Texas HOA Mediation & Dispute Resolution

Key Findings

• Texas settles community-association disputes the way it settles most private disagreements: through contracts and the courts. Two separate statutes do the heavy lifting — the Uniform Condominium Act, Property Code Chapter 82, for condominiums created on or after January 1, 1994, and the Residential Property Owners Protection Act, Chapter 209, for subdivision property owners' associations. Neither statute forces the parties into mediation before they sue.
• Arbitration runs under the Texas General Arbitration Act, Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 171 — Texas never adopted a Revised Uniform Arbitration Act. When a contract touches interstate commerce, the Federal Arbitration Act can preempt state law. Once a lawsuit is on file, judges routinely send the parties to mediation under the ADR Procedures Act, Chapter 154.
• Civil HOA appeals climb from the trial courts through a Texas Court of Appeals to the Texas Supreme Court, which has the last word on civil matters. The Court of Criminal Appeals hears only criminal cases and never touches this path.

Details

Section 1: Overview, how HOA disputes are resolved in Texas

Texas handles community-association disputes through contracts and the courts, and it does so on top of two statutes — one of them unusually detailed — with a high court split in two. Condominiums created on or after January 1, 1994 answer to the Texas Uniform Condominium Act, Property Code Chapter 82, which borrows from the condominium provisions of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.¹ Condominiums whose declarations were recorded before that date stay under the older Texas Condominium Act, Chapter 81, except where Chapter 82 reaches back to pull them in.² Residential subdivision property owners' associations fall under the Residential Property Owners Protection Act, Chapter 209.³ Chapter 209 asks a lot of an association before it acts: it demands pre-enforcement notice, a chance to cure, a hearing before the board, alternative payment schedules, and redemption rights after a foreclosure.⁴ Contractual arbitration runs under the Texas General Arbitration Act, Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 171 — Texas did not adopt the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act.⁵ And once a case is filed, courts routinely send it to mediation under the Texas Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures Act, Chapter 154.⁶ Civil matters, HOA disputes among them, travel from the trial courts through one of the intermediate Texas Courts of Appeals to the Texas Supreme Court, which holds the final word on civil appeals; the separate Court of Criminal Appeals takes only criminal cases.⁷ Step back, and Texas looks like a two-statute, UCIOA-derived-condominium state rather than a full UCIOA state, with a planned-community statute in Chapter 209 that it built for itself. The sections that follow map the statutory framework, the general civil ADR and arbitration rules, the role of the recorded declaration, and the concrete paths a dispute can take.

Section 2: The dispute resolution framework

2A. Statutory dispute resolution under Chapters 82 and 209

For condominiums, the Uniform Condominium Act runs enforcement. Section 82.102(a)(12) lets an association impose reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, and rules — but only after it gives notice and a chance to be heard.⁸ Section 82.113 backs assessments, dues, fines, and collection costs with a continuing lien on the unit.⁹ And Section 82.161(b) hands the prevailing party in a suit to enforce the declaration, bylaws, or rules its reasonable attorney's fees and costs.¹⁰ Chapter 82 covers condominiums created on or after January 1, 1994; earlier ones stay under Chapter 81, though several Chapter 82 sections — Section 82.161 among them — reach back to those pre-1994 communities.¹

For residential subdivision associations, Chapter 209 lays out a step-by-step enforcement sequence. Section 209.006 requires written notice by certified — the statute says "verified" — mail before an association may suspend common-area rights, levy a fine, charge for damage, report a delinquency, or sue for anything beyond assessment collection or foreclosure; the notice has to describe the violation and, when the problem can be fixed, give a reasonable period to cure it.⁴ Section 209.007 lets an owner who is entitled to cure ask for a hearing before the board within 30 days, and it says an owner or association "may use alternative dispute resolution services." The part that matters most: once a covered suit is filed, "a party to the suit may file a motion to compel mediation."¹¹ Section 209.0062 makes associations with more than 14 lots adopt guidelines for an alternative payment schedule.¹² Section 209.0063 sets the order in which partial payments get applied.¹³ When foreclosure looms, Section 209.0091 requires pre-foreclosure notice and a 60-day chance to cure for subordinate lienholders,¹⁴ Section 209.0092 generally requires a judicial foreclosure,¹⁵ and Section 209.011 gives the owner 180 days to redeem the property after the sale.¹⁶ Neither Chapter 82 nor Chapter 209 forces mediation before a suit. The hearing right under Section 209.007 and the post-filing motion to compel mediation come closest, and both stop well short of a blanket pre-suit mediation mandate.¹¹

2B. General civil ADR and arbitration

An arbitration clause in a declaration or contract holds up under the Texas General Arbitration Act, Chapter 171, which validates written agreements to arbitrate disputes that already exist or have yet to arise.⁵ The Act does attach some formalities. Section 171.002 carves out agreements for an individual's purchase of property, services, money, or credit of $50,000 or less unless each party and each party's attorney signs, and it separately carves out personal-injury claims that lack a counsel-signed agreement.¹⁷ A recorded real-property declaration that binds owners usually involves far more than $50,000 in consideration, so the counsel-signature rule rarely catches an HOA declaration — though you have to read each agreement on its own terms. When a contract reaches into interstate commerce, the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.) applies and can override contrary state law; Chapter 154 even forbids a court from ordering mediation in a case governed by the FAA unless the parties agree.¹⁸ Court-ordered mediation itself comes from the ADR Procedures Act, Chapter 154. A judge may refer a pending dispute to mediation on the court's own motion or a party's, and a party has 10 days to object.⁶ The mediator's fee is taxed as costs and set by the court or by the parties,¹⁹ and what gets said and recorded in the process stays confidential under Section 154.073.²⁰ For smaller assessment or Chapter 209 fights, the justice courts have original jurisdiction when the amount in controversy runs no higher than $20,000, not counting interest and costs,²¹ and Section 209.017 lets an owner sue the association for a Chapter 209 violation in the justice court of a precinct where the subdivision sits.²²

2C. CC&R-based dispute resolution and order of precedence

The recorded declaration works alongside whichever statute applies, and it often carries its own dispute-resolution terms — mediation conditions that must be met first, arbitration clauses, venue provisions, and prevailing-party fee terms. Courts read restrictive covenants liberally to serve their purpose and intent under Section 202.003, and they presume an association acts reasonably when it exercises discretionary authority over a covenant under Section 202.004.^23,24 Governing documents usually set up internal grievance and architectural-review procedures. Section 209.00505 regulates architectural review authorities in associations with more than 40 lots and gives owners the right to appeal a denial to the board.²⁵ The order of precedence runs from the governing statute — Chapter 82 or Chapter 209 — down to the CC&Rs, then the bylaws, then the rules. In practice, subdivision associations follow Chapter 209 procedure, arbitration answers to Chapter 171 and the FAA, and many filed cases end up in court-ordered mediation.

Section 3: Dispute resolution pathways and obligations

A. Internal / association-level resolution

A subdivision association has to send Section 209.006 pre-enforcement notice and, when a violation can be fixed, allow a cure period before it takes most enforcement steps (STATUTORY, Chapter 209, subdivision POAs).⁴ The owner may request a Section 209.007 board hearing, which the board must hold within 30 days, and either side may turn to ADR services (STATUTORY, Chapter 209, subdivision POAs).¹¹ Any association that fines must adopt and hand out an enforcement policy and fine schedule under Section 209.0061 (STATUTORY, Chapter 209, subdivision POAs),²⁶ and associations with more than 14 lots must offer alternative payment schedules under Section 209.0062 (STATUTORY, subdivision POAs).¹² For condominiums, fines require notice and a chance to be heard under Section 82.102(a)(12) (STATUTORY, Chapter 82, condominiums; Chapter 81 for pre-1994 condominiums).⁸ Internal architectural-review appeals grow out of Section 209.00505 and the declaration itself (STATUTORY and CONTRACTUAL).²⁵ Texas keeps no administrative agency to decide these disputes; the Real Estate Commission only files and records (see subsection D).

B. Mediation

Once a case is on file, a court may send it to mediation under Chapter 154, and in a Chapter 209 covered suit a party may move to compel mediation under Section 209.007(d) (STATUTORY; the duty to show up comes from the court's referral order, not from a blanket pre-suit mandate; applies to condominiums and subdivision POAs).^6,11 The cost of mediation is taxed as court costs and split by the court or by agreement under Chapter 154 (STATUTORY),¹⁹ and the communications stay confidential under Section 154.073 (STATUTORY).²⁰ Referred mediation generally binds no one unless the parties sign a settlement agreement — and then it holds up as a contract.

C. Arbitration

An arbitration clause in a declaration or contract is enforceable under Chapter 171 (STATUTORY, state framework; applies to condominiums and subdivision POAs wherever the governing document or a contract provides for it), with the FAA governing — and potentially preempting — for interstate-commerce contracts (FEDERAL).^5,18 Whether the arbitration binds the parties depends on the clause; Chapter 171 allows a court to confirm an award and to vacate it only on narrow grounds. The duty to arbitrate is CONTRACTUAL — it comes from the declaration or a separate agreement, not from Chapter 82 or Chapter 209.

D. Litigation and appeals

District courts and statutory county courts — the county courts at law — are where covenant-enforcement and collection suits get tried, while the justice courts take matters of $20,000 or less and the Chapter 209 owner suits under Section 209.017 (STATUTORY / RULE-BASED).^21,22 Foreclosing a subdivision association's assessment lien generally takes a judicial order under Section 209.0092, and the owner keeps a post-sale right of redemption under Section 209.011 (STATUTORY, subdivision POAs).^15,16 Civil appeals move from the trial court to one of the intermediate Texas Courts of Appeals and then to the Texas Supreme Court; the Court of Criminal Appeals never enters the civil path.⁷ Texas stood up a Fifteenth Court of Appeals on September 1, 2024, giving it statewide civil jurisdiction over a defined set of cases — appeals involving the state and its agencies, constitutional challenges to statutes, and appeals from the business courts — so most ordinary HOA appeals keep running through the geographic First through Fourteenth Courts (STRUCTURAL).²⁷ The Real Estate Commission does not decide association-member disputes; its database is a filing and recording role.²⁸ Limitations periods turn on the claim. Suits to enforce restrictive covenants and most debt claims fall under the four-year residual limitations period in Section 16.051 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which reaches every action that lacks an express period other than one to recover real property, and a covenant-enforcement claim accrues when the breach happens.²⁹ Confirm the applicable period for each cause of action.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

The 89th Regular Session met in 2025 — Texas holds its regular sessions in odd-numbered years — and most of the HOA measures that passed dealt with covenant carve-outs rather than the mechanics of resolving disputes. Two enacted bills do touch Chapter 82 and Chapter 209 procedure and the fees that ride on it.

B. Recent appellate rulings

C. Active legislative debates

The 89th Regular Session also weighed, but did not pass, measures like SB 2586, which would have added association reporting duties and an administrative penalty. The next regular session convenes in 2027, and that is when any renewed dispute-framework proposals would come up.³⁴

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Texas is a two-statute, UCIOA-derived-condominium state. Chapter 82 draws from the condominium provisions of UCIOA, and Chapter 209 is a planned-community statute Texas built for itself. That sets Texas apart from comprehensive single-framework states like California and Florida, and from full-UCIOA states that apply the uniform act across every common-interest community. Put Chapter 209's detailed notice, hearing, cure, payment-plan, and redemption requirements together with a high court split in two — where civil appeals end at the Texas Supreme Court — and routine court-ordered mediation under Chapter 154, and the strategy points one way: comply with the procedure early and negotiate. For a multi-state operator, the takeaway is direct. In Texas, subdivision associations have to follow Chapter 209's detailed procedure, civil appeals end at the Texas Supreme Court rather than the Court of Criminal Appeals, and many filed cases head to court-ordered mediation before trial.

HOA Weekly's Texas dispute-resolution coverage updates quarterly as the Legislature and the courts act. Federal frameworks matter here too, whatever the state framework says — the Federal Arbitration Act above all, along with the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the OTARD rule — and fuller treatment of them will follow once that coverage is built out.

Recommendations

• Property managers and boards should run Chapter 209 procedure as a checklist before any enforcement: verified-mail notice, a documented cure period, a Section 209.007 hearing on request, a written fine policy, and payment-plan guidelines for associations over 14 lots.
• Confirm your management-certificate filings with the Real Estate Commission — for subdivision associations and, after SB 711, condominium associations too, including the March 1, 2026 catch-up deadline for previously recorded condominium certificates — because an unfiled certificate can bar recovery of attorney's fees and interest.
• Read each governing document for an arbitration or mediation clause and weigh FAA applicability early; if you want arbitration, move to compel before you litigate the merits, or you may waive it.
• Bring in counsel before any foreclosure, given the judicial-foreclosure requirement and the 180-day redemption right, and calendar the four-year residual limitations period — or whatever period applies — for each claim.

Caveats

• This page states the framework as verified against primary sources as of July 14, 2026. Statutes and case law change, and the declaration for any specific community controls its own dispute-resolution terms.
• SB 2629's precise section-by-section effect is summarized from the enrolled-bill framework; editors should confirm the final codified text.
• Confirm the Section 4B appellate citations against the official opinions on the Texas Judicial Branch site (search.txcourts.gov, by docket number) before publication. The Rafiei arbitration holding comes out of a homebuyer purchase agreement, not an HOA declaration, and Thomas Craig Construction turns on a construction-contract arbitration clause in a condominium-association defect suit rather than a declaration arbitration clause.

1. Tex. Prop. Code § 82.002 (Uniform Condominium Act applicability; declarations on or after Jan. 1, 1994) ↩
2. Tex. Prop. Code Ch. 81 (Condominiums Created Before Adoption of Uniform Condominium Act) ↩
3. Tex. Prop. Code Ch. 209 (Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act) ↩
4. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.006 (Notice Required Before Enforcement Action) ↩
5. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 171 (General Arbitration / Texas General Arbitration Act), § 171.001 ↩
6. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 154 (Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures), § 154.021 ↩
7. Texas Judicial Branch, About Texas Courts: Courts of Appeals (civil appeals to the Supreme Court of Texas; Court of Criminal Appeals is criminal) ↩
8. Tex. Prop. Code § 82.102 (Powers of Unit Owners' Association; fines with notice and opportunity to be heard) ↩
9. Tex. Prop. Code § 82.113 (Association's Lien for Assessments) ↩
10. Tex. Prop. Code § 82.161 (Effect of Violations on Rights of Action and Attorney's Fees; prevailing party entitled to reasonable attorney's fees) ↩
11. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.007 (Hearing Before Board; Alternative Dispute Resolution) ↩
12. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0062 (Alternative Payment Schedule for Certain Assessments) ↩
13. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0063 (Priority of Payments) ↩
14. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0091 (Prerequisites to Foreclosure: Notice and Opportunity to Cure for Certain Other Lienholders) ↩
15. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0092 (Judicial Foreclosure Required) ↩
16. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.011 (Right of Redemption After Foreclosure) ↩
17. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 171.002 (Scope of Chapter; $50,000 and counsel-signature provisions) ↩
18. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 154 (court may not order mediation in an action subject to the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16, absent agreement) ↩
19. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 154.054 (Compensation of Impartial Third Parties) ↩
20. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 154.073 (Confidentiality of Certain Records and Communications) ↩
21. Tex. Gov't Code § 27.031 (Justice Court jurisdiction; amount in controversy not more than $20,000) ↩
22. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.017 (Justice Court Jurisdiction) ↩
23. Tex. Prop. Code § 202.003 (Construction of Restrictive Covenants; liberal construction) ↩
24. Tex. Prop. Code § 202.004 (Enforcement of Restrictive Covenants; discretionary authority presumed reasonable) ↩
25. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.00505 (Architectural Review Authority) ↩
26. Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0061 (Association Policy; Fines) ↩
27. Texas Judicial Branch, Courts of Appeals (Fifteenth Court of Appeals, statewide civil jurisdiction, effective Sept. 1, 2024) ↩
28. Texas Real Estate Commission, New Filing Requirements for HOAs (no authority to license or register HOAs; no enforcement jurisdiction over HOA activities) ↩
29. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.051 (residual four-year limitations period for actions with no express period, other than recovery of real property) ↩
30. Tex. S.B. 711, 89th Leg., R.S. (2025), enrolled (adding Tex. Prop. Code § 82.1142, amending §§ 82.116 and 82.157; effective Sept. 1, 2025; TREC catch-up filing by Mar. 1, 2026) ↩
31. Tex. S.B. 2629, 89th Leg., R.S. (2025), bill history (electronic meetings and voting, Chapters 82 and 209) ↩
32. Lennar Homes of Tex., Inc. v. Rafiei, No. 22-0830, 2024 WL 1470909 (Tex. Apr. 5, 2024) (per curiam); see Houston AN USA, LLC v. Shattenkirk, 669 S.W.3d 392, 397 (Tex. 2023) ↩
33. Thomas Craig Constr., Inc. v. Park Square Condo. Owner's Ass'n, No. 01-22-00918-CV, 2025 WL 1759012 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] June 26, 2025) (mem. op.); confirm via search.txcourts.gov by docket number ↩
34. Tex. S.B. 2586, 89th Leg., R.S. (2025), bill history (association reporting and administrative penalty; did not pass) ↩