PROPERTY CODETITLE 7. CONDOMINIUMSCHAPTER 82. UNIFORM CONDOMINIUM ACTSUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONSSec. 82.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Condominium Act.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.002. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter applies to all commercial, industrial, residential, and other types of condominiums in this state for which the declaration is recorded on or after January 1, 1994. A condominium for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, may be governed exclusively under this chapter if either:(1) the owners of units vote to amend the declaration, in accordance with the amendment process authorized by the declaration, to have this chapter apply and that amendment is filed for record in the condominium records in each county in which the condominium is located; or(2) a declaration or amendment of declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, and the declaration or amendment states that this chapter will apply in its entirety on January 1, 1994.(b) An amendment to a declaration under Subsection (a)(1) that implements a vote of the unit owners to be governed by this chapter may not affect the rights of a declarant or impose duties on a declarant that are greater than or in addition to the declarant's duties immediately before the date of the vote or amendment.(c) This section and the following sections apply to a condominium in this state for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994: Sections 82.005, 82.006, 82.007, 82.053, 82.054, 82.102(a)(1)-(7) and (12)-(22), 82.108, 82.111, 82.113, 82.114, 82.116, 82.118, 82.157, and 82.161. The definitions prescribed by Section 82.003 apply to a condominium in this state for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, to the extent the definitions do not conflict with the declaration. The sections listed in this subsection apply only with respect to events and circumstances occurring on or after January 1, 1994, and do not invalidate existing provisions of the declaration, bylaws, or plats or plans of a condominium for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994.(d) Chapter 81 does not apply to a condominium for which the declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 1994, and does not invalidate any amendment to the declaration, bylaws, or plats and plans of any condominium for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, if the amendment would be permitted by this chapter. The amendment must be adopted in conformity with the procedures and requirements specified by those instruments and by Chapter 81. If the amendment grants to a person a right, power, or privilege permitted by this chapter, all correlative obligations, liabilities, and restrictions prescribed by this chapter also apply to that person.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 956, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998.Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1323, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.
Sec. 82.003. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this chapter:(1) "Affiliate of a declarant" means any person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a declarant. A person "controls" a declarant if the person is a general partner, officer, director, or employer of the declarant; directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote or holds proxies representing more than 20 percent of the voting interests in the declarant; determines in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the declarant; or has contributed more than 20 percent of the capital of the declarant. A person "is controlled by" a declarant if the declarant is a general partner, officer, director, or employer of the person; directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote, or holds proxies representing more than 20 percent of the voting interests in the person; determines in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the person; or has contributed more than 20 percent of the capital of the person.(2) "Allocated interests" means the undivided interest in the common elements, the common expense liability, and votes in the association allocated to each unit.(3) "Association" means the unit owners' association organized under Section 82.101.(4) "Board" means the board of directors or the body, regardless of name, designated to act on behalf of the association.(5) "Common elements" means all portions of a condominium other than the units and includes both general and limited common elements.(6) "Common expense liability" means the liability for common expenses allocated to each unit.(7) "Common expenses" means expenditures made by or financial liabilities of the association, together with any allocations to reserves.(8) "Condominium" means a form of real property with portions of the real property designated for separate ownership or occupancy, and the remainder of the real property designated for common ownership or occupancy solely by the owners of those portions. Real property is a condominium only if one or more of the common elements are directly owned in undivided interests by the unit owners. Real property is not a condominium if all of the common elements are owned by a legal entity separate from the unit owners, such as a corporation, even if the separate legal entity is owned by the unit owners.(9) "Conversion building" means a building that at any time before creation of the condominium was occupied wholly or partially by persons other than purchasers and persons who occupy with the consent of purchasers.(10) "Declarant" means a person, or group of persons acting in concert, who:(A) as part of a common promotional plan, offers to dispose of the person's interest in a unit not previously disposed of; or(B) reserves or succeeds to any special declarant right.(11) "Declaration" means a recorded instrument, however denominated, that creates a condominium, and any recorded amendment to that instrument.(12) "Development rights" means a right or combination of rights reserved by a declarant in the declaration to:(A) add real property to a condominium;(B) create units, common elements, or limited common elements within a condominium;(C) subdivide units or convert units into common elements; or(D) withdraw real property from a condominium.(13) "Disposition" means a voluntary transfer to a purchaser of any legal or equitable interest in a unit but does not include the transfer or release of a security interest.(14) "General common elements" means common elements that are not limited common elements.(15) "Identifying number" means a symbol or address that identifies only one unit in a condominium.(16) "Leasehold condominium" means a condominium in which all or a portion of the real property is subject to a lease the expiration or termination of which will terminate the condominium or reduce its size.(17) "Limited common element" means a portion of the common elements allocated by the declaration or by operation of Section 82.052 for the exclusive use of one or more but less than all of the units.(18) "Plan" means a dimensional drawing that is recordable in the real property records or the condominium plat records and that horizontally and vertically identifies or describes units and common elements that are contained in buildings.(19) "Plat" means a survey recordable in the real property records or the condominium plat records and containing the information required by Section 82.059. As used in this chapter, "plat" does not have the same meaning as "plat" in Chapter 212 or 232, Local Government Code, or other statutes dealing with municipal or county regulation of property development.(20) "Purchaser" means a person, other than a declarant, who by means of a voluntary transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a unit other than a leasehold interest or as security for an obligation.(21) "Residential purposes" means recreational or dwelling purposes, or both.(22) "Special declarant rights" means rights reserved for the benefit of a declarant to:(A) complete improvements indicated on plats and plans filed with the declaration;(B) exercise any development right;(C) make the condominium part of a larger condominium or a planned community;(D) maintain sales, management, and leasing offices, signs advertising the condominium, and models;(E) use easements through the common elements for the purpose of making improvements within the condominium or within real property that may be added to the condominium; or(F) appoint or remove any officer or board member of the association during any period of declarant control.(23) "Unit" means a physical portion of the condominium designated for separate ownership or occupancy, the boundaries of which are described by the declaration.(24) "Unit owner" means a declarant or other person who owns a unit, or a lessee of a unit in a leasehold condominium whose lease expires simultaneously with any lease the expiration or termination of which will remove the unit from the condominium, but does not include a person having an interest in a unit solely as security for an obligation.(b) Unless otherwise provided by the declaration or bylaws, a term defined by Subsection (a) has the same meaning if used in a declaration or bylaws.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.004. VARIATION BY AGREEMENT. Except as expressly provided by this chapter, provisions of this chapter may not be varied by agreement, and rights conferred by this chapter may not be waived. A person may not act under a power of attorney or use any other device to evade the limitations or prohibitions of this chapter or the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.005. SEPARATE TITLES AND TAXATION. (a) If there is a unit owner other than a declarant, each unit that has been created, together with its interest in the common elements, constitutes for all purposes a separate parcel of real property.(b) If there is a unit owner other than a declarant, each unit must be separately taxed and assessed, and no separate tax or assessment may be rendered against common elements for which a declarant has not reserved development rights. Any portion of the common elements for which a declarant has reserved any development right must be separately taxed and assessed against the declarant, and the declarant alone is liable for payment of those taxes.(c) If there is no unit owner other than a declarant, the real property constituting the condominium may be taxed and assessed in any manner provided by law.(d) The laws relating to homestead exemptions from property taxes apply to condominium units, which are entitled to homestead exemptions in those cases in which the owner of a single family dwelling would qualify.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.006. APPLICABILITY OF LOCAL ORDINANCES, REGULATIONS, AND BUILDING CODES. A zoning, subdivision, building code, or other real property use law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit the condominium form of ownership or impose any requirement on a condominium that it would not impose on a physically identical development under a different form of ownership. Otherwise, this chapter does not invalidate or modify any provision of any zoning, subdivision, building code, or other real property use law, ordinance, or regulation.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.007. CONDEMNATION. (a) If a unit is acquired by condemnation, or if part of a unit is acquired by condemnation leaving the unit owner with a remnant that may not practically or lawfully be used for any purpose permitted by the declaration, the condemnation award must compensate the unit owner for the unit and its common element interest, whether or not any common element interest is acquired. On acquisition, unless the decree provides otherwise, the condemned unit's entire allocated interests are automatically reallocated to the remaining units in proportion to the respective allocated interests of those units before the taking, and the association shall promptly prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration reflecting the reallocations. A remnant of a unit remaining after part of a unit is taken under this subsection is a common element.(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a), if part of a unit is acquired by condemnation, the award must compensate the unit owner for the reduction in value of the unit and its common element interest. On acquisition, the condemned unit's allocated interests are reduced in proportion to the reduction in the size of the unit, or on any other basis specified by the declaration, and the portion of the allocated interests divested from the partially acquired unit are automatically reallocated to that unit and the remaining units in proportion to the respective allocated interests of those units before the taking, with the partially acquired unit participating in the reallocation on the basis of its reduced allocated interests.(c) If part of the common elements is acquired by condemnation, the award must be paid to the association, as trustee for the unit owners, and to persons holding liens on the condemned property, as their interests may appear. The association shall divide any portion of the award not used for any restoration or repair of the remaining common elements among the unit owners in proportion to their respective common element interests before the taking, but the portion of the award attributable to the acquisition of a limited common element must be equally divided among the owners of the units to which that limited common element was allocated at the time of acquisition, or in any manner the declaration provides.(d) The court decree shall be recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.008. VENUE. Venue for an action to enforce a right or obligation arising under the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the association is in each county in which any part of the condominium is located.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
SUBCHAPTER B. CREATION, ALTERATION, AND TERMINATION OF CONDOMINIUMSSec. 82.051. CREATION OF CONDOMINIUM. (a) A condominium may be created under this chapter only by recording a declaration executed in the same manner as a deed by all persons who have an interest in the real property that will be conveyed to unit owners and by every lessor of a lease the expiration or termination of which will terminate the condominium or reduce its size. The declaration shall be recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.(b) A declarant may not convey an interest in a unit until each holder of a mortgage on the unit immediately before conveyance has executed a consent to declaration, and the consent has been recorded, or is recorded concurrently with the conveyance, as part of the declaration or an amendment to the declaration.(c) If a recorded declaration is not properly executed, that defect may be cured by a subsequent execution conforming to Subsection (a). After an execution defect is cured by authority of this subsection, the declaration is retroactively effective on the date it was first recorded.(d) A county clerk shall, without prior approval from any other authority, record declarations and amendments to declarations in the real property records and record condominium plats or plans in the real property records or in books maintained for that purpose. If a county clerk maintains a book for the condominium plat records, the book shall be the same size and type as the book for recording subdivision plats.(e) This chapter does not affect or diminish the rights of municipalities and counties to approve plats of subdivisions and enforce building codes as may be authorized or required by law.(f) A person may not file for record or have recorded in the county clerk's office a plat, replat, or amended plat or replat of a condominium unless the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat has attached to it an original tax certificate from each taxing unit with jurisdiction of the real property indicating that no delinquent ad valorem taxes are owed on the real property. If the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat is filed after September 1 of a year, the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat must also have attached to it a tax receipt issued by the collector for each taxing unit with jurisdiction of the property indicating that the taxes imposed by the taxing unit for the current year have been paid or, if the taxes for the current year have not been calculated, a statement from the collector for the taxing unit indicating that the taxes to be imposed by that taxing unit for the current year have not been calculated. If the tax certificate for a taxing unit does not cover the preceding year, the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat must also have attached to it a tax receipt issued by the collector for the taxing unit indicating that the taxes imposed by the taxing unit for the preceding year have been paid. This subsection does not apply if a taxing unit acquired the condominium for public use through eminent domain proceedings or voluntary sale.(g) This chapter does not permit development of a subdivision golf course, as defined by Section 212.0155(b), Local Government Code, without a plat if the plat is otherwise required by applicable law. A municipality may require as a condition to the development of a previously platted or unplatted subdivision golf course that the subdivision golf course be platted or replatted.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 289, Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2007.Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1092, Sec. 2, eff. June 15, 2007.Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 87, Sec. 27.001(77), eff. September 1, 2009.
Sec. 82.052. UNIT BOUNDARIES. Except as otherwise provided by the declaration or plat:(1) if walls, floors, or ceilings are designated as boundaries of a unit, then all lath, furring, wallboard, plasterboard, plaster, paneling, tiles, wallpaper, paint, finished flooring, and any other materials constituting part of the finished surfaces are a part of the unit, and all other portions of the walls, floors, or ceilings are a part of the common elements;(2) if any chute, flue, duct, wire, conduit, bearing wall, bearing column, or any other fixture is partially within and partially outside the designated boundaries of a unit, then the portion serving only that unit is a limited common element allocated solely to that unit, and the portion serving more than one unit or the common elements is a part of the general common elements;(3) subject to Subdivision (2), the spaces, interior partitions, and other fixtures and improvements within the boundaries of a unit are a part of the unit; and(4) shutters, awnings, window boxes, doorsteps, stoops, porches, balconies, patios, and exterior doors and windows or other fixtures designed to serve a single unit, but located outside the unit's boundaries, are limited common elements allocated exclusively to that unit.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.053. CONSTRUCTION AND VALIDITY OF DECLARATION AND BYLAWS. (a) The provisions of the declaration and bylaws are severable.(b) The rule against perpetuities may not be applied to defeat any provision of the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the association.(c) If there is a conflict between the provisions of the declaration and the bylaws, the declaration prevails except to the extent the declaration is inconsistent with this chapter.(d) Title to a unit and common elements is not made unmarketable or otherwise affected by a provision of unrecorded bylaws or by reason of an insubstantial failure of the declaration to comply with this chapter. Whether a substantial failure impairs marketability is not affected by this chapter.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.054. DESCRIPTION OF UNITS. A description of a unit is a sufficient legal description of the unit and all rights, obligations, and interests appurtenant to the unit that were created by the declaration or bylaws if the description contains:(1) the name of the condominium;(2) the recording data for the declaration, including any amendments, plats, and plans;(3) the county in which the condominium is located; and(4) the identifying number of the unit.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.055. CONTENTS OF DECLARATION FOR ALL CONDOMINIUMS. The declaration for a condominium must contain:(1) the name of the condominium, which must include the word "condominium" or be followed by the words "a condominium" or a phrase that includes the word "condominium," and the name of the association;(2) the name of each county in which any part of the condominium is located;(3) a legally sufficient description of the real property included in the condominium;(4) a description of the boundaries of each unit created by the declaration, including the unit's identifying number;(5) a statement of the maximum number of units that the declarant reserves the right to create;(6) a description of the limited common elements other than those listed in Sections 82.052(2) and (4);(7) a description of any real property, except real property subject to development rights, that may be allocated subsequently as limited common elements, together with a statement that the property may be so allocated;(8) an allocation to each unit of its allocated interests;(9) any restrictions on use, occupancy, or alienation of the units;(10) a description of and the recording data for recorded easements and licenses appurtenant to or included in the condominium or to which any portion of the condominium is or may become subject by reservation in the declaration;(11) the method of amending the declaration;(12) a plat or plan or the recording data of a plat or plan that has been recorded in the real property or condominium plat records;(13) a statement of the association's obligation under Section 82.111(i) to rebuild or repair any part of the condominium after a casualty or any other disposition of the proceeds of a casualty insurance policy;(14) a description of any development rights and other special declarant rights reserved by the declarant, together with a legally sufficient description of the real property to which each of those rights applies, and a time limit within which each of those rights must be exercised;(15) if any development right may be exercised with respect to different parcels of real property at different times, a statement to that effect, together with:(A) either a statement fixing the boundaries of those portions and regulating the order in which those portions may be subjected to the exercise of each development right, or a statement that no assurances are made in those regards; and(B) a statement as to whether, if any development right is exercised in any portion of the real property subject to that development right, that development right must be exercised in all or in any other portion of the remainder of that real property;(16) all matters required by this chapter to be stated in the declaration; and(17) any other matters the declarant considers appropriate.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.056. LEASEHOLD CONDOMINIUMS. (a) Any lease the expiration or termination of which may terminate the condominium or reduce its size must be recorded. The lessor shall sign the declaration, and the declaration must state:(1) the recording data for the lease;(2) the date on which the lease is scheduled to expire;(3) a legally sufficient description of the real property subject to the lease;(4) any right of the unit owners to redeem the reversion and the manner in which the unit owners may exercise that right, or a statement that the unit owners do not have that right;(5) any right of the unit owners to remove improvements within a reasonable time after the expiration or termination of the lease, or a statement that the unit owners do not have that right; and(6) any right of the unit owners to renew the lease and the conditions of renewal, or a statement that the unit owners do not have that right.(b) After the declaration for a leasehold condominium is recorded, neither the lessor nor the lessor's successor in interest may terminate the leasehold interest of a unit owner who makes timely payment of the unit owner's share of the rent and otherwise complies with all covenants that, if violated, would entitle the lessor to terminate the lease. A unit owner's leasehold interest is not affected by failure of any other person to pay rent or fulfill any other covenant.(c) Acquisition of the leasehold interest of a unit owner by the owner of the reversion or remainder does not merge the leasehold and fee simple interests unless the leasehold interests of all unit owners subject to that reversion or remainder are acquired.(d) If the expiration or termination of a lease decreases the number of units in a condominium, the allocated interests shall be reallocated as though those units had been taken by condemnation unless otherwise provided by the declaration. Reallocation shall be confirmed by an amendment to the declaration prepared, executed, and recorded by the association.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.057. ALLOCATION OF COMMON ELEMENT INTERESTS, VOTES, AND COMMON EXPENSE LIABILITIES. (a) The declaration shall allocate a fraction or percentage of undivided interests in the common elements and in the common expenses of the association, and a portion of the votes in the association, to each unit and state the formulas used to establish those allocations. These allocations may not discriminate in favor of units owned by a declarant.(b) If units may be added to or withdrawn from the condominium, the declaration must state the formulas to be used to reallocate the allocated interests among all units included in the condominium after the addition or withdrawal.(c) The declaration may provide:(1) that different allocations of votes must be made to the units on particular matters specified in the declaration; and(2) for class voting on specified issues affecting the class if necessary to protect valid interests of the class.(d) A declarant may not use cumulative or class voting to evade any limitation imposed on declarants by this chapter. Units may not constitute a class because the units are owned by a declarant.(e) Except for minor variations due to rounding, the sums of the undivided interests in the common elements and of the common expense liabilities allocated at any time to all the units shall each equal one if stated as fractions or 100 percent if stated as percentages. If a discrepancy exists between an allocated interest and the result derived from application of the pertinent formula, the allocated interest prevails.(f) The common elements are not subject to partition. Any purported conveyance, judicial sale, or other voluntary or involuntary transfer of an undivided interest in the common elements without the unit to which that interest is allocated is void.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.058. LIMITED COMMON ELEMENTS. (a) The limited common elements and the provisions of the declaration relating to the right to use the limited common elements may not be altered without the consent of each affected unit owner and the owner's first lien mortgagee.(b) Except as otherwise provided by the declaration, a limited common element may be reallocated by an amendment to the declaration, executed by the unit owners between or among whose units the reallocation is made. The persons executing the amendment shall deliver it to the association, which shall record it at the expense of the reallocating unit owners.(c) A common element not previously allocated as a limited common element may not be allocated except pursuant to the declaration made in accordance with Section 82.055(7). The allocation shall be made by amendment to the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.059. PLATS AND PLANS. (a) Plats and plans are a part of the declaration and may be recorded as a part of the declaration or separately. Each plat or plan must be legible and contain a certification that the plat or plan contains all information required by this section.(b) Each plat must show:(1) the name and a survey or general schematic map of the entire condominium;(2) the location and dimensions of all real property not subject to development rights, or subject only to the development right to withdraw, and the location and dimensions of all existing improvements within that real property;(3) a legally sufficient description of any real property subject to development rights, labeled to identify the rights applicable to each parcel;(4) the extent of any encroachments by or on any portion of the condominium;(5) to the extent feasible, a legally sufficient description of all easements serving or burdening any portion of the condominium, and the location of any underground utility line that is actually known by the declarant at the time of filing the declaration to have been constructed outside a recorded easement;(6) the location and dimensions of any vertical unit boundaries not shown or projected on recorded plans and the unit's identifying number;(7) the location, with reference to established data, of any horizontal unit boundaries not shown or projected on recorded plans and the unit's identifying number;(8) a legally sufficient description of any real property in which the unit owners will own only an estate for years, labeled as "leasehold real property";(9) the distance between noncontiguous parcels of real property constituting the condominium;(10) the location and dimensions of limited common elements, other than those described by Sections 82.052(2) and (4);(11) in the case of real property not subject to development rights, all other matters required by law on land surveys; and(12) the distance and bearings locating each building from all other buildings and from at least one boundary line of the real property constituting the condominium.(c) A plat may also show the intended location and dimensions of a contemplated improvement to be constructed anywhere within the condominium, which must be labeled either "MUST BE BUILT" or "NEED NOT BE BUILT."(d) To the extent not shown on the plats, plans must show:(1) the location and dimensions of the vertical boundaries of each unit, and the unit's identifying number;(2) the horizontal unit boundaries, with reference to established data, and the unit's identifying number; and(3) any units, appropriately identified, in which the declarant has reserved the right to create additional units or common elements.(e) Unless the declaration provides otherwise, the horizontal boundaries of part of a unit located outside a building have the same elevation as the horizontal boundaries of the inside part and need not be depicted on the plats and plans. Interior walls and partitions within a unit need not be included in the plats or plans.(f) On exercising any development right, the declarant shall record either new plats and plans necessary to conform to the requirements of this section or new certifications of plats and plans previously recorded if those plats and plans otherwise conform to the requirements of this section.(g) An independent licensed surveyor or engineer shall certify at least one plat, whether contained in one or more pages, showing all perimeter land boundaries of the condominium, except for additional real property, and showing the locations on the ground of all buildings labeled "MUST BE BUILT" in relation to land boundaries. Certification of any other plat or plan required by this chapter shall be made by an independent licensed architect, surveyor, or engineer.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.060. EXERCISE OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHT. (a) To exercise a development right, the declarant must prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration and record new plats and plans for that real property. The declarant is the unit owner of any units created. The amendment to the declaration must assign an identifying number to each new unit created and, except for subdivision or conversion of units described by Subsection (b), reallocate the allocated interest among all units. The amendment must describe any limited common elements created, designating the unit to which each is allocated.(b) Development rights may be reserved within any real property added to the condominium if the amendment adding the real property includes the information required by Section 82.055 or 82.056, as appropriate, and the plats and plans include the information required by Section 82.059(b). This provision does not extend the time limit on the exercise of development rights imposed by the declaration. Real property to be added is not part of a condominium or subject to a declaration until the declaration is amended to make the additional real property part of the condominium.(c) Whenever a declarant exercises a development right to subdivide or convert a unit previously created into additional units, common elements, or both:(1) if the declarant converts the unit entirely to common elements, the amendment to the declaration must reallocate all the allocated interests of the unit among the other units as if the unit had been taken by condemnation; and(2) if the declarant subdivides the unit into two or more units, whether or not any part of the unit is converted into common elements, the amendment to the declaration must reallocate all the allocated interests of the unit among the units created by the subdivision in any reasonable manner prescribed by the declarant.(d) If the declaration provides that all or a portion of the real property is subject to the development right of withdrawal:(1) if all the real property is subject to withdrawal, and the declaration does not describe separate portions of real property subject to that right, none of the real property may be withdrawn after a unit has been conveyed to a purchaser; and(2) if a portion or portions are subject to withdrawal, no portion may be withdrawn after a unit in that portion has been conveyed to a purchaser.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.061. ALTERATIONS OF UNITS. (a) Subject to the provisions of the declaration and other provisions of law, a unit owner:(1) may make improvements or alterations to the owner's unit that do not impair the structural integrity or mechanical systems or lessen the support of any portion of the condominium;(2) may not change the appearance of the common elements or the exterior appearance of a unit or any other portion of the condominium without prior written permission of the association; and(3) after acquiring an adjoining unit or an adjoining part of an adjoining unit, with the prior written approval of the association, may remove, alter, and create apertures in an intervening partition, even if the partition in whole or in part is a common element, if those acts do not impair the structural integrity or mechanical systems or lessen the support of any portion of the condominium.(b) Removal of partitions or creation of apertures under Subsection (a)(3) is not an alteration of boundaries.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.062. RELOCATION OF BOUNDARIES BETWEEN ADJOINING UNITS. Subject to the declaration, the boundaries between adjoining units may be relocated by an amendment to the declaration on written application to the association by the owners of those units. If the owners of the adjoining units have specified a reallocation between their units of their allocated interests, the application must state the proposed reallocations. Unless the board determines not later than the 30th day after the date the application is received that the reallocation is unreasonable, the association shall prepare an amendment that identifies the units involved, states the reallocation, is executed by the applying unit owners, and contains words of conveyance between them. At the expense of the applying unit owners, the association shall prepare and record the amendment and plats or plans necessary to show the altered boundaries between adjoining units, and the units' dimensions and identifying numbers.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.063. SUBDIVISION OF UNITS. (a) If the declaration expressly permits, a unit may be subdivided into two or more units. Subject to the declaration, on written application of a unit owner to subdivide a unit and after payment by the unit owner of the cost of preparing and recording amendments and plats, the association shall prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration, including the plats and plans, subdividing the unit.(b) The amendment to the declaration must be executed by the owner of the unit to be subdivided, assign an identifying number to each unit created, and reallocate the allocated interests formerly allocated to the subdivided unit to the new units in any reasonable manner prescribed by the owner of the subdivided unit.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.064. EASEMENT FOR ENCROACHMENTS. To the extent that a unit or common element encroaches on another unit or common element, a valid easement for the encroachment exists. The easement does not relieve a unit owner of liability in case of the owner's wilful misconduct nor relieve a declarant or any other person of liability for failure to adhere to the plats and plans.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.065. USE FOR SALES PURPOSES. The declaration may permit a declarant to maintain sales, leasing, or management offices and models in units or on common elements in the condominium if the declaration specifies the rights of a declarant with regard to the number, size, location, and relocation of the offices and models. If the declaration fails to expressly permit an office or model, a declarant may maintain no more than one unit as a model and no more than one unit as an office for sales, leasing, and management purposes at any one time. A sales, leasing, or management office or model not designated as a unit by the declaration is a common element and is subject to the exclusive use of a declarant until the declarant ceases to be a unit owner or until the declarant no longer uses the office or model for such purposes, whichever occurs earlier. A declarant may modify the exterior of a sales, leasing, or management office to conform to the aesthetic exterior plan of the condominium. A declarant who ceases to be a unit owner ceases to have any rights with regard to an office or model unless it is removed within a reasonable time from the condominium in accordance with a right to remove reserved in the declaration. Subject to limitations in the declaration, a declarant may maintain signs on the common elements that advertise the condominium for sale or lease. This section is subject to local ordinances and other state law.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.066. EASEMENT RIGHTS. Subject to the declaration, a declarant has an easement through the common elements as may be reasonably necessary for discharging the declarant's obligations or exercising special declarant rights whether arising under this chapter or reserved by the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.067. AMENDMENT OF DECLARATION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a declaration, including the plats and plans, may be amended only by vote or agreement of unit owners to which at least 67 percent of the votes in the association are allocated, or any larger majority the declaration specifies. A declaration may specify a smaller number only if all of the units are restricted exclusively to nonresidential use. An amendment to a declaration may be adopted:(1) by written ballot that states the exact wording or substance of the amendment and that specifies the date by which a ballot must be received to be counted;(2) at a meeting of the members of the association after written notice of the meeting has been delivered to an owner of each unit stating that a purpose of the meeting is to consider an amendment to the declaration; or(3) by any method permitted by the declaration.(b) The amendment procedures of this section do not apply to amendments that may be executed by:(1) a declarant under Section 82.051(c), 82.059(f), or 82.060 or Subsection (f);(2) the association under Section 82.007, 82.056(d), 82.058(c), 82.062, or 82.063 or Subsection (f); or(3) certain unit owners under Section 82.058(b), 82.062, 82.063(b), or 82.068(b).(c) An action to challenge the validity of an amendment adopted by the association under this section must be brought before the first anniversary of the date the amendment is recorded.(d) To be effective, an amendment to the declaration must be recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.(e) Except as permitted or required by this chapter, an amendment may not create or increase special declarant rights, increase the number of units, change the boundaries of a unit, alter or destroy a unit or limited common element, change a unit's allocated interest, or change the use restrictions on a unit unless the amendment is approved by 100 percent of the votes in the association. Except as agreed to by the declarant, an amendment may not increase or otherwise modify the obligations imposed by a declaration on a declarant, or reduce or otherwise modify the rights granted by a declaration to a declarant, including special declarant rights.(f) If permitted by the declaration, the board or the declarant, if the declarant owns a unit that has never been occupied, may without a vote of the unit owners or approval of the association amend the declaration in any manner necessary to meet the requirements of the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration, or the Veterans Administration.(g) Amendments to the declaration required by this chapter to be recorded by the association must be prepared, executed, recorded, and certified by an officer of the association designated for that purpose or, in the absence of designation, by the president of the association.(h) An association may amend the declaration to authorize the board:(1) to bring an action to evict a tenant of a unit owner for the tenant's violation of the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the association;(2) to bring an action to evict a tenant of a unit owner who fails to pay the association for the cost of repairs to common elements damaged substantially by the owner's tenant; or(3) to collect rents from a tenant of a unit owner who is at least 60 days' delinquent in the payment of any amount due to the association.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.0675. RESTRICTION RELATING TO CLUB MEMBERSHIP. (a) A provision of a declaration or recorded contract that requires owners of units in a condominium to maintain a membership in a specified private club is not valid after the 10th anniversary of the date the provision is recorded or renewed unless renewed after the ninth anniversary of that date in the manner provided by the declaration or recorded contract for amending the declaration or recorded contract and the text of the renewed provision is filed in the real property records of each county in which the condominium is located.(b) A provision described by this section may not be enacted or renewed as a bylaw by the unit owners' association.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1101, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Sec. 82.068. TERMINATION OF CONDOMINIUM. (a) Unless the declaration provides otherwise and except for a taking of all the units by condemnation, a condominium may be terminated only by the agreement of 100 percent of the votes in the association and each holder of a deed of trust or vendor's lien on a unit. The declaration may not allow a termination by less than 80 percent of the votes in the association if any unit is restricted exclusively to residential uses.(b) An agreement of unit owners to terminate a condominium must be evidenced by the execution or ratification of a termination agreement by the requisite number of unit owners. If, pursuant to a termination agreement, the real property constituting the condominium is to be sold following termination, the termination agreement must set forth the terms of the sale. To be effective, a termination agreement and all ratifications of the agreement must be recorded in each county in which a portion of the condominium is located.(c) The association, on behalf of the unit owners, may contract for the sale of real property in the condominium, but the contract is not binding on the unit owners until it is approved under Subsections (a) and (b). If the real property constituting the condominium is to be sold following termination, on termination title to that real property vests in the association as trustee for the holders of all interests in the units, and the association has all powers necessary and appropriate to effect the sale, including the power to convey the interests of nonconsenting owners. Until the sale has been concluded and the proceeds distributed, the association shall continue to exist and retains the powers it had before termination. Proceeds of the sale must be distributed to unit owners and lienholders as their interests may appear, in proportion to the respective interests of unit owners as provided by Subsection (f). Unless the termination agreement specifies differently, as long as the association holds title to the real property, each unit owner and the owner's successors in interest have an exclusive right to occupy the portion of the real property that formerly constituted the owner's unit. During that period of occupancy a unit owner and the owner's successors in interest remain liable for all assessments and other obligations imposed on unit owners by this chapter or the declaration.(d) If the real property constituting the condominium is not to be sold following termination, on termination title to the real property vests in the unit owners as tenants in common in proportion to their respective interests, and liens on the units shift accordingly. While the tenancy in common exists, a unit owner and the owner's successors in interest have an exclusive right to occupy the portion of the real property that formerly constituted the owner's unit.(e) Following termination of the condominium, and after payment of or provision for the claims of the association's creditors, the assets of the association shall be distributed to unit owners in proportion to their respective interests. The proceeds of sale described by Subsection (c) and held by the association as trustee are not assets of the association.(f) The interest of a unit owner referred to in Subsections (c), (d), and (e) is, except as provided by Subsection (g), the fair market value of the owner's unit, limited common elements, and common element interest immediately before the termination, as determined by one or more independent appraisers selected by the association. The decision of the independent appraisers shall be distributed to the unit owners and becomes final unless disapproved by unit owners of units to which 25 percent of the votes in the association are allocated not later than the 30th day after the date of distribution. The proportion of a unit owner's interest to that of all unit owners is determined by dividing the fair market value of the unit owner's unit and common element interest by the total fair market values of all the units and common elements.(g) If a unit or a limited common element is destroyed to the extent that an appraisal of the fair market value before the destruction cannot be made, the interest of a unit owner is the owner's common element interest immediately before the termination.(h) Foreclosure or enforcement of a lien or encumbrance against the entire condominium does not of itself terminate the condominium, and foreclosure or enforcement of a lien or encumbrance against a portion of the condominium does not withdraw that portion from the condominium, unless the portion is withdrawable real property or unless the mortgage being foreclosed was recorded before the date the declaration was recorded and the mortgagee did not consent in writing to the declaration.(i) By agreement of the same percentage of unit owners that is required to terminate the condominium, the unit owners may rescind a termination agreement and reinstate the declaration in effect immediately before the election to terminate. To be effective, the rescission agreement must be in writing, executed by the unit owners who desire to rescind, and recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.069. RIGHTS OF SECURED LENDERS. The declaration may require that all or a specified number or percentage of the mortgagees or beneficiaries of deeds of trust encumbering the units approve specified actions of the unit owners or the association as a condition to the effectiveness of those actions, but a requirement for approval may not operate to:(1) deny or delegate control over the general administrative affairs of the association by the unit owners or the board; or(2) prevent the association or the board from:(A) commencing, intervening in, or settling any litigation or proceeding; or(B) receiving and distributing insurance proceeds under Section 82.111.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.070. MEETING AT WHICH AMENDMENTS MAY BE ADOPTED. (a) An association or a board may not meet to adopt an amendment or other change to the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, or rules of the association unless the association or board has given to each unit owner a document showing the specific amendment or other change that would be made to the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, or rules.(b) The information described by Subsection (a) must be given to each unit owner after the 20th day but before the 10th day preceding the date of the meeting. The information is considered to have been given to a unit owner on the date the information is personally delivered to the unit owner, as shown by a receipt signed by the unit owner, or on the date shown by the postmark on the information after it is deposited in the United States mail with a proper address and postage paid.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 956, Sec. 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1998.
SUBCHAPTER C. CONDOMINIUM MANAGEMENTSec. 82.101. ORGANIZATION OF UNIT OWNERS' ASSOCIATION. A unit owners' association must be organized as a profit or nonprofit corporation. The declarant may not convey a unit until the secretary of state has issued a certificate of incorporation under Article 3.03, Texas Business Corporation Act, or Article 3.03, Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-3.03, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). The membership of the association at all times consists exclusively of all the unit owners or, following termination of the condominium, all former unit owners entitled to distribution of proceeds, or the owners' heirs, successors, or assigns.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.102. POWERS OF UNIT OWNERS' ASSOCIATION. (a) Unless otherwise provided by the declaration, the association, acting through its board, may:(1) adopt and amend bylaws;(2) adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves, and collect assessments for common expenses from unit owners;(3) hire and terminate managing agents and other employees, agents, and independent contractors;(4) institute, defend, intervene in, settle, or compromise litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or two or more unit owners on matters affecting the condominium;(5) make contracts and incur liabilities relating to the operation of the condominium;(6) regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement, modification, and appearance of the condominium;(7) adopt and amend rules regulating the use, occupancy, leasing or sale, maintenance, repair, modification, and appearance of units and common elements, to the extent the regulated actions affect common elements or other units;(8) cause additional improvements to be made as a part of the common elements;(9) acquire, hold, encumber, and convey in its own name any right, title, or interest to real or personal property, except common elements of the condominium;(10) grant easements, leases, licenses, and concessions through or over the common elements;(11) impose and receive payments, fees, or charges for the use, rental, or operation of the common elements and for services provided to unit owners;(12) impose interest and late charges for late payments of assessments, returned check charges, and, if notice and an opportunity to be heard are given, reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules of the association;(13) adopt and amend rules regulating the collection of delinquent assessments and the application of payments;(14) adopt and amend rules regulating the termination of utility service to a unit, the owner of which is delinquent in the payment of an assessment that is used, in whole or in part, to pay the cost of that utility;(15) impose reasonable charges for preparing, recording, or copying declaration amendments, resale certificates, or statements of unpaid assessments;(16) enter a unit for bona fide emergency purposes when conditions present an imminent risk of harm or damage to the common elements, another unit, or the occupants;(17) assign its right to future income, including the right to receive common expense assessments, but only to the extent the declaration so provides;(18) suspend the voting privileges of or the use of certain general common elements by an owner delinquent for more than 30 days in the payment of assessments;(19) purchase insurance and fidelity bonds it considers appropriate or necessary;(20) exercise any other powers conferred by the declaration or bylaws;(21) exercise any other powers that may be exercised in this state by a corporation of the same type as the association; and(22) exercise any other powers necessary and proper for the government and operation of the association.(b) The declaration may not impose limitations on the power of the association to deal with the declarant that are more restrictive than the limitations imposed on the power of the association to deal with other persons.(c) To be enforceable, a bylaw or rule of the association must not be arbitrary or capricious.(d) Before an association may charge the unit owner for property damage for which the unit owner is liable or levy a fine for violation of the declaration, bylaws, or rules, the association shall give to the unit owner a written notice that:(1) describes the violation or property damage and states the amount of the proposed fine or damage charge;(2) states that not later than the 30th day after the date of the notice, the unit owner may request a hearing before the board to contest the fine or damage charge; and(3) allows the unit owner a reasonable time, by a specified date, to cure the violation and avoid the fine unless the unit owner was given notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure a similar violation within the preceding 12 months.(e) The association may give a copy of the notice required by Subsection (d) to an occupant of the unit. The association must give notice of a levied fine or damage charge to the unit owner not later than the 30th day after the date of levy.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.103. BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS. (a) Except as provided by the declaration, bylaws, or this chapter, the board shall act in all instances on behalf of the association if in the good-faith judgment of the board the action is reasonable. Each officer or member of the board is liable as a fiduciary of the unit owners for the officer's or member's acts or omissions. All acts of the association must be by and through the board unless otherwise provided by the declaration or bylaws or by law.(b) The board may not act on behalf of the association to amend the declaration except as permitted by this chapter, to terminate the condominium, to elect members of the board, or to determine the qualifications, powers and duties, or terms of office of board members. The board may fill a vacancy in its membership for the unexpired portion of a term.(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the declaration may provide for a period of declarant control of the association during which a declarant, or persons designated by the declarant, may appoint and remove the officers and members of the board. Regardless of the period provided by the declaration, a period of declarant control terminates not later than the 120th day after conveyance of 75 percent of the units that may be created to unit owners other than a declarant. Transfer of special declarant rights does not terminate the period of declarant control. A declarant may voluntarily surrender the right to appoint and remove officers and members of the board before termination of the period, but in that event the declarant may require, for the duration of the period that the declarant would otherwise control, that specified actions of the association or board be approved by the declarant before they become effective.(d) Not later than the 120th day after conveyance of 50 percent of the units that may be created to unit owners other than a declarant, not less than one-third of the members of the board must be elected by unit owners other than the declarant.(e) Not later than the termination of a period of declarant control, the unit owners shall elect a board of at least three members who need not be unit owners. The board shall elect the officers before the 31st day after the date declarant control terminates. The persons elected shall take office on election.(f) An officer or director of the association is not liable to the association or any unit owner for monetary damages for an act or omission occurring in the person's capacity as an officer or director unless:(1) the officer or director breached a fiduciary duty to the association or a unit owner;(2) the officer or director received an improper benefit; or(3) the act or omission was in bad faith, involved intentional misconduct, or was one for which liability is expressly provided by statute.(g) Subsection (f) does not diminish a limitation of liability provided an officer or director of the association by the declaration, bylaws, articles of incorporation of the association, or other laws.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.104. TRANSFER OF SPECIAL DECLARANT RIGHTS. (a) Special declarant rights created or reserved under this chapter may not be transferred except by an instrument evidencing the transfer recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located. The instrument is not effective unless executed by the transferee.(b) On transfer of any special declarant right, a transferor is not relieved of an obligation or liability arising before the transfer. A transferor is not liable for an act or omission or a breach of an obligation arising from the exercise of a special declarant right by a successor declarant who is not an affiliate of the transferor.(c) Unless otherwise provided by a mortgage instrument or deed of trust, in case of foreclosure of a mortgage, tax sale, judicial sale, sale by a trustee under a deed of trust, or sale under Bankruptcy Code or receivership proceedings, of a unit owned by a declarant or of real property in a condominium subject to development rights, a person acquiring title to all the real property being foreclosed or sold may request to succeed to all special declarant rights or only to rights reserved by the declaration to maintain models, offices, and signs. The judgment or instrument conveying title may provide for transfer of only the special declarant rights requested.(d) On foreclosure, tax sale, judicial sale, sale by a trustee under a deed of trust, or sale under Bankruptcy Code or receivership proceedings of all units and other real property in a condominium owned by a declarant:(1) the declarant ceases to have any special declarant rights; and(2) the period of declarant control terminates unless the judgment or instrument conveying title provides for transfer of all special declarant rights held by that declarant to a successor declarant.(e) The liabilities and obligations of a person who succeeds to special declarant rights are as follows:(1) a successor to a special declarant right who is an affiliate of a declarant is subject to all obligations and liabilities imposed on the transferor by this chapter or by the declaration;(2) a successor to a special declarant right, other than a successor described by Subdivision (3) or (4), who is not an affiliate of a declarant, is subject to all obligations and liabilities imposed on the transferor by this chapter or by the declaration;(3) a successor to only a right reserved by the declaration to maintain models, offices, and signs, who is not an affiliate of a declarant, may not exercise any other special declarant right, and is not subject to any liability or obligation as a declarant, except the obligation to provide a condominium information statement and any liability arising as a result; and(4) a successor to all special declarant rights held by the successor's transferor who is not an affiliate of that declarant and who succeeded to those rights pursuant to a deed in lieu of foreclosure or a judgment or instrument conveying title to units under Subsection (c) may declare the person's intention in a recorded instrument to hold those rights solely for transfer to another person; thereafter, until all special declarant rights are transferred to a person acquiring title to any unit owned by the successor, or until an instrument permitting exercise of all those rights is recorded, the successor may not exercise any of those rights other than any right held by the successor's transferor to control the board as provided by Section 82.103(c) for the duration of the period of declarant control, and an attempt to exercise those rights is void; so long as a successor declarant may not exercise special declarant rights under this subdivision, the successor is not subject to any liability or obligation as a declarant other than liability for acts and omissions under Section 82.103(a).(f) This section does not subject a successor to a special declarant right to any claims against or other obligations of a transferor declarant, other than claims and obligations arising under this chapter or the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.105. TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS AND LEASES OF DECLARANT. An association in a residential or recreational condominium may terminate, without penalty, contracts or leases between the association and a declarant or an affiliate of a declarant if:(1) the contract is entered into by the association while controlled by the declarant;(2) the association terminates the contract or lease before the first anniversary of the date a board elected by the unit owners takes office; and(3) the association gives at least 90 days' notice of its intent to terminate the contract or lease to the othe
PROPERTY CODETITLE 7. CONDOMINIUMSCHAPTER 82. UNIFORM CONDOMINIUM ACTSUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONSSec. 82.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Condominium Act.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.002. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter applies to all commercial, industrial, residential, and other types of condominiums in this state for which the declaration is recorded on or after January 1, 1994. A condominium for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, may be governed exclusively under this chapter if either:(1) the owners of units vote to amend the declaration, in accordance with the amendment process authorized by the declaration, to have this chapter apply and that amendment is filed for record in the condominium records in each county in which the condominium is located; or(2) a declaration or amendment of declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, and the declaration or amendment states that this chapter will apply in its entirety on January 1, 1994.(b) An amendment to a declaration under Subsection (a)(1) that implements a vote of the unit owners to be governed by this chapter may not affect the rights of a declarant or impose duties on a declarant that are greater than or in addition to the declarant's duties immediately before the date of the vote or amendment.(c) This section and the following sections apply to a condominium in this state for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994: Sections 82.005, 82.006, 82.007, 82.053, 82.054, 82.102(a)(1)-(7) and (12)-(22), 82.108, 82.111, 82.113, 82.114, 82.116, 82.118, 82.157, and 82.161. The definitions prescribed by Section 82.003 apply to a condominium in this state for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, to the extent the definitions do not conflict with the declaration. The sections listed in this subsection apply only with respect to events and circumstances occurring on or after January 1, 1994, and do not invalidate existing provisions of the declaration, bylaws, or plats or plans of a condominium for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994.(d) Chapter 81 does not apply to a condominium for which the declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 1994, and does not invalidate any amendment to the declaration, bylaws, or plats and plans of any condominium for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, if the amendment would be permitted by this chapter. The amendment must be adopted in conformity with the procedures and requirements specified by those instruments and by Chapter 81. If the amendment grants to a person a right, power, or privilege permitted by this chapter, all correlative obligations, liabilities, and restrictions prescribed by this chapter also apply to that person.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 956, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998.Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1323, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.
Sec. 82.003. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this chapter:(1) "Affiliate of a declarant" means any person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a declarant. A person "controls" a declarant if the person is a general partner, officer, director, or employer of the declarant; directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote or holds proxies representing more than 20 percent of the voting interests in the declarant; determines in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the declarant; or has contributed more than 20 percent of the capital of the declarant. A person "is controlled by" a declarant if the declarant is a general partner, officer, director, or employer of the person; directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote, or holds proxies representing more than 20 percent of the voting interests in the person; determines in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the person; or has contributed more than 20 percent of the capital of the person.(2) "Allocated interests" means the undivided interest in the common elements, the common expense liability, and votes in the association allocated to each unit.(3) "Association" means the unit owners' association organized under Section 82.101.(4) "Board" means the board of directors or the body, regardless of name, designated to act on behalf of the association.(5) "Common elements" means all portions of a condominium other than the units and includes both general and limited common elements.(6) "Common expense liability" means the liability for common expenses allocated to each unit.(7) "Common expenses" means expenditures made by or financial liabilities of the association, together with any allocations to reserves.(8) "Condominium" means a form of real property with portions of the real property designated for separate ownership or occupancy, and the remainder of the real property designated for common ownership or occupancy solely by the owners of those portions. Real property is a condominium only if one or more of the common elements are directly owned in undivided interests by the unit owners. Real property is not a condominium if all of the common elements are owned by a legal entity separate from the unit owners, such as a corporation, even if the separate legal entity is owned by the unit owners.(9) "Conversion building" means a building that at any time before creation of the condominium was occupied wholly or partially by persons other than purchasers and persons who occupy with the consent of purchasers.(10) "Declarant" means a person, or group of persons acting in concert, who:(A) as part of a common promotional plan, offers to dispose of the person's interest in a unit not previously disposed of; or(B) reserves or succeeds to any special declarant right.(11) "Declaration" means a recorded instrument, however denominated, that creates a condominium, and any recorded amendment to that instrument.(12) "Development rights" means a right or combination of rights reserved by a declarant in the declaration to:(A) add real property to a condominium;(B) create units, common elements, or limited common elements within a condominium;(C) subdivide units or convert units into common elements; or(D) withdraw real property from a condominium.(13) "Disposition" means a voluntary transfer to a purchaser of any legal or equitable interest in a unit but does not include the transfer or release of a security interest.(14) "General common elements" means common elements that are not limited common elements.(15) "Identifying number" means a symbol or address that identifies only one unit in a condominium.(16) "Leasehold condominium" means a condominium in which all or a portion of the real property is subject to a lease the expiration or termination of which will terminate the condominium or reduce its size.(17) "Limited common element" means a portion of the common elements allocated by the declaration or by operation of Section 82.052 for the exclusive use of one or more but less than all of the units.(18) "Plan" means a dimensional drawing that is recordable in the real property records or the condominium plat records and that horizontally and vertically identifies or describes units and common elements that are contained in buildings.(19) "Plat" means a survey recordable in the real property records or the condominium plat records and containing the information required by Section 82.059. As used in this chapter, "plat" does not have the same meaning as "plat" in Chapter 212 or 232, Local Government Code, or other statutes dealing with municipal or county regulation of property development.(20) "Purchaser" means a person, other than a declarant, who by means of a voluntary transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a unit other than a leasehold interest or as security for an obligation.(21) "Residential purposes" means recreational or dwelling purposes, or both.(22) "Special declarant rights" means rights reserved for the benefit of a declarant to:(A) complete improvements indicated on plats and plans filed with the declaration;(B) exercise any development right;(C) make the condominium part of a larger condominium or a planned community;(D) maintain sales, management, and leasing offices, signs advertising the condominium, and models;(E) use easements through the common elements for the purpose of making improvements within the condominium or within real property that may be added to the condominium; or(F) appoint or remove any officer or board member of the association during any period of declarant control.(23) "Unit" means a physical portion of the condominium designated for separate ownership or occupancy, the boundaries of which are described by the declaration.(24) "Unit owner" means a declarant or other person who owns a unit, or a lessee of a unit in a leasehold condominium whose lease expires simultaneously with any lease the expiration or termination of which will remove the unit from the condominium, but does not include a person having an interest in a unit solely as security for an obligation.(b) Unless otherwise provided by the declaration or bylaws, a term defined by Subsection (a) has the same meaning if used in a declaration or bylaws.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.004. VARIATION BY AGREEMENT. Except as expressly provided by this chapter, provisions of this chapter may not be varied by agreement, and rights conferred by this chapter may not be waived. A person may not act under a power of attorney or use any other device to evade the limitations or prohibitions of this chapter or the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.005. SEPARATE TITLES AND TAXATION. (a) If there is a unit owner other than a declarant, each unit that has been created, together with its interest in the common elements, constitutes for all purposes a separate parcel of real property.(b) If there is a unit owner other than a declarant, each unit must be separately taxed and assessed, and no separate tax or assessment may be rendered against common elements for which a declarant has not reserved development rights. Any portion of the common elements for which a declarant has reserved any development right must be separately taxed and assessed against the declarant, and the declarant alone is liable for payment of those taxes.(c) If there is no unit owner other than a declarant, the real property constituting the condominium may be taxed and assessed in any manner provided by law.(d) The laws relating to homestead exemptions from property taxes apply to condominium units, which are entitled to homestead exemptions in those cases in which the owner of a single family dwelling would qualify.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.006. APPLICABILITY OF LOCAL ORDINANCES, REGULATIONS, AND BUILDING CODES. A zoning, subdivision, building code, or other real property use law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit the condominium form of ownership or impose any requirement on a condominium that it would not impose on a physically identical development under a different form of ownership. Otherwise, this chapter does not invalidate or modify any provision of any zoning, subdivision, building code, or other real property use law, ordinance, or regulation.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.007. CONDEMNATION. (a) If a unit is acquired by condemnation, or if part of a unit is acquired by condemnation leaving the unit owner with a remnant that may not practically or lawfully be used for any purpose permitted by the declaration, the condemnation award must compensate the unit owner for the unit and its common element interest, whether or not any common element interest is acquired. On acquisition, unless the decree provides otherwise, the condemned unit's entire allocated interests are automatically reallocated to the remaining units in proportion to the respective allocated interests of those units before the taking, and the association shall promptly prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration reflecting the reallocations. A remnant of a unit remaining after part of a unit is taken under this subsection is a common element.(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a), if part of a unit is acquired by condemnation, the award must compensate the unit owner for the reduction in value of the unit and its common element interest. On acquisition, the condemned unit's allocated interests are reduced in proportion to the reduction in the size of the unit, or on any other basis specified by the declaration, and the portion of the allocated interests divested from the partially acquired unit are automatically reallocated to that unit and the remaining units in proportion to the respective allocated interests of those units before the taking, with the partially acquired unit participating in the reallocation on the basis of its reduced allocated interests.(c) If part of the common elements is acquired by condemnation, the award must be paid to the association, as trustee for the unit owners, and to persons holding liens on the condemned property, as their interests may appear. The association shall divide any portion of the award not used for any restoration or repair of the remaining common elements among the unit owners in proportion to their respective common element interests before the taking, but the portion of the award attributable to the acquisition of a limited common element must be equally divided among the owners of the units to which that limited common element was allocated at the time of acquisition, or in any manner the declaration provides.(d) The court decree shall be recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.008. VENUE. Venue for an action to enforce a right or obligation arising under the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the association is in each county in which any part of the condominium is located.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
SUBCHAPTER B. CREATION, ALTERATION, AND TERMINATION OF CONDOMINIUMSSec. 82.051. CREATION OF CONDOMINIUM. (a) A condominium may be created under this chapter only by recording a declaration executed in the same manner as a deed by all persons who have an interest in the real property that will be conveyed to unit owners and by every lessor of a lease the expiration or termination of which will terminate the condominium or reduce its size. The declaration shall be recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.(b) A declarant may not convey an interest in a unit until each holder of a mortgage on the unit immediately before conveyance has executed a consent to declaration, and the consent has been recorded, or is recorded concurrently with the conveyance, as part of the declaration or an amendment to the declaration.(c) If a recorded declaration is not properly executed, that defect may be cured by a subsequent execution conforming to Subsection (a). After an execution defect is cured by authority of this subsection, the declaration is retroactively effective on the date it was first recorded.(d) A county clerk shall, without prior approval from any other authority, record declarations and amendments to declarations in the real property records and record condominium plats or plans in the real property records or in books maintained for that purpose. If a county clerk maintains a book for the condominium plat records, the book shall be the same size and type as the book for recording subdivision plats.(e) This chapter does not affect or diminish the rights of municipalities and counties to approve plats of subdivisions and enforce building codes as may be authorized or required by law.(f) A person may not file for record or have recorded in the county clerk's office a plat, replat, or amended plat or replat of a condominium unless the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat has attached to it an original tax certificate from each taxing unit with jurisdiction of the real property indicating that no delinquent ad valorem taxes are owed on the real property. If the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat is filed after September 1 of a year, the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat must also have attached to it a tax receipt issued by the collector for each taxing unit with jurisdiction of the property indicating that the taxes imposed by the taxing unit for the current year have been paid or, if the taxes for the current year have not been calculated, a statement from the collector for the taxing unit indicating that the taxes to be imposed by that taxing unit for the current year have not been calculated. If the tax certificate for a taxing unit does not cover the preceding year, the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat must also have attached to it a tax receipt issued by the collector for the taxing unit indicating that the taxes imposed by the taxing unit for the preceding year have been paid. This subsection does not apply if a taxing unit acquired the condominium for public use through eminent domain proceedings or voluntary sale.(g) This chapter does not permit development of a subdivision golf course, as defined by Section 212.0155(b), Local Government Code, without a plat if the plat is otherwise required by applicable law. A municipality may require as a condition to the development of a previously platted or unplatted subdivision golf course that the subdivision golf course be platted or replatted.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 289, Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2007.Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1092, Sec. 2, eff. June 15, 2007.Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 87, Sec. 27.001(77), eff. September 1, 2009.
Sec. 82.052. UNIT BOUNDARIES. Except as otherwise provided by the declaration or plat:(1) if walls, floors, or ceilings are designated as boundaries of a unit, then all lath, furring, wallboard, plasterboard, plaster, paneling, tiles, wallpaper, paint, finished flooring, and any other materials constituting part of the finished surfaces are a part of the unit, and all other portions of the walls, floors, or ceilings are a part of the common elements;(2) if any chute, flue, duct, wire, conduit, bearing wall, bearing column, or any other fixture is partially within and partially outside the designated boundaries of a unit, then the portion serving only that unit is a limited common element allocated solely to that unit, and the portion serving more than one unit or the common elements is a part of the general common elements;(3) subject to Subdivision (2), the spaces, interior partitions, and other fixtures and improvements within the boundaries of a unit are a part of the unit; and(4) shutters, awnings, window boxes, doorsteps, stoops, porches, balconies, patios, and exterior doors and windows or other fixtures designed to serve a single unit, but located outside the unit's boundaries, are limited common elements allocated exclusively to that unit.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.053. CONSTRUCTION AND VALIDITY OF DECLARATION AND BYLAWS. (a) The provisions of the declaration and bylaws are severable.(b) The rule against perpetuities may not be applied to defeat any provision of the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the association.(c) If there is a conflict between the provisions of the declaration and the bylaws, the declaration prevails except to the extent the declaration is inconsistent with this chapter.(d) Title to a unit and common elements is not made unmarketable or otherwise affected by a provision of unrecorded bylaws or by reason of an insubstantial failure of the declaration to comply with this chapter. Whether a substantial failure impairs marketability is not affected by this chapter.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.054. DESCRIPTION OF UNITS. A description of a unit is a sufficient legal description of the unit and all rights, obligations, and interests appurtenant to the unit that were created by the declaration or bylaws if the description contains:(1) the name of the condominium;(2) the recording data for the declaration, including any amendments, plats, and plans;(3) the county in which the condominium is located; and(4) the identifying number of the unit.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.055. CONTENTS OF DECLARATION FOR ALL CONDOMINIUMS. The declaration for a condominium must contain:(1) the name of the condominium, which must include the word "condominium" or be followed by the words "a condominium" or a phrase that includes the word "condominium," and the name of the association;(2) the name of each county in which any part of the condominium is located;(3) a legally sufficient description of the real property included in the condominium;(4) a description of the boundaries of each unit created by the declaration, including the unit's identifying number;(5) a statement of the maximum number of units that the declarant reserves the right to create;(6) a description of the limited common elements other than those listed in Sections 82.052(2) and (4);(7) a description of any real property, except real property subject to development rights, that may be allocated subsequently as limited common elements, together with a statement that the property may be so allocated;(8) an allocation to each unit of its allocated interests;(9) any restrictions on use, occupancy, or alienation of the units;(10) a description of and the recording data for recorded easements and licenses appurtenant to or included in the condominium or to which any portion of the condominium is or may become subject by reservation in the declaration;(11) the method of amending the declaration;(12) a plat or plan or the recording data of a plat or plan that has been recorded in the real property or condominium plat records;(13) a statement of the association's obligation under Section 82.111(i) to rebuild or repair any part of the condominium after a casualty or any other disposition of the proceeds of a casualty insurance policy;(14) a description of any development rights and other special declarant rights reserved by the declarant, together with a legally sufficient description of the real property to which each of those rights applies, and a time limit within which each of those rights must be exercised;(15) if any development right may be exercised with respect to different parcels of real property at different times, a statement to that effect, together with:(A) either a statement fixing the boundaries of those portions and regulating the order in which those portions may be subjected to the exercise of each development right, or a statement that no assurances are made in those regards; and(B) a statement as to whether, if any development right is exercised in any portion of the real property subject to that development right, that development right must be exercised in all or in any other portion of the remainder of that real property;(16) all matters required by this chapter to be stated in the declaration; and(17) any other matters the declarant considers appropriate.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.056. LEASEHOLD CONDOMINIUMS. (a) Any lease the expiration or termination of which may terminate the condominium or reduce its size must be recorded. The lessor shall sign the declaration, and the declaration must state:(1) the recording data for the lease;(2) the date on which the lease is scheduled to expire;(3) a legally sufficient description of the real property subject to the lease;(4) any right of the unit owners to redeem the reversion and the manner in which the unit owners may exercise that right, or a statement that the unit owners do not have that right;(5) any right of the unit owners to remove improvements within a reasonable time after the expiration or termination of the lease, or a statement that the unit owners do not have that right; and(6) any right of the unit owners to renew the lease and the conditions of renewal, or a statement that the unit owners do not have that right.(b) After the declaration for a leasehold condominium is recorded, neither the lessor nor the lessor's successor in interest may terminate the leasehold interest of a unit owner who makes timely payment of the unit owner's share of the rent and otherwise complies with all covenants that, if violated, would entitle the lessor to terminate the lease. A unit owner's leasehold interest is not affected by failure of any other person to pay rent or fulfill any other covenant.(c) Acquisition of the leasehold interest of a unit owner by the owner of the reversion or remainder does not merge the leasehold and fee simple interests unless the leasehold interests of all unit owners subject to that reversion or remainder are acquired.(d) If the expiration or termination of a lease decreases the number of units in a condominium, the allocated interests shall be reallocated as though those units had been taken by condemnation unless otherwise provided by the declaration. Reallocation shall be confirmed by an amendment to the declaration prepared, executed, and recorded by the association.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.057. ALLOCATION OF COMMON ELEMENT INTERESTS, VOTES, AND COMMON EXPENSE LIABILITIES. (a) The declaration shall allocate a fraction or percentage of undivided interests in the common elements and in the common expenses of the association, and a portion of the votes in the association, to each unit and state the formulas used to establish those allocations. These allocations may not discriminate in favor of units owned by a declarant.(b) If units may be added to or withdrawn from the condominium, the declaration must state the formulas to be used to reallocate the allocated interests among all units included in the condominium after the addition or withdrawal.(c) The declaration may provide:(1) that different allocations of votes must be made to the units on particular matters specified in the declaration; and(2) for class voting on specified issues affecting the class if necessary to protect valid interests of the class.(d) A declarant may not use cumulative or class voting to evade any limitation imposed on declarants by this chapter. Units may not constitute a class because the units are owned by a declarant.(e) Except for minor variations due to rounding, the sums of the undivided interests in the common elements and of the common expense liabilities allocated at any time to all the units shall each equal one if stated as fractions or 100 percent if stated as percentages. If a discrepancy exists between an allocated interest and the result derived from application of the pertinent formula, the allocated interest prevails.(f) The common elements are not subject to partition. Any purported conveyance, judicial sale, or other voluntary or involuntary transfer of an undivided interest in the common elements without the unit to which that interest is allocated is void.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.058. LIMITED COMMON ELEMENTS. (a) The limited common elements and the provisions of the declaration relating to the right to use the limited common elements may not be altered without the consent of each affected unit owner and the owner's first lien mortgagee.(b) Except as otherwise provided by the declaration, a limited common element may be reallocated by an amendment to the declaration, executed by the unit owners between or among whose units the reallocation is made. The persons executing the amendment shall deliver it to the association, which shall record it at the expense of the reallocating unit owners.(c) A common element not previously allocated as a limited common element may not be allocated except pursuant to the declaration made in accordance with Section 82.055(7). The allocation shall be made by amendment to the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.059. PLATS AND PLANS. (a) Plats and plans are a part of the declaration and may be recorded as a part of the declaration or separately. Each plat or plan must be legible and contain a certification that the plat or plan contains all information required by this section.(b) Each plat must show:(1) the name and a survey or general schematic map of the entire condominium;(2) the location and dimensions of all real property not subject to development rights, or subject only to the development right to withdraw, and the location and dimensions of all existing improvements within that real property;(3) a legally sufficient description of any real property subject to development rights, labeled to identify the rights applicable to each parcel;(4) the extent of any encroachments by or on any portion of the condominium;(5) to the extent feasible, a legally sufficient description of all easements serving or burdening any portion of the condominium, and the location of any underground utility line that is actually known by the declarant at the time of filing the declaration to have been constructed outside a recorded easement;(6) the location and dimensions of any vertical unit boundaries not shown or projected on recorded plans and the unit's identifying number;(7) the location, with reference to established data, of any horizontal unit boundaries not shown or projected on recorded plans and the unit's identifying number;(8) a legally sufficient description of any real property in which the unit owners will own only an estate for years, labeled as "leasehold real property";(9) the distance between noncontiguous parcels of real property constituting the condominium;(10) the location and dimensions of limited common elements, other than those described by Sections 82.052(2) and (4);(11) in the case of real property not subject to development rights, all other matters required by law on land surveys; and(12) the distance and bearings locating each building from all other buildings and from at least one boundary line of the real property constituting the condominium.(c) A plat may also show the intended location and dimensions of a contemplated improvement to be constructed anywhere within the condominium, which must be labeled either "MUST BE BUILT" or "NEED NOT BE BUILT."(d) To the extent not shown on the plats, plans must show:(1) the location and dimensions of the vertical boundaries of each unit, and the unit's identifying number;(2) the horizontal unit boundaries, with reference to established data, and the unit's identifying number; and(3) any units, appropriately identified, in which the declarant has reserved the right to create additional units or common elements.(e) Unless the declaration provides otherwise, the horizontal boundaries of part of a unit located outside a building have the same elevation as the horizontal boundaries of the inside part and need not be depicted on the plats and plans. Interior walls and partitions within a unit need not be included in the plats or plans.(f) On exercising any development right, the declarant shall record either new plats and plans necessary to conform to the requirements of this section or new certifications of plats and plans previously recorded if those plats and plans otherwise conform to the requirements of this section.(g) An independent licensed surveyor or engineer shall certify at least one plat, whether contained in one or more pages, showing all perimeter land boundaries of the condominium, except for additional real property, and showing the locations on the ground of all buildings labeled "MUST BE BUILT" in relation to land boundaries. Certification of any other plat or plan required by this chapter shall be made by an independent licensed architect, surveyor, or engineer.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.060. EXERCISE OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHT. (a) To exercise a development right, the declarant must prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration and record new plats and plans for that real property. The declarant is the unit owner of any units created. The amendment to the declaration must assign an identifying number to each new unit created and, except for subdivision or conversion of units described by Subsection (b), reallocate the allocated interest among all units. The amendment must describe any limited common elements created, designating the unit to which each is allocated.(b) Development rights may be reserved within any real property added to the condominium if the amendment adding the real property includes the information required by Section 82.055 or 82.056, as appropriate, and the plats and plans include the information required by Section 82.059(b). This provision does not extend the time limit on the exercise of development rights imposed by the declaration. Real property to be added is not part of a condominium or subject to a declaration until the declaration is amended to make the additional real property part of the condominium.(c) Whenever a declarant exercises a development right to subdivide or convert a unit previously created into additional units, common elements, or both:(1) if the declarant converts the unit entirely to common elements, the amendment to the declaration must reallocate all the allocated interests of the unit among the other units as if the unit had been taken by condemnation; and(2) if the declarant subdivides the unit into two or more units, whether or not any part of the unit is converted into common elements, the amendment to the declaration must reallocate all the allocated interests of the unit among the units created by the subdivision in any reasonable manner prescribed by the declarant.(d) If the declaration provides that all or a portion of the real property is subject to the development right of withdrawal:(1) if all the real property is subject to withdrawal, and the declaration does not describe separate portions of real property subject to that right, none of the real property may be withdrawn after a unit has been conveyed to a purchaser; and(2) if a portion or portions are subject to withdrawal, no portion may be withdrawn after a unit in that portion has been conveyed to a purchaser.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.061. ALTERATIONS OF UNITS. (a) Subject to the provisions of the declaration and other provisions of law, a unit owner:(1) may make improvements or alterations to the owner's unit that do not impair the structural integrity or mechanical systems or lessen the support of any portion of the condominium;(2) may not change the appearance of the common elements or the exterior appearance of a unit or any other portion of the condominium without prior written permission of the association; and(3) after acquiring an adjoining unit or an adjoining part of an adjoining unit, with the prior written approval of the association, may remove, alter, and create apertures in an intervening partition, even if the partition in whole or in part is a common element, if those acts do not impair the structural integrity or mechanical systems or lessen the support of any portion of the condominium.(b) Removal of partitions or creation of apertures under Subsection (a)(3) is not an alteration of boundaries.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.062. RELOCATION OF BOUNDARIES BETWEEN ADJOINING UNITS. Subject to the declaration, the boundaries between adjoining units may be relocated by an amendment to the declaration on written application to the association by the owners of those units. If the owners of the adjoining units have specified a reallocation between their units of their allocated interests, the application must state the proposed reallocations. Unless the board determines not later than the 30th day after the date the application is received that the reallocation is unreasonable, the association shall prepare an amendment that identifies the units involved, states the reallocation, is executed by the applying unit owners, and contains words of conveyance between them. At the expense of the applying unit owners, the association shall prepare and record the amendment and plats or plans necessary to show the altered boundaries between adjoining units, and the units' dimensions and identifying numbers.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.063. SUBDIVISION OF UNITS. (a) If the declaration expressly permits, a unit may be subdivided into two or more units. Subject to the declaration, on written application of a unit owner to subdivide a unit and after payment by the unit owner of the cost of preparing and recording amendments and plats, the association shall prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration, including the plats and plans, subdividing the unit.(b) The amendment to the declaration must be executed by the owner of the unit to be subdivided, assign an identifying number to each unit created, and reallocate the allocated interests formerly allocated to the subdivided unit to the new units in any reasonable manner prescribed by the owner of the subdivided unit.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.064. EASEMENT FOR ENCROACHMENTS. To the extent that a unit or common element encroaches on another unit or common element, a valid easement for the encroachment exists. The easement does not relieve a unit owner of liability in case of the owner's wilful misconduct nor relieve a declarant or any other person of liability for failure to adhere to the plats and plans.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.065. USE FOR SALES PURPOSES. The declaration may permit a declarant to maintain sales, leasing, or management offices and models in units or on common elements in the condominium if the declaration specifies the rights of a declarant with regard to the number, size, location, and relocation of the offices and models. If the declaration fails to expressly permit an office or model, a declarant may maintain no more than one unit as a model and no more than one unit as an office for sales, leasing, and management purposes at any one time. A sales, leasing, or management office or model not designated as a unit by the declaration is a common element and is subject to the exclusive use of a declarant until the declarant ceases to be a unit owner or until the declarant no longer uses the office or model for such purposes, whichever occurs earlier. A declarant may modify the exterior of a sales, leasing, or management office to conform to the aesthetic exterior plan of the condominium. A declarant who ceases to be a unit owner ceases to have any rights with regard to an office or model unless it is removed within a reasonable time from the condominium in accordance with a right to remove reserved in the declaration. Subject to limitations in the declaration, a declarant may maintain signs on the common elements that advertise the condominium for sale or lease. This section is subject to local ordinances and other state law.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.066. EASEMENT RIGHTS. Subject to the declaration, a declarant has an easement through the common elements as may be reasonably necessary for discharging the declarant's obligations or exercising special declarant rights whether arising under this chapter or reserved by the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.067. AMENDMENT OF DECLARATION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a declaration, including the plats and plans, may be amended only by vote or agreement of unit owners to which at least 67 percent of the votes in the association are allocated, or any larger majority the declaration specifies. A declaration may specify a smaller number only if all of the units are restricted exclusively to nonresidential use. An amendment to a declaration may be adopted:(1) by written ballot that states the exact wording or substance of the amendment and that specifies the date by which a ballot must be received to be counted;(2) at a meeting of the members of the association after written notice of the meeting has been delivered to an owner of each unit stating that a purpose of the meeting is to consider an amendment to the declaration; or(3) by any method permitted by the declaration.(b) The amendment procedures of this section do not apply to amendments that may be executed by:(1) a declarant under Section 82.051(c), 82.059(f), or 82.060 or Subsection (f);(2) the association under Section 82.007, 82.056(d), 82.058(c), 82.062, or 82.063 or Subsection (f); or(3) certain unit owners under Section 82.058(b), 82.062, 82.063(b), or 82.068(b).(c) An action to challenge the validity of an amendment adopted by the association under this section must be brought before the first anniversary of the date the amendment is recorded.(d) To be effective, an amendment to the declaration must be recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.(e) Except as permitted or required by this chapter, an amendment may not create or increase special declarant rights, increase the number of units, change the boundaries of a unit, alter or destroy a unit or limited common element, change a unit's allocated interest, or change the use restrictions on a unit unless the amendment is approved by 100 percent of the votes in the association. Except as agreed to by the declarant, an amendment may not increase or otherwise modify the obligations imposed by a declaration on a declarant, or reduce or otherwise modify the rights granted by a declaration to a declarant, including special declarant rights.(f) If permitted by the declaration, the board or the declarant, if the declarant owns a unit that has never been occupied, may without a vote of the unit owners or approval of the association amend the declaration in any manner necessary to meet the requirements of the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration, or the Veterans Administration.(g) Amendments to the declaration required by this chapter to be recorded by the association must be prepared, executed, recorded, and certified by an officer of the association designated for that purpose or, in the absence of designation, by the president of the association.(h) An association may amend the declaration to authorize the board:(1) to bring an action to evict a tenant of a unit owner for the tenant's violation of the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the association;(2) to bring an action to evict a tenant of a unit owner who fails to pay the association for the cost of repairs to common elements damaged substantially by the owner's tenant; or(3) to collect rents from a tenant of a unit owner who is at least 60 days' delinquent in the payment of any amount due to the association.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.0675. RESTRICTION RELATING TO CLUB MEMBERSHIP. (a) A provision of a declaration or recorded contract that requires owners of units in a condominium to maintain a membership in a specified private club is not valid after the 10th anniversary of the date the provision is recorded or renewed unless renewed after the ninth anniversary of that date in the manner provided by the declaration or recorded contract for amending the declaration or recorded contract and the text of the renewed provision is filed in the real property records of each county in which the condominium is located.(b) A provision described by this section may not be enacted or renewed as a bylaw by the unit owners' association.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1101, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Sec. 82.068. TERMINATION OF CONDOMINIUM. (a) Unless the declaration provides otherwise and except for a taking of all the units by condemnation, a condominium may be terminated only by the agreement of 100 percent of the votes in the association and each holder of a deed of trust or vendor's lien on a unit. The declaration may not allow a termination by less than 80 percent of the votes in the association if any unit is restricted exclusively to residential uses.(b) An agreement of unit owners to terminate a condominium must be evidenced by the execution or ratification of a termination agreement by the requisite number of unit owners. If, pursuant to a termination agreement, the real property constituting the condominium is to be sold following termination, the termination agreement must set forth the terms of the sale. To be effective, a termination agreement and all ratifications of the agreement must be recorded in each county in which a portion of the condominium is located.(c) The association, on behalf of the unit owners, may contract for the sale of real property in the condominium, but the contract is not binding on the unit owners until it is approved under Subsections (a) and (b). If the real property constituting the condominium is to be sold following termination, on termination title to that real property vests in the association as trustee for the holders of all interests in the units, and the association has all powers necessary and appropriate to effect the sale, including the power to convey the interests of nonconsenting owners. Until the sale has been concluded and the proceeds distributed, the association shall continue to exist and retains the powers it had before termination. Proceeds of the sale must be distributed to unit owners and lienholders as their interests may appear, in proportion to the respective interests of unit owners as provided by Subsection (f). Unless the termination agreement specifies differently, as long as the association holds title to the real property, each unit owner and the owner's successors in interest have an exclusive right to occupy the portion of the real property that formerly constituted the owner's unit. During that period of occupancy a unit owner and the owner's successors in interest remain liable for all assessments and other obligations imposed on unit owners by this chapter or the declaration.(d) If the real property constituting the condominium is not to be sold following termination, on termination title to the real property vests in the unit owners as tenants in common in proportion to their respective interests, and liens on the units shift accordingly. While the tenancy in common exists, a unit owner and the owner's successors in interest have an exclusive right to occupy the portion of the real property that formerly constituted the owner's unit.(e) Following termination of the condominium, and after payment of or provision for the claims of the association's creditors, the assets of the association shall be distributed to unit owners in proportion to their respective interests. The proceeds of sale described by Subsection (c) and held by the association as trustee are not assets of the association.(f) The interest of a unit owner referred to in Subsections (c), (d), and (e) is, except as provided by Subsection (g), the fair market value of the owner's unit, limited common elements, and common element interest immediately before the termination, as determined by one or more independent appraisers selected by the association. The decision of the independent appraisers shall be distributed to the unit owners and becomes final unless disapproved by unit owners of units to which 25 percent of the votes in the association are allocated not later than the 30th day after the date of distribution. The proportion of a unit owner's interest to that of all unit owners is determined by dividing the fair market value of the unit owner's unit and common element interest by the total fair market values of all the units and common elements.(g) If a unit or a limited common element is destroyed to the extent that an appraisal of the fair market value before the destruction cannot be made, the interest of a unit owner is the owner's common element interest immediately before the termination.(h) Foreclosure or enforcement of a lien or encumbrance against the entire condominium does not of itself terminate the condominium, and foreclosure or enforcement of a lien or encumbrance against a portion of the condominium does not withdraw that portion from the condominium, unless the portion is withdrawable real property or unless the mortgage being foreclosed was recorded before the date the declaration was recorded and the mortgagee did not consent in writing to the declaration.(i) By agreement of the same percentage of unit owners that is required to terminate the condominium, the unit owners may rescind a termination agreement and reinstate the declaration in effect immediately before the election to terminate. To be effective, the rescission agreement must be in writing, executed by the unit owners who desire to rescind, and recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.069. RIGHTS OF SECURED LENDERS. The declaration may require that all or a specified number or percentage of the mortgagees or beneficiaries of deeds of trust encumbering the units approve specified actions of the unit owners or the association as a condition to the effectiveness of those actions, but a requirement for approval may not operate to:(1) deny or delegate control over the general administrative affairs of the association by the unit owners or the board; or(2) prevent the association or the board from:(A) commencing, intervening in, or settling any litigation or proceeding; or(B) receiving and distributing insurance proceeds under Section 82.111.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.070. MEETING AT WHICH AMENDMENTS MAY BE ADOPTED. (a) An association or a board may not meet to adopt an amendment or other change to the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, or rules of the association unless the association or board has given to each unit owner a document showing the specific amendment or other change that would be made to the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, or rules.(b) The information described by Subsection (a) must be given to each unit owner after the 20th day but before the 10th day preceding the date of the meeting. The information is considered to have been given to a unit owner on the date the information is personally delivered to the unit owner, as shown by a receipt signed by the unit owner, or on the date shown by the postmark on the information after it is deposited in the United States mail with a proper address and postage paid.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 956, Sec. 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1998.
SUBCHAPTER C. CONDOMINIUM MANAGEMENTSec. 82.101. ORGANIZATION OF UNIT OWNERS' ASSOCIATION. A unit owners' association must be organized as a profit or nonprofit corporation. The declarant may not convey a unit until the secretary of state has issued a certificate of incorporation under Article 3.03, Texas Business Corporation Act, or Article 3.03, Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-3.03, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). The membership of the association at all times consists exclusively of all the unit owners or, following termination of the condominium, all former unit owners entitled to distribution of proceeds, or the owners' heirs, successors, or assigns.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.102. POWERS OF UNIT OWNERS' ASSOCIATION. (a) Unless otherwise provided by the declaration, the association, acting through its board, may:(1) adopt and amend bylaws;(2) adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves, and collect assessments for common expenses from unit owners;(3) hire and terminate managing agents and other employees, agents, and independent contractors;(4) institute, defend, intervene in, settle, or compromise litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or two or more unit owners on matters affecting the condominium;(5) make contracts and incur liabilities relating to the operation of the condominium;(6) regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement, modification, and appearance of the condominium;(7) adopt and amend rules regulating the use, occupancy, leasing or sale, maintenance, repair, modification, and appearance of units and common elements, to the extent the regulated actions affect common elements or other units;(8) cause additional improvements to be made as a part of the common elements;(9) acquire, hold, encumber, and convey in its own name any right, title, or interest to real or personal property, except common elements of the condominium;(10) grant easements, leases, licenses, and concessions through or over the common elements;(11) impose and receive payments, fees, or charges for the use, rental, or operation of the common elements and for services provided to unit owners;(12) impose interest and late charges for late payments of assessments, returned check charges, and, if notice and an opportunity to be heard are given, reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules of the association;(13) adopt and amend rules regulating the collection of delinquent assessments and the application of payments;(14) adopt and amend rules regulating the termination of utility service to a unit, the owner of which is delinquent in the payment of an assessment that is used, in whole or in part, to pay the cost of that utility;(15) impose reasonable charges for preparing, recording, or copying declaration amendments, resale certificates, or statements of unpaid assessments;(16) enter a unit for bona fide emergency purposes when conditions present an imminent risk of harm or damage to the common elements, another unit, or the occupants;(17) assign its right to future income, including the right to receive common expense assessments, but only to the extent the declaration so provides;(18) suspend the voting privileges of or the use of certain general common elements by an owner delinquent for more than 30 days in the payment of assessments;(19) purchase insurance and fidelity bonds it considers appropriate or necessary;(20) exercise any other powers conferred by the declaration or bylaws;(21) exercise any other powers that may be exercised in this state by a corporation of the same type as the association; and(22) exercise any other powers necessary and proper for the government and operation of the association.(b) The declaration may not impose limitations on the power of the association to deal with the declarant that are more restrictive than the limitations imposed on the power of the association to deal with other persons.(c) To be enforceable, a bylaw or rule of the association must not be arbitrary or capricious.(d) Before an association may charge the unit owner for property damage for which the unit owner is liable or levy a fine for violation of the declaration, bylaws, or rules, the association shall give to the unit owner a written notice that:(1) describes the violation or property damage and states the amount of the proposed fine or damage charge;(2) states that not later than the 30th day after the date of the notice, the unit owner may request a hearing before the board to contest the fine or damage charge; and(3) allows the unit owner a reasonable time, by a specified date, to cure the violation and avoid the fine unless the unit owner was given notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure a similar violation within the preceding 12 months.(e) The association may give a copy of the notice required by Subsection (d) to an occupant of the unit. The association must give notice of a levied fine or damage charge to the unit owner not later than the 30th day after the date of levy.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.103. BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS. (a) Except as provided by the declaration, bylaws, or this chapter, the board shall act in all instances on behalf of the association if in the good-faith judgment of the board the action is reasonable. Each officer or member of the board is liable as a fiduciary of the unit owners for the officer's or member's acts or omissions. All acts of the association must be by and through the board unless otherwise provided by the declaration or bylaws or by law.(b) The board may not act on behalf of the association to amend the declaration except as permitted by this chapter, to terminate the condominium, to elect members of the board, or to determine the qualifications, powers and duties, or terms of office of board members. The board may fill a vacancy in its membership for the unexpired portion of a term.(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the declaration may provide for a period of declarant control of the association during which a declarant, or persons designated by the declarant, may appoint and remove the officers and members of the board. Regardless of the period provided by the declaration, a period of declarant control terminates not later than the 120th day after conveyance of 75 percent of the units that may be created to unit owners other than a declarant. Transfer of special declarant rights does not terminate the period of declarant control. A declarant may voluntarily surrender the right to appoint and remove officers and members of the board before termination of the period, but in that event the declarant may require, for the duration of the period that the declarant would otherwise control, that specified actions of the association or board be approved by the declarant before they become effective.(d) Not later than the 120th day after conveyance of 50 percent of the units that may be created to unit owners other than a declarant, not less than one-third of the members of the board must be elected by unit owners other than the declarant.(e) Not later than the termination of a period of declarant control, the unit owners shall elect a board of at least three members who need not be unit owners. The board shall elect the officers before the 31st day after the date declarant control terminates. The persons elected shall take office on election.(f) An officer or director of the association is not liable to the association or any unit owner for monetary damages for an act or omission occurring in the person's capacity as an officer or director unless:(1) the officer or director breached a fiduciary duty to the association or a unit owner;(2) the officer or director received an improper benefit; or(3) the act or omission was in bad faith, involved intentional misconduct, or was one for which liability is expressly provided by statute.(g) Subsection (f) does not diminish a limitation of liability provided an officer or director of the association by the declaration, bylaws, articles of incorporation of the association, or other laws.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.104. TRANSFER OF SPECIAL DECLARANT RIGHTS. (a) Special declarant rights created or reserved under this chapter may not be transferred except by an instrument evidencing the transfer recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located. The instrument is not effective unless executed by the transferee.(b) On transfer of any special declarant right, a transferor is not relieved of an obligation or liability arising before the transfer. A transferor is not liable for an act or omission or a breach of an obligation arising from the exercise of a special declarant right by a successor declarant who is not an affiliate of the transferor.(c) Unless otherwise provided by a mortgage instrument or deed of trust, in case of foreclosure of a mortgage, tax sale, judicial sale, sale by a trustee under a deed of trust, or sale under Bankruptcy Code or receivership proceedings, of a unit owned by a declarant or of real property in a condominium subject to development rights, a person acquiring title to all the real property being foreclosed or sold may request to succeed to all special declarant rights or only to rights reserved by the declaration to maintain models, offices, and signs. The judgment or instrument conveying title may provide for transfer of only the special declarant rights requested.(d) On foreclosure, tax sale, judicial sale, sale by a trustee under a deed of trust, or sale under Bankruptcy Code or receivership proceedings of all units and other real property in a condominium owned by a declarant:(1) the declarant ceases to have any special declarant rights; and(2) the period of declarant control terminates unless the judgment or instrument conveying title provides for transfer of all special declarant rights held by that declarant to a successor declarant.(e) The liabilities and obligations of a person who succeeds to special declarant rights are as follows:(1) a successor to a special declarant right who is an affiliate of a declarant is subject to all obligations and liabilities imposed on the transferor by this chapter or by the declaration;(2) a successor to a special declarant right, other than a successor described by Subdivision (3) or (4), who is not an affiliate of a declarant, is subject to all obligations and liabilities imposed on the transferor by this chapter or by the declaration;(3) a successor to only a right reserved by the declaration to maintain models, offices, and signs, who is not an affiliate of a declarant, may not exercise any other special declarant right, and is not subject to any liability or obligation as a declarant, except the obligation to provide a condominium information statement and any liability arising as a result; and(4) a successor to all special declarant rights held by the successor's transferor who is not an affiliate of that declarant and who succeeded to those rights pursuant to a deed in lieu of foreclosure or a judgment or instrument conveying title to units under Subsection (c) may declare the person's intention in a recorded instrument to hold those rights solely for transfer to another person; thereafter, until all special declarant rights are transferred to a person acquiring title to any unit owned by the successor, or until an instrument permitting exercise of all those rights is recorded, the successor may not exercise any of those rights other than any right held by the successor's transferor to control the board as provided by Section 82.103(c) for the duration of the period of declarant control, and an attempt to exercise those rights is void; so long as a successor declarant may not exercise special declarant rights under this subdivision, the successor is not subject to any liability or obligation as a declarant other than liability for acts and omissions under Section 82.103(a).(f) This section does not subject a successor to a special declarant right to any claims against or other obligations of a transferor declarant, other than claims and obligations arising under this chapter or the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.105. TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS AND LEASES OF DECLARANT. An association in a residential or recreational condominium may terminate, without penalty, contracts or leases between the association and a declarant or an affiliate of a declarant if:(1) the contract is entered into by the association while controlled by the declarant;(2) the association terminates the contract or lease before the first anniversary of the date a board elected by the unit owners takes office; and(3) the association gives at least 90 days' notice of its intent to terminate the contract or lease to the othe
PROPERTY CODETITLE 7. CONDOMINIUMSCHAPTER 82. UNIFORM CONDOMINIUM ACTSUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONSSec. 82.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Condominium Act.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.002. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter applies to all commercial, industrial, residential, and other types of condominiums in this state for which the declaration is recorded on or after January 1, 1994. A condominium for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, may be governed exclusively under this chapter if either:(1) the owners of units vote to amend the declaration, in accordance with the amendment process authorized by the declaration, to have this chapter apply and that amendment is filed for record in the condominium records in each county in which the condominium is located; or(2) a declaration or amendment of declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, and the declaration or amendment states that this chapter will apply in its entirety on January 1, 1994.(b) An amendment to a declaration under Subsection (a)(1) that implements a vote of the unit owners to be governed by this chapter may not affect the rights of a declarant or impose duties on a declarant that are greater than or in addition to the declarant's duties immediately before the date of the vote or amendment.(c) This section and the following sections apply to a condominium in this state for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994: Sections 82.005, 82.006, 82.007, 82.053, 82.054, 82.102(a)(1)-(7) and (12)-(22), 82.108, 82.111, 82.113, 82.114, 82.116, 82.118, 82.157, and 82.161. The definitions prescribed by Section 82.003 apply to a condominium in this state for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, to the extent the definitions do not conflict with the declaration. The sections listed in this subsection apply only with respect to events and circumstances occurring on or after January 1, 1994, and do not invalidate existing provisions of the declaration, bylaws, or plats or plans of a condominium for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994.(d) Chapter 81 does not apply to a condominium for which the declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 1994, and does not invalidate any amendment to the declaration, bylaws, or plats and plans of any condominium for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994, if the amendment would be permitted by this chapter. The amendment must be adopted in conformity with the procedures and requirements specified by those instruments and by Chapter 81. If the amendment grants to a person a right, power, or privilege permitted by this chapter, all correlative obligations, liabilities, and restrictions prescribed by this chapter also apply to that person.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 956, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998.Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1323, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.
Sec. 82.003. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this chapter:(1) "Affiliate of a declarant" means any person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a declarant. A person "controls" a declarant if the person is a general partner, officer, director, or employer of the declarant; directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote or holds proxies representing more than 20 percent of the voting interests in the declarant; determines in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the declarant; or has contributed more than 20 percent of the capital of the declarant. A person "is controlled by" a declarant if the declarant is a general partner, officer, director, or employer of the person; directly or indirectly or acting in concert with one or more other persons, or through one or more subsidiaries, owns, controls, holds with power to vote, or holds proxies representing more than 20 percent of the voting interests in the person; determines in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the person; or has contributed more than 20 percent of the capital of the person.(2) "Allocated interests" means the undivided interest in the common elements, the common expense liability, and votes in the association allocated to each unit.(3) "Association" means the unit owners' association organized under Section 82.101.(4) "Board" means the board of directors or the body, regardless of name, designated to act on behalf of the association.(5) "Common elements" means all portions of a condominium other than the units and includes both general and limited common elements.(6) "Common expense liability" means the liability for common expenses allocated to each unit.(7) "Common expenses" means expenditures made by or financial liabilities of the association, together with any allocations to reserves.(8) "Condominium" means a form of real property with portions of the real property designated for separate ownership or occupancy, and the remainder of the real property designated for common ownership or occupancy solely by the owners of those portions. Real property is a condominium only if one or more of the common elements are directly owned in undivided interests by the unit owners. Real property is not a condominium if all of the common elements are owned by a legal entity separate from the unit owners, such as a corporation, even if the separate legal entity is owned by the unit owners.(9) "Conversion building" means a building that at any time before creation of the condominium was occupied wholly or partially by persons other than purchasers and persons who occupy with the consent of purchasers.(10) "Declarant" means a person, or group of persons acting in concert, who:(A) as part of a common promotional plan, offers to dispose of the person's interest in a unit not previously disposed of; or(B) reserves or succeeds to any special declarant right.(11) "Declaration" means a recorded instrument, however denominated, that creates a condominium, and any recorded amendment to that instrument.(12) "Development rights" means a right or combination of rights reserved by a declarant in the declaration to:(A) add real property to a condominium;(B) create units, common elements, or limited common elements within a condominium;(C) subdivide units or convert units into common elements; or(D) withdraw real property from a condominium.(13) "Disposition" means a voluntary transfer to a purchaser of any legal or equitable interest in a unit but does not include the transfer or release of a security interest.(14) "General common elements" means common elements that are not limited common elements.(15) "Identifying number" means a symbol or address that identifies only one unit in a condominium.(16) "Leasehold condominium" means a condominium in which all or a portion of the real property is subject to a lease the expiration or termination of which will terminate the condominium or reduce its size.(17) "Limited common element" means a portion of the common elements allocated by the declaration or by operation of Section 82.052 for the exclusive use of one or more but less than all of the units.(18) "Plan" means a dimensional drawing that is recordable in the real property records or the condominium plat records and that horizontally and vertically identifies or describes units and common elements that are contained in buildings.(19) "Plat" means a survey recordable in the real property records or the condominium plat records and containing the information required by Section 82.059. As used in this chapter, "plat" does not have the same meaning as "plat" in Chapter 212 or 232, Local Government Code, or other statutes dealing with municipal or county regulation of property development.(20) "Purchaser" means a person, other than a declarant, who by means of a voluntary transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a unit other than a leasehold interest or as security for an obligation.(21) "Residential purposes" means recreational or dwelling purposes, or both.(22) "Special declarant rights" means rights reserved for the benefit of a declarant to:(A) complete improvements indicated on plats and plans filed with the declaration;(B) exercise any development right;(C) make the condominium part of a larger condominium or a planned community;(D) maintain sales, management, and leasing offices, signs advertising the condominium, and models;(E) use easements through the common elements for the purpose of making improvements within the condominium or within real property that may be added to the condominium; or(F) appoint or remove any officer or board member of the association during any period of declarant control.(23) "Unit" means a physical portion of the condominium designated for separate ownership or occupancy, the boundaries of which are described by the declaration.(24) "Unit owner" means a declarant or other person who owns a unit, or a lessee of a unit in a leasehold condominium whose lease expires simultaneously with any lease the expiration or termination of which will remove the unit from the condominium, but does not include a person having an interest in a unit solely as security for an obligation.(b) Unless otherwise provided by the declaration or bylaws, a term defined by Subsection (a) has the same meaning if used in a declaration or bylaws.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.004. VARIATION BY AGREEMENT. Except as expressly provided by this chapter, provisions of this chapter may not be varied by agreement, and rights conferred by this chapter may not be waived. A person may not act under a power of attorney or use any other device to evade the limitations or prohibitions of this chapter or the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.005. SEPARATE TITLES AND TAXATION. (a) If there is a unit owner other than a declarant, each unit that has been created, together with its interest in the common elements, constitutes for all purposes a separate parcel of real property.(b) If there is a unit owner other than a declarant, each unit must be separately taxed and assessed, and no separate tax or assessment may be rendered against common elements for which a declarant has not reserved development rights. Any portion of the common elements for which a declarant has reserved any development right must be separately taxed and assessed against the declarant, and the declarant alone is liable for payment of those taxes.(c) If there is no unit owner other than a declarant, the real property constituting the condominium may be taxed and assessed in any manner provided by law.(d) The laws relating to homestead exemptions from property taxes apply to condominium units, which are entitled to homestead exemptions in those cases in which the owner of a single family dwelling would qualify.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.006. APPLICABILITY OF LOCAL ORDINANCES, REGULATIONS, AND BUILDING CODES. A zoning, subdivision, building code, or other real property use law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit the condominium form of ownership or impose any requirement on a condominium that it would not impose on a physically identical development under a different form of ownership. Otherwise, this chapter does not invalidate or modify any provision of any zoning, subdivision, building code, or other real property use law, ordinance, or regulation.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.007. CONDEMNATION. (a) If a unit is acquired by condemnation, or if part of a unit is acquired by condemnation leaving the unit owner with a remnant that may not practically or lawfully be used for any purpose permitted by the declaration, the condemnation award must compensate the unit owner for the unit and its common element interest, whether or not any common element interest is acquired. On acquisition, unless the decree provides otherwise, the condemned unit's entire allocated interests are automatically reallocated to the remaining units in proportion to the respective allocated interests of those units before the taking, and the association shall promptly prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration reflecting the reallocations. A remnant of a unit remaining after part of a unit is taken under this subsection is a common element.(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a), if part of a unit is acquired by condemnation, the award must compensate the unit owner for the reduction in value of the unit and its common element interest. On acquisition, the condemned unit's allocated interests are reduced in proportion to the reduction in the size of the unit, or on any other basis specified by the declaration, and the portion of the allocated interests divested from the partially acquired unit are automatically reallocated to that unit and the remaining units in proportion to the respective allocated interests of those units before the taking, with the partially acquired unit participating in the reallocation on the basis of its reduced allocated interests.(c) If part of the common elements is acquired by condemnation, the award must be paid to the association, as trustee for the unit owners, and to persons holding liens on the condemned property, as their interests may appear. The association shall divide any portion of the award not used for any restoration or repair of the remaining common elements among the unit owners in proportion to their respective common element interests before the taking, but the portion of the award attributable to the acquisition of a limited common element must be equally divided among the owners of the units to which that limited common element was allocated at the time of acquisition, or in any manner the declaration provides.(d) The court decree shall be recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.008. VENUE. Venue for an action to enforce a right or obligation arising under the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the association is in each county in which any part of the condominium is located.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
SUBCHAPTER B. CREATION, ALTERATION, AND TERMINATION OF CONDOMINIUMSSec. 82.051. CREATION OF CONDOMINIUM. (a) A condominium may be created under this chapter only by recording a declaration executed in the same manner as a deed by all persons who have an interest in the real property that will be conveyed to unit owners and by every lessor of a lease the expiration or termination of which will terminate the condominium or reduce its size. The declaration shall be recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.(b) A declarant may not convey an interest in a unit until each holder of a mortgage on the unit immediately before conveyance has executed a consent to declaration, and the consent has been recorded, or is recorded concurrently with the conveyance, as part of the declaration or an amendment to the declaration.(c) If a recorded declaration is not properly executed, that defect may be cured by a subsequent execution conforming to Subsection (a). After an execution defect is cured by authority of this subsection, the declaration is retroactively effective on the date it was first recorded.(d) A county clerk shall, without prior approval from any other authority, record declarations and amendments to declarations in the real property records and record condominium plats or plans in the real property records or in books maintained for that purpose. If a county clerk maintains a book for the condominium plat records, the book shall be the same size and type as the book for recording subdivision plats.(e) This chapter does not affect or diminish the rights of municipalities and counties to approve plats of subdivisions and enforce building codes as may be authorized or required by law.(f) A person may not file for record or have recorded in the county clerk's office a plat, replat, or amended plat or replat of a condominium unless the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat has attached to it an original tax certificate from each taxing unit with jurisdiction of the real property indicating that no delinquent ad valorem taxes are owed on the real property. If the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat is filed after September 1 of a year, the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat must also have attached to it a tax receipt issued by the collector for each taxing unit with jurisdiction of the property indicating that the taxes imposed by the taxing unit for the current year have been paid or, if the taxes for the current year have not been calculated, a statement from the collector for the taxing unit indicating that the taxes to be imposed by that taxing unit for the current year have not been calculated. If the tax certificate for a taxing unit does not cover the preceding year, the plat, replat, or amended plat or replat must also have attached to it a tax receipt issued by the collector for the taxing unit indicating that the taxes imposed by the taxing unit for the preceding year have been paid. This subsection does not apply if a taxing unit acquired the condominium for public use through eminent domain proceedings or voluntary sale.(g) This chapter does not permit development of a subdivision golf course, as defined by Section 212.0155(b), Local Government Code, without a plat if the plat is otherwise required by applicable law. A municipality may require as a condition to the development of a previously platted or unplatted subdivision golf course that the subdivision golf course be platted or replatted.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 289, Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2007.Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1092, Sec. 2, eff. June 15, 2007.Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 87, Sec. 27.001(77), eff. September 1, 2009.
Sec. 82.052. UNIT BOUNDARIES. Except as otherwise provided by the declaration or plat:(1) if walls, floors, or ceilings are designated as boundaries of a unit, then all lath, furring, wallboard, plasterboard, plaster, paneling, tiles, wallpaper, paint, finished flooring, and any other materials constituting part of the finished surfaces are a part of the unit, and all other portions of the walls, floors, or ceilings are a part of the common elements;(2) if any chute, flue, duct, wire, conduit, bearing wall, bearing column, or any other fixture is partially within and partially outside the designated boundaries of a unit, then the portion serving only that unit is a limited common element allocated solely to that unit, and the portion serving more than one unit or the common elements is a part of the general common elements;(3) subject to Subdivision (2), the spaces, interior partitions, and other fixtures and improvements within the boundaries of a unit are a part of the unit; and(4) shutters, awnings, window boxes, doorsteps, stoops, porches, balconies, patios, and exterior doors and windows or other fixtures designed to serve a single unit, but located outside the unit's boundaries, are limited common elements allocated exclusively to that unit.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.053. CONSTRUCTION AND VALIDITY OF DECLARATION AND BYLAWS. (a) The provisions of the declaration and bylaws are severable.(b) The rule against perpetuities may not be applied to defeat any provision of the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the association.(c) If there is a conflict between the provisions of the declaration and the bylaws, the declaration prevails except to the extent the declaration is inconsistent with this chapter.(d) Title to a unit and common elements is not made unmarketable or otherwise affected by a provision of unrecorded bylaws or by reason of an insubstantial failure of the declaration to comply with this chapter. Whether a substantial failure impairs marketability is not affected by this chapter.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.054. DESCRIPTION OF UNITS. A description of a unit is a sufficient legal description of the unit and all rights, obligations, and interests appurtenant to the unit that were created by the declaration or bylaws if the description contains:(1) the name of the condominium;(2) the recording data for the declaration, including any amendments, plats, and plans;(3) the county in which the condominium is located; and(4) the identifying number of the unit.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.055. CONTENTS OF DECLARATION FOR ALL CONDOMINIUMS. The declaration for a condominium must contain:(1) the name of the condominium, which must include the word "condominium" or be followed by the words "a condominium" or a phrase that includes the word "condominium," and the name of the association;(2) the name of each county in which any part of the condominium is located;(3) a legally sufficient description of the real property included in the condominium;(4) a description of the boundaries of each unit created by the declaration, including the unit's identifying number;(5) a statement of the maximum number of units that the declarant reserves the right to create;(6) a description of the limited common elements other than those listed in Sections 82.052(2) and (4);(7) a description of any real property, except real property subject to development rights, that may be allocated subsequently as limited common elements, together with a statement that the property may be so allocated;(8) an allocation to each unit of its allocated interests;(9) any restrictions on use, occupancy, or alienation of the units;(10) a description of and the recording data for recorded easements and licenses appurtenant to or included in the condominium or to which any portion of the condominium is or may become subject by reservation in the declaration;(11) the method of amending the declaration;(12) a plat or plan or the recording data of a plat or plan that has been recorded in the real property or condominium plat records;(13) a statement of the association's obligation under Section 82.111(i) to rebuild or repair any part of the condominium after a casualty or any other disposition of the proceeds of a casualty insurance policy;(14) a description of any development rights and other special declarant rights reserved by the declarant, together with a legally sufficient description of the real property to which each of those rights applies, and a time limit within which each of those rights must be exercised;(15) if any development right may be exercised with respect to different parcels of real property at different times, a statement to that effect, together with:(A) either a statement fixing the boundaries of those portions and regulating the order in which those portions may be subjected to the exercise of each development right, or a statement that no assurances are made in those regards; and(B) a statement as to whether, if any development right is exercised in any portion of the real property subject to that development right, that development right must be exercised in all or in any other portion of the remainder of that real property;(16) all matters required by this chapter to be stated in the declaration; and(17) any other matters the declarant considers appropriate.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.056. LEASEHOLD CONDOMINIUMS. (a) Any lease the expiration or termination of which may terminate the condominium or reduce its size must be recorded. The lessor shall sign the declaration, and the declaration must state:(1) the recording data for the lease;(2) the date on which the lease is scheduled to expire;(3) a legally sufficient description of the real property subject to the lease;(4) any right of the unit owners to redeem the reversion and the manner in which the unit owners may exercise that right, or a statement that the unit owners do not have that right;(5) any right of the unit owners to remove improvements within a reasonable time after the expiration or termination of the lease, or a statement that the unit owners do not have that right; and(6) any right of the unit owners to renew the lease and the conditions of renewal, or a statement that the unit owners do not have that right.(b) After the declaration for a leasehold condominium is recorded, neither the lessor nor the lessor's successor in interest may terminate the leasehold interest of a unit owner who makes timely payment of the unit owner's share of the rent and otherwise complies with all covenants that, if violated, would entitle the lessor to terminate the lease. A unit owner's leasehold interest is not affected by failure of any other person to pay rent or fulfill any other covenant.(c) Acquisition of the leasehold interest of a unit owner by the owner of the reversion or remainder does not merge the leasehold and fee simple interests unless the leasehold interests of all unit owners subject to that reversion or remainder are acquired.(d) If the expiration or termination of a lease decreases the number of units in a condominium, the allocated interests shall be reallocated as though those units had been taken by condemnation unless otherwise provided by the declaration. Reallocation shall be confirmed by an amendment to the declaration prepared, executed, and recorded by the association.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.057. ALLOCATION OF COMMON ELEMENT INTERESTS, VOTES, AND COMMON EXPENSE LIABILITIES. (a) The declaration shall allocate a fraction or percentage of undivided interests in the common elements and in the common expenses of the association, and a portion of the votes in the association, to each unit and state the formulas used to establish those allocations. These allocations may not discriminate in favor of units owned by a declarant.(b) If units may be added to or withdrawn from the condominium, the declaration must state the formulas to be used to reallocate the allocated interests among all units included in the condominium after the addition or withdrawal.(c) The declaration may provide:(1) that different allocations of votes must be made to the units on particular matters specified in the declaration; and(2) for class voting on specified issues affecting the class if necessary to protect valid interests of the class.(d) A declarant may not use cumulative or class voting to evade any limitation imposed on declarants by this chapter. Units may not constitute a class because the units are owned by a declarant.(e) Except for minor variations due to rounding, the sums of the undivided interests in the common elements and of the common expense liabilities allocated at any time to all the units shall each equal one if stated as fractions or 100 percent if stated as percentages. If a discrepancy exists between an allocated interest and the result derived from application of the pertinent formula, the allocated interest prevails.(f) The common elements are not subject to partition. Any purported conveyance, judicial sale, or other voluntary or involuntary transfer of an undivided interest in the common elements without the unit to which that interest is allocated is void.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.058. LIMITED COMMON ELEMENTS. (a) The limited common elements and the provisions of the declaration relating to the right to use the limited common elements may not be altered without the consent of each affected unit owner and the owner's first lien mortgagee.(b) Except as otherwise provided by the declaration, a limited common element may be reallocated by an amendment to the declaration, executed by the unit owners between or among whose units the reallocation is made. The persons executing the amendment shall deliver it to the association, which shall record it at the expense of the reallocating unit owners.(c) A common element not previously allocated as a limited common element may not be allocated except pursuant to the declaration made in accordance with Section 82.055(7). The allocation shall be made by amendment to the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.059. PLATS AND PLANS. (a) Plats and plans are a part of the declaration and may be recorded as a part of the declaration or separately. Each plat or plan must be legible and contain a certification that the plat or plan contains all information required by this section.(b) Each plat must show:(1) the name and a survey or general schematic map of the entire condominium;(2) the location and dimensions of all real property not subject to development rights, or subject only to the development right to withdraw, and the location and dimensions of all existing improvements within that real property;(3) a legally sufficient description of any real property subject to development rights, labeled to identify the rights applicable to each parcel;(4) the extent of any encroachments by or on any portion of the condominium;(5) to the extent feasible, a legally sufficient description of all easements serving or burdening any portion of the condominium, and the location of any underground utility line that is actually known by the declarant at the time of filing the declaration to have been constructed outside a recorded easement;(6) the location and dimensions of any vertical unit boundaries not shown or projected on recorded plans and the unit's identifying number;(7) the location, with reference to established data, of any horizontal unit boundaries not shown or projected on recorded plans and the unit's identifying number;(8) a legally sufficient description of any real property in which the unit owners will own only an estate for years, labeled as "leasehold real property";(9) the distance between noncontiguous parcels of real property constituting the condominium;(10) the location and dimensions of limited common elements, other than those described by Sections 82.052(2) and (4);(11) in the case of real property not subject to development rights, all other matters required by law on land surveys; and(12) the distance and bearings locating each building from all other buildings and from at least one boundary line of the real property constituting the condominium.(c) A plat may also show the intended location and dimensions of a contemplated improvement to be constructed anywhere within the condominium, which must be labeled either "MUST BE BUILT" or "NEED NOT BE BUILT."(d) To the extent not shown on the plats, plans must show:(1) the location and dimensions of the vertical boundaries of each unit, and the unit's identifying number;(2) the horizontal unit boundaries, with reference to established data, and the unit's identifying number; and(3) any units, appropriately identified, in which the declarant has reserved the right to create additional units or common elements.(e) Unless the declaration provides otherwise, the horizontal boundaries of part of a unit located outside a building have the same elevation as the horizontal boundaries of the inside part and need not be depicted on the plats and plans. Interior walls and partitions within a unit need not be included in the plats or plans.(f) On exercising any development right, the declarant shall record either new plats and plans necessary to conform to the requirements of this section or new certifications of plats and plans previously recorded if those plats and plans otherwise conform to the requirements of this section.(g) An independent licensed surveyor or engineer shall certify at least one plat, whether contained in one or more pages, showing all perimeter land boundaries of the condominium, except for additional real property, and showing the locations on the ground of all buildings labeled "MUST BE BUILT" in relation to land boundaries. Certification of any other plat or plan required by this chapter shall be made by an independent licensed architect, surveyor, or engineer.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.060. EXERCISE OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHT. (a) To exercise a development right, the declarant must prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration and record new plats and plans for that real property. The declarant is the unit owner of any units created. The amendment to the declaration must assign an identifying number to each new unit created and, except for subdivision or conversion of units described by Subsection (b), reallocate the allocated interest among all units. The amendment must describe any limited common elements created, designating the unit to which each is allocated.(b) Development rights may be reserved within any real property added to the condominium if the amendment adding the real property includes the information required by Section 82.055 or 82.056, as appropriate, and the plats and plans include the information required by Section 82.059(b). This provision does not extend the time limit on the exercise of development rights imposed by the declaration. Real property to be added is not part of a condominium or subject to a declaration until the declaration is amended to make the additional real property part of the condominium.(c) Whenever a declarant exercises a development right to subdivide or convert a unit previously created into additional units, common elements, or both:(1) if the declarant converts the unit entirely to common elements, the amendment to the declaration must reallocate all the allocated interests of the unit among the other units as if the unit had been taken by condemnation; and(2) if the declarant subdivides the unit into two or more units, whether or not any part of the unit is converted into common elements, the amendment to the declaration must reallocate all the allocated interests of the unit among the units created by the subdivision in any reasonable manner prescribed by the declarant.(d) If the declaration provides that all or a portion of the real property is subject to the development right of withdrawal:(1) if all the real property is subject to withdrawal, and the declaration does not describe separate portions of real property subject to that right, none of the real property may be withdrawn after a unit has been conveyed to a purchaser; and(2) if a portion or portions are subject to withdrawal, no portion may be withdrawn after a unit in that portion has been conveyed to a purchaser.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.061. ALTERATIONS OF UNITS. (a) Subject to the provisions of the declaration and other provisions of law, a unit owner:(1) may make improvements or alterations to the owner's unit that do not impair the structural integrity or mechanical systems or lessen the support of any portion of the condominium;(2) may not change the appearance of the common elements or the exterior appearance of a unit or any other portion of the condominium without prior written permission of the association; and(3) after acquiring an adjoining unit or an adjoining part of an adjoining unit, with the prior written approval of the association, may remove, alter, and create apertures in an intervening partition, even if the partition in whole or in part is a common element, if those acts do not impair the structural integrity or mechanical systems or lessen the support of any portion of the condominium.(b) Removal of partitions or creation of apertures under Subsection (a)(3) is not an alteration of boundaries.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.062. RELOCATION OF BOUNDARIES BETWEEN ADJOINING UNITS. Subject to the declaration, the boundaries between adjoining units may be relocated by an amendment to the declaration on written application to the association by the owners of those units. If the owners of the adjoining units have specified a reallocation between their units of their allocated interests, the application must state the proposed reallocations. Unless the board determines not later than the 30th day after the date the application is received that the reallocation is unreasonable, the association shall prepare an amendment that identifies the units involved, states the reallocation, is executed by the applying unit owners, and contains words of conveyance between them. At the expense of the applying unit owners, the association shall prepare and record the amendment and plats or plans necessary to show the altered boundaries between adjoining units, and the units' dimensions and identifying numbers.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.063. SUBDIVISION OF UNITS. (a) If the declaration expressly permits, a unit may be subdivided into two or more units. Subject to the declaration, on written application of a unit owner to subdivide a unit and after payment by the unit owner of the cost of preparing and recording amendments and plats, the association shall prepare, execute, and record an amendment to the declaration, including the plats and plans, subdividing the unit.(b) The amendment to the declaration must be executed by the owner of the unit to be subdivided, assign an identifying number to each unit created, and reallocate the allocated interests formerly allocated to the subdivided unit to the new units in any reasonable manner prescribed by the owner of the subdivided unit.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.064. EASEMENT FOR ENCROACHMENTS. To the extent that a unit or common element encroaches on another unit or common element, a valid easement for the encroachment exists. The easement does not relieve a unit owner of liability in case of the owner's wilful misconduct nor relieve a declarant or any other person of liability for failure to adhere to the plats and plans.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.065. USE FOR SALES PURPOSES. The declaration may permit a declarant to maintain sales, leasing, or management offices and models in units or on common elements in the condominium if the declaration specifies the rights of a declarant with regard to the number, size, location, and relocation of the offices and models. If the declaration fails to expressly permit an office or model, a declarant may maintain no more than one unit as a model and no more than one unit as an office for sales, leasing, and management purposes at any one time. A sales, leasing, or management office or model not designated as a unit by the declaration is a common element and is subject to the exclusive use of a declarant until the declarant ceases to be a unit owner or until the declarant no longer uses the office or model for such purposes, whichever occurs earlier. A declarant may modify the exterior of a sales, leasing, or management office to conform to the aesthetic exterior plan of the condominium. A declarant who ceases to be a unit owner ceases to have any rights with regard to an office or model unless it is removed within a reasonable time from the condominium in accordance with a right to remove reserved in the declaration. Subject to limitations in the declaration, a declarant may maintain signs on the common elements that advertise the condominium for sale or lease. This section is subject to local ordinances and other state law.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.066. EASEMENT RIGHTS. Subject to the declaration, a declarant has an easement through the common elements as may be reasonably necessary for discharging the declarant's obligations or exercising special declarant rights whether arising under this chapter or reserved by the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.067. AMENDMENT OF DECLARATION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a declaration, including the plats and plans, may be amended only by vote or agreement of unit owners to which at least 67 percent of the votes in the association are allocated, or any larger majority the declaration specifies. A declaration may specify a smaller number only if all of the units are restricted exclusively to nonresidential use. An amendment to a declaration may be adopted:(1) by written ballot that states the exact wording or substance of the amendment and that specifies the date by which a ballot must be received to be counted;(2) at a meeting of the members of the association after written notice of the meeting has been delivered to an owner of each unit stating that a purpose of the meeting is to consider an amendment to the declaration; or(3) by any method permitted by the declaration.(b) The amendment procedures of this section do not apply to amendments that may be executed by:(1) a declarant under Section 82.051(c), 82.059(f), or 82.060 or Subsection (f);(2) the association under Section 82.007, 82.056(d), 82.058(c), 82.062, or 82.063 or Subsection (f); or(3) certain unit owners under Section 82.058(b), 82.062, 82.063(b), or 82.068(b).(c) An action to challenge the validity of an amendment adopted by the association under this section must be brought before the first anniversary of the date the amendment is recorded.(d) To be effective, an amendment to the declaration must be recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.(e) Except as permitted or required by this chapter, an amendment may not create or increase special declarant rights, increase the number of units, change the boundaries of a unit, alter or destroy a unit or limited common element, change a unit's allocated interest, or change the use restrictions on a unit unless the amendment is approved by 100 percent of the votes in the association. Except as agreed to by the declarant, an amendment may not increase or otherwise modify the obligations imposed by a declaration on a declarant, or reduce or otherwise modify the rights granted by a declaration to a declarant, including special declarant rights.(f) If permitted by the declaration, the board or the declarant, if the declarant owns a unit that has never been occupied, may without a vote of the unit owners or approval of the association amend the declaration in any manner necessary to meet the requirements of the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration, or the Veterans Administration.(g) Amendments to the declaration required by this chapter to be recorded by the association must be prepared, executed, recorded, and certified by an officer of the association designated for that purpose or, in the absence of designation, by the president of the association.(h) An association may amend the declaration to authorize the board:(1) to bring an action to evict a tenant of a unit owner for the tenant's violation of the declaration, bylaws, or rules of the association;(2) to bring an action to evict a tenant of a unit owner who fails to pay the association for the cost of repairs to common elements damaged substantially by the owner's tenant; or(3) to collect rents from a tenant of a unit owner who is at least 60 days' delinquent in the payment of any amount due to the association.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.0675. RESTRICTION RELATING TO CLUB MEMBERSHIP. (a) A provision of a declaration or recorded contract that requires owners of units in a condominium to maintain a membership in a specified private club is not valid after the 10th anniversary of the date the provision is recorded or renewed unless renewed after the ninth anniversary of that date in the manner provided by the declaration or recorded contract for amending the declaration or recorded contract and the text of the renewed provision is filed in the real property records of each county in which the condominium is located.(b) A provision described by this section may not be enacted or renewed as a bylaw by the unit owners' association.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1101, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Sec. 82.068. TERMINATION OF CONDOMINIUM. (a) Unless the declaration provides otherwise and except for a taking of all the units by condemnation, a condominium may be terminated only by the agreement of 100 percent of the votes in the association and each holder of a deed of trust or vendor's lien on a unit. The declaration may not allow a termination by less than 80 percent of the votes in the association if any unit is restricted exclusively to residential uses.(b) An agreement of unit owners to terminate a condominium must be evidenced by the execution or ratification of a termination agreement by the requisite number of unit owners. If, pursuant to a termination agreement, the real property constituting the condominium is to be sold following termination, the termination agreement must set forth the terms of the sale. To be effective, a termination agreement and all ratifications of the agreement must be recorded in each county in which a portion of the condominium is located.(c) The association, on behalf of the unit owners, may contract for the sale of real property in the condominium, but the contract is not binding on the unit owners until it is approved under Subsections (a) and (b). If the real property constituting the condominium is to be sold following termination, on termination title to that real property vests in the association as trustee for the holders of all interests in the units, and the association has all powers necessary and appropriate to effect the sale, including the power to convey the interests of nonconsenting owners. Until the sale has been concluded and the proceeds distributed, the association shall continue to exist and retains the powers it had before termination. Proceeds of the sale must be distributed to unit owners and lienholders as their interests may appear, in proportion to the respective interests of unit owners as provided by Subsection (f). Unless the termination agreement specifies differently, as long as the association holds title to the real property, each unit owner and the owner's successors in interest have an exclusive right to occupy the portion of the real property that formerly constituted the owner's unit. During that period of occupancy a unit owner and the owner's successors in interest remain liable for all assessments and other obligations imposed on unit owners by this chapter or the declaration.(d) If the real property constituting the condominium is not to be sold following termination, on termination title to the real property vests in the unit owners as tenants in common in proportion to their respective interests, and liens on the units shift accordingly. While the tenancy in common exists, a unit owner and the owner's successors in interest have an exclusive right to occupy the portion of the real property that formerly constituted the owner's unit.(e) Following termination of the condominium, and after payment of or provision for the claims of the association's creditors, the assets of the association shall be distributed to unit owners in proportion to their respective interests. The proceeds of sale described by Subsection (c) and held by the association as trustee are not assets of the association.(f) The interest of a unit owner referred to in Subsections (c), (d), and (e) is, except as provided by Subsection (g), the fair market value of the owner's unit, limited common elements, and common element interest immediately before the termination, as determined by one or more independent appraisers selected by the association. The decision of the independent appraisers shall be distributed to the unit owners and becomes final unless disapproved by unit owners of units to which 25 percent of the votes in the association are allocated not later than the 30th day after the date of distribution. The proportion of a unit owner's interest to that of all unit owners is determined by dividing the fair market value of the unit owner's unit and common element interest by the total fair market values of all the units and common elements.(g) If a unit or a limited common element is destroyed to the extent that an appraisal of the fair market value before the destruction cannot be made, the interest of a unit owner is the owner's common element interest immediately before the termination.(h) Foreclosure or enforcement of a lien or encumbrance against the entire condominium does not of itself terminate the condominium, and foreclosure or enforcement of a lien or encumbrance against a portion of the condominium does not withdraw that portion from the condominium, unless the portion is withdrawable real property or unless the mortgage being foreclosed was recorded before the date the declaration was recorded and the mortgagee did not consent in writing to the declaration.(i) By agreement of the same percentage of unit owners that is required to terminate the condominium, the unit owners may rescind a termination agreement and reinstate the declaration in effect immediately before the election to terminate. To be effective, the rescission agreement must be in writing, executed by the unit owners who desire to rescind, and recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.069. RIGHTS OF SECURED LENDERS. The declaration may require that all or a specified number or percentage of the mortgagees or beneficiaries of deeds of trust encumbering the units approve specified actions of the unit owners or the association as a condition to the effectiveness of those actions, but a requirement for approval may not operate to:(1) deny or delegate control over the general administrative affairs of the association by the unit owners or the board; or(2) prevent the association or the board from:(A) commencing, intervening in, or settling any litigation or proceeding; or(B) receiving and distributing insurance proceeds under Section 82.111.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.070. MEETING AT WHICH AMENDMENTS MAY BE ADOPTED. (a) An association or a board may not meet to adopt an amendment or other change to the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, or rules of the association unless the association or board has given to each unit owner a document showing the specific amendment or other change that would be made to the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, or rules.(b) The information described by Subsection (a) must be given to each unit owner after the 20th day but before the 10th day preceding the date of the meeting. The information is considered to have been given to a unit owner on the date the information is personally delivered to the unit owner, as shown by a receipt signed by the unit owner, or on the date shown by the postmark on the information after it is deposited in the United States mail with a proper address and postage paid.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 956, Sec. 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1998.
SUBCHAPTER C. CONDOMINIUM MANAGEMENTSec. 82.101. ORGANIZATION OF UNIT OWNERS' ASSOCIATION. A unit owners' association must be organized as a profit or nonprofit corporation. The declarant may not convey a unit until the secretary of state has issued a certificate of incorporation under Article 3.03, Texas Business Corporation Act, or Article 3.03, Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-3.03, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). The membership of the association at all times consists exclusively of all the unit owners or, following termination of the condominium, all former unit owners entitled to distribution of proceeds, or the owners' heirs, successors, or assigns.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.102. POWERS OF UNIT OWNERS' ASSOCIATION. (a) Unless otherwise provided by the declaration, the association, acting through its board, may:(1) adopt and amend bylaws;(2) adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves, and collect assessments for common expenses from unit owners;(3) hire and terminate managing agents and other employees, agents, and independent contractors;(4) institute, defend, intervene in, settle, or compromise litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or two or more unit owners on matters affecting the condominium;(5) make contracts and incur liabilities relating to the operation of the condominium;(6) regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement, modification, and appearance of the condominium;(7) adopt and amend rules regulating the use, occupancy, leasing or sale, maintenance, repair, modification, and appearance of units and common elements, to the extent the regulated actions affect common elements or other units;(8) cause additional improvements to be made as a part of the common elements;(9) acquire, hold, encumber, and convey in its own name any right, title, or interest to real or personal property, except common elements of the condominium;(10) grant easements, leases, licenses, and concessions through or over the common elements;(11) impose and receive payments, fees, or charges for the use, rental, or operation of the common elements and for services provided to unit owners;(12) impose interest and late charges for late payments of assessments, returned check charges, and, if notice and an opportunity to be heard are given, reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules of the association;(13) adopt and amend rules regulating the collection of delinquent assessments and the application of payments;(14) adopt and amend rules regulating the termination of utility service to a unit, the owner of which is delinquent in the payment of an assessment that is used, in whole or in part, to pay the cost of that utility;(15) impose reasonable charges for preparing, recording, or copying declaration amendments, resale certificates, or statements of unpaid assessments;(16) enter a unit for bona fide emergency purposes when conditions present an imminent risk of harm or damage to the common elements, another unit, or the occupants;(17) assign its right to future income, including the right to receive common expense assessments, but only to the extent the declaration so provides;(18) suspend the voting privileges of or the use of certain general common elements by an owner delinquent for more than 30 days in the payment of assessments;(19) purchase insurance and fidelity bonds it considers appropriate or necessary;(20) exercise any other powers conferred by the declaration or bylaws;(21) exercise any other powers that may be exercised in this state by a corporation of the same type as the association; and(22) exercise any other powers necessary and proper for the government and operation of the association.(b) The declaration may not impose limitations on the power of the association to deal with the declarant that are more restrictive than the limitations imposed on the power of the association to deal with other persons.(c) To be enforceable, a bylaw or rule of the association must not be arbitrary or capricious.(d) Before an association may charge the unit owner for property damage for which the unit owner is liable or levy a fine for violation of the declaration, bylaws, or rules, the association shall give to the unit owner a written notice that:(1) describes the violation or property damage and states the amount of the proposed fine or damage charge;(2) states that not later than the 30th day after the date of the notice, the unit owner may request a hearing before the board to contest the fine or damage charge; and(3) allows the unit owner a reasonable time, by a specified date, to cure the violation and avoid the fine unless the unit owner was given notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure a similar violation within the preceding 12 months.(e) The association may give a copy of the notice required by Subsection (d) to an occupant of the unit. The association must give notice of a levied fine or damage charge to the unit owner not later than the 30th day after the date of levy.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.103. BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS. (a) Except as provided by the declaration, bylaws, or this chapter, the board shall act in all instances on behalf of the association if in the good-faith judgment of the board the action is reasonable. Each officer or member of the board is liable as a fiduciary of the unit owners for the officer's or member's acts or omissions. All acts of the association must be by and through the board unless otherwise provided by the declaration or bylaws or by law.(b) The board may not act on behalf of the association to amend the declaration except as permitted by this chapter, to terminate the condominium, to elect members of the board, or to determine the qualifications, powers and duties, or terms of office of board members. The board may fill a vacancy in its membership for the unexpired portion of a term.(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the declaration may provide for a period of declarant control of the association during which a declarant, or persons designated by the declarant, may appoint and remove the officers and members of the board. Regardless of the period provided by the declaration, a period of declarant control terminates not later than the 120th day after conveyance of 75 percent of the units that may be created to unit owners other than a declarant. Transfer of special declarant rights does not terminate the period of declarant control. A declarant may voluntarily surrender the right to appoint and remove officers and members of the board before termination of the period, but in that event the declarant may require, for the duration of the period that the declarant would otherwise control, that specified actions of the association or board be approved by the declarant before they become effective.(d) Not later than the 120th day after conveyance of 50 percent of the units that may be created to unit owners other than a declarant, not less than one-third of the members of the board must be elected by unit owners other than the declarant.(e) Not later than the termination of a period of declarant control, the unit owners shall elect a board of at least three members who need not be unit owners. The board shall elect the officers before the 31st day after the date declarant control terminates. The persons elected shall take office on election.(f) An officer or director of the association is not liable to the association or any unit owner for monetary damages for an act or omission occurring in the person's capacity as an officer or director unless:(1) the officer or director breached a fiduciary duty to the association or a unit owner;(2) the officer or director received an improper benefit; or(3) the act or omission was in bad faith, involved intentional misconduct, or was one for which liability is expressly provided by statute.(g) Subsection (f) does not diminish a limitation of liability provided an officer or director of the association by the declaration, bylaws, articles of incorporation of the association, or other laws.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.104. TRANSFER OF SPECIAL DECLARANT RIGHTS. (a) Special declarant rights created or reserved under this chapter may not be transferred except by an instrument evidencing the transfer recorded in each county in which any portion of the condominium is located. The instrument is not effective unless executed by the transferee.(b) On transfer of any special declarant right, a transferor is not relieved of an obligation or liability arising before the transfer. A transferor is not liable for an act or omission or a breach of an obligation arising from the exercise of a special declarant right by a successor declarant who is not an affiliate of the transferor.(c) Unless otherwise provided by a mortgage instrument or deed of trust, in case of foreclosure of a mortgage, tax sale, judicial sale, sale by a trustee under a deed of trust, or sale under Bankruptcy Code or receivership proceedings, of a unit owned by a declarant or of real property in a condominium subject to development rights, a person acquiring title to all the real property being foreclosed or sold may request to succeed to all special declarant rights or only to rights reserved by the declaration to maintain models, offices, and signs. The judgment or instrument conveying title may provide for transfer of only the special declarant rights requested.(d) On foreclosure, tax sale, judicial sale, sale by a trustee under a deed of trust, or sale under Bankruptcy Code or receivership proceedings of all units and other real property in a condominium owned by a declarant:(1) the declarant ceases to have any special declarant rights; and(2) the period of declarant control terminates unless the judgment or instrument conveying title provides for transfer of all special declarant rights held by that declarant to a successor declarant.(e) The liabilities and obligations of a person who succeeds to special declarant rights are as follows:(1) a successor to a special declarant right who is an affiliate of a declarant is subject to all obligations and liabilities imposed on the transferor by this chapter or by the declaration;(2) a successor to a special declarant right, other than a successor described by Subdivision (3) or (4), who is not an affiliate of a declarant, is subject to all obligations and liabilities imposed on the transferor by this chapter or by the declaration;(3) a successor to only a right reserved by the declaration to maintain models, offices, and signs, who is not an affiliate of a declarant, may not exercise any other special declarant right, and is not subject to any liability or obligation as a declarant, except the obligation to provide a condominium information statement and any liability arising as a result; and(4) a successor to all special declarant rights held by the successor's transferor who is not an affiliate of that declarant and who succeeded to those rights pursuant to a deed in lieu of foreclosure or a judgment or instrument conveying title to units under Subsection (c) may declare the person's intention in a recorded instrument to hold those rights solely for transfer to another person; thereafter, until all special declarant rights are transferred to a person acquiring title to any unit owned by the successor, or until an instrument permitting exercise of all those rights is recorded, the successor may not exercise any of those rights other than any right held by the successor's transferor to control the board as provided by Section 82.103(c) for the duration of the period of declarant control, and an attempt to exercise those rights is void; so long as a successor declarant may not exercise special declarant rights under this subdivision, the successor is not subject to any liability or obligation as a declarant other than liability for acts and omissions under Section 82.103(a).(f) This section does not subject a successor to a special declarant right to any claims against or other obligations of a transferor declarant, other than claims and obligations arising under this chapter or the declaration.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 244, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.
Sec. 82.105. TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS AND LEASES OF DECLARANT. An association in a residential or recreational condominium may terminate, without penalty, contracts or leases between the association and a declarant or an affiliate of a declarant if:(1) the contract is entered into by the association while controlled by the declarant;(2) the association terminates the contract or lease before the first anniversary of the date a board elected by the unit owners takes office; and(3) the association gives at least 90 days' notice of its intent to terminate the contract or lease to the othe
