Texas HOA Fines & Procedural Validity Calculator

What this calculator does

Texas HOA fine enforcement is governed by Tex. Prop. Code § 209.006 (notice and hearing requirements) and § 209.007 (enforcement and the right to cure). Before a Texas HOA may levy a monetary fine against a unit owner, it must satisfy a three-part procedural ladder. This calculator validates each step and computes whether the fine is within the declaration's per-day cap.

The calculator answers five practical questions:

1. Procedural validity. Were all three § 209.006 prerequisites met — 10-day written notice, hearing opportunity offered, and properly composed committee?
2. Lawful maximum fine. Days × per-day cap (declaration rate or $200/day default), compared to the amount actually charged.
3. Lien eligibility. Can the unpaid fine be added to the assessment lien and enforced through the Chapter 209 judicial-foreclosure track?
4. Suspension eligibility. Is the owner eligible for voting rights or use-rights suspension under § 209.0051?
5. Overage. Is the amount charged above the lawful maximum?

The statutes — § 209.006, § 209.007, and § 209.0051

§ 209.006 — notice and hearing. Before an HOA may levy a fine, it must deliver written notice to the owner at least 10 days before the fine is imposed. The notice must identify the violation, the proposed fine amount, and the owner's right to request a hearing. The hearing must be held before a committee of at least 3 unit owners who are not officers, directors, or employees of the association — and who are not the spouse, child, or sibling of any officer, director, or employee. This independence requirement prevents the board from adjudicating its own enforcement actions.

§ 209.007 — enforcement and the right to cure. The owner has the right to cure the underlying violation before the fine is finally imposed. If the owner cures within the notice period, the fine may not be levied. Once the fine is final, it becomes an assessment debt of the owner — meaning it can be added to the assessment account and enforced as an assessment lien under Chapter 209. This is a critical difference from Florida: Florida § 720.305 expressly prohibits HOA fines from becoming liens, while Texas § 209.007 expressly allows it.

§ 209.0051 — suspension of privileges. For accounts that are delinquent (including unpaid fines), the board may vote at an open meeting with advance notice to suspend the owner's voting rights on operational matters and, if the declaration authorizes it and a hearing has been offered under § 209.007, the owner's use of common areas.

The procedural ladder in detail

The § 209.006 process has three gating steps, each of which must be satisfied before the fine is valid:

Step 1 — 10-day written notice. The association must send written notice to the owner at least 10 calendar days before the fine is levied. The notice must specify the violation (including the specific rule or restriction violated), the proposed per-day fine amount, and the owner's right to request a hearing. A notice that omits any of these elements is defective and the fine is voidable.

Step 2 — hearing opportunity. The association must offer the owner a meaningful opportunity to appear before the hearing committee to contest the fine before it is imposed. The offer must be genuine — a hearing date that has already passed at the time the notice is delivered does not satisfy the requirement. The owner is not required to attend; the offer itself is the procedural protection.

Step 3 — properly composed committee. The hearing must be before a committee of at least three unit owners. None of the committee members may be an officer, director, or employee of the association, and none may be the spouse, child, or sibling of any officer, director, or employee. This composition requirement is what makes the hearing genuinely independent of the board. A fine confirmed by a committee that included even one improperly disqualified person is voidable.

Fine caps — why the declaration controls

Texas Property Code does not impose a hard statutory cap on per-day fine amounts for HOAs. The declaration controls. Most Texas HOA declarations cap per-day fines at $100–$200/day; some use escalating scales for repeat violations. This calculator defaults to $200/day when the declaration is silent, which represents the upper range of what most Texas HOA-drafting attorneys use as a standard cap.

This is materially different from Florida, where § 720.305 caps HOA fines at $100/day with a $1,000 aggregate per violation. A Texas HOA with a $200/day declaration cap and a 30-day violation has a lawful fine exposure of $6,000 — six times the Florida cap for the same duration. Texas boards should publish and enforce the declaration cap consistently; inconsistent application invites selective-enforcement challenges.

Lien eligibility — the key Texas distinction from Florida

An unpaid and properly imposed Texas HOA fine becomes an assessment debt under § 209.007 and can be added to the assessment lien account. Once the fine is on the lien, the association can pursue it through the § 209.0091 pre-foreclosure notice track, file a judicial-foreclosure complaint, and — if a foreclosure sale occurs — the prior owner has the § 209.011 180-day post-sale redemption right.

Florida HOA fines under § 720.305 cannot become liens on the unit. A Florida HOA that has $10,000 in unpaid fines has no lien; it must pursue collection through a separate civil action for money damages. A Texas HOA with the same unpaid fines can pursue the full lien-and-foreclosure track. This asymmetry means Texas fine enforcement has materially higher stakes for both the owner and the association.

Worked example — valid fine: 10-day notice, proper committee, within cap

A Travis County HOA identifies an ongoing fence violation. The manager sends written notice on March 1, 2026 identifying the violation, the $100/day fine rate (within the declaration's $150/day cap), and the owner's right to a hearing on March 11, 2026. The committee of three independent owners meets on March 11; the owner does not appear. The violation continues for 20 days (March 12 through March 31).

Apply the calculator:

• Total fine charged: 20 × $100 = $2,000.
• Lawful maximum (declaration cap $150/day): 20 × $150 = $3,000.
• Overage: $0 — charged amount is below the declaration cap.
• Procedurally valid: Yes — all three § 209.006 prerequisites met.
• Lien eligible: Yes — the $2,000 fine becomes an assessment debt under § 209.007 and can be added to the lien account.
• Suspension eligible: Yes — the board may vote at the next open meeting with notice to suspend the owner's voting rights and (if the declaration authorizes) common-area access under § 209.0051.

Worked example — invalid fine: missing hearing committee

A different file: the board votes at a closed executive session to impose a $500/day fine for the same violation. No written notice was sent. The board's vice president conducts a "hearing" in the parking lot. The owner receives a bill for $10,000.

Apply the calculator:

• Total fine charged: $10,000.
• Procedurally valid: No — three failures: (a) no written 10-day notice, (b) no formal hearing opportunity, (c) the vice president is an officer and cannot sit on the hearing committee.
• Lien eligible: No — a procedurally invalid fine cannot be added to the assessment lien. Pursuing foreclosure on this fine exposes the association to a wrongful-enforcement claim and forfeits the § 209.008 attorney-fee recovery.

The cure: void the fine, issue proper § 209.006 written notice, schedule a hearing before a properly composed committee, and re-impose the fine. The re-imposed fine, if properly procedured, is valid and lien-eligible.

How this page is maintained

Chapter 209 of the Texas Property Code has been substantively stable in its fine procedure since the 2011 amendments. We monitor each biennial Texas legislative session and re-stamp this page within the quarter after any change to § 209.006, § 209.007, or § 209.0051.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-19 against Tex. Prop. Code § 209.006, § 209.007, and § 209.0051.