TITLE: Relating to the authority of a property owners' association to assess a fine for discolored vegetation or turf during a period of residential watering restriction.

SUMMARY: Relating to the authority of a property owners' association to assess a fine for discolored vegetation or turf during a period of residential watering restriction.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to the authority of a property owners' association to assess a fine for discolored vegetation or turf during a period of residential watering restriction. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Chapter 202, Property Code, is amended by adding Section 202.008 to read as follows: Sec. 202.008. LIMITATION ON FINES DURING RESIDENTIAL WATER RESTRICTION. (a) For the purposes of this section, "residential watering restriction" means a temporary restriction of water use to irrigate residential vegetation or turf that is mandated by a municipality, water utility, or other wholesale or retail water supplier as part of a strategy to conserve water during a period of drought. (b) A property owners' association may not assess a fine against a property owner for a violation of an applicable restrictive covenant that requires the owner to plant or install grass or turf or maintain green vegetation or turf or prohibits discolored or brown vegetation or turf on the property: (1) during a period when the owner's property is subject to a residential watering restriction under which discolored or brown vegetation or turf could reasonably result; and (2) before the 60th day after the date a residential watering restriction described by Subdivision (1) is lifted. SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.