is amended by adding
Section 209.018 to read as follows:
Sec. 209.018.  WITHHOLDING OF ASSESSMENTS BY PROPERTY OWNER.
(a)  Notwithstanding a provision in a dedicatory instrument or
other law, if a property owner brings an action against a property
owners' association, the property owner may withhold assessment
payments while the action is pending.
(b)  If a property owners' association prevails in an action
brought by a property owner, the property owner shall pay all
assessments withheld under Subsection (a) and resume assessment
(c)  A property owners' association may not file a suit to
collect assessments withheld under Subsection (a) against an owner
who prevails in an action against the property owners' association.
SECTION 3.  Section 209.005, Property Code, as amended by
this Act, and Section 209.018, Property Code, as added by this Act,
apply only to an action filed on or after the effective date of this
Act.  An action filed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the action was filed, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.