The Texas Real Estate Commission has launched a website dedicated to helping real estate consumers find more information about homeowners associations: hoa.texas.gov. The website is the result of HOA-reform legislation (Senate Bill 1588) passed by the 87th Texas Legislature in 2021. Texas REALTORS® strongly supported the bill to provide real estate consumers more transparency with homeowners associations.
What is Required
HOAs must file with the county or counties in which they are located certain information on a management certificate. Now they must also file these certificates—and any amendments to them—with the Texas Real Estate Commission. SB 1588 also expanded the information that is required to be included on each management certificate. The newly required information includes:
- Any amendments to the HOA’s declaration
- A phone number and email address for the person designated as the HOA’s point of contact
- The HOA’s website, if applicable
- The amount and description of a fee or fees charged by the association relating to a property transfer in the subdivision.
How HOAs Can Use the Website
Homeowners associations will create an account on hoa.texas.gov and then upload their management certificate documents. There is no cost charged to HOAs for this service.
When the HOA must file its management certificate or amended management certificate with TREC depends on when the homeowners association filed its certificate with the county clerk in the county of record where the HOA is located.
- An HOA that has filed a management certificate or amended management certificate with the county clerk after December 1, 2021 has seven days to file with TREC.
- HOAs that filed a management certificate or amended management certificate with the county clerk on or before December 1, 2021 have until June 1, 2022 to file with TREC.
How Consumers Can Use the Website
Anyone can search hoa.texas.gov by name, city, county, or ZIP code and view the management certificates that have been uploaded.
Long overdue. Associations that are volunteer-run may be challenged to keep up with new regulatory requirements.
This will be helpful. What would also be helpful is the same thing for PIDs.
Has anyone tried the site yet? Interested to see what your thoughts are on it.
Are POA’s included in this requirement?
I believe this is only for residential properties since POA’s may have so many different variants. Furthermore; I could not find anything that elaborated on commercial property. I do believe, however, that COA’s will apply.
Will this site determine if a HOA is no longer valid due to expiring timelines on original HOA docs
I would like to know this as well!
Do managing companies not have to comply? I do not see any of their certificates on the hoa website
Yes – the management company that works for the HOA are the ones uploading the information. Our is RealManage for the Enclave at Brushy Creek in Williamson County.
We will see what this looks like by June, Right now it is pretty empty.
Does this also include HOA’s for Condo’s?
Funny that the deadline was Dec 2021, and there are several Goodwin managed HOA’s not listed in WilCo. How does enforcement work?
Still Pretty Empty. Who is going to enforce this?
This is the first time our HOA has ever had a website. It has greatly improved communications and has given us the ability to make important documents readily available to everyone.
Trying to find the HOA for my home to pay. I live at 224 Coyote Ridge Drive Cedar Creek Texas 78612
If the HOA name had not been identified on a TAX certificate and TREC website, is that meant NO HOA?