How to Request a Board Hearing to Challenge Fines (§ 209.007)

If your HOA says you've broken a rule, Texas gives you the right to make your case to the board before the matter is settled. Here's how the hearing process in § 209.007 works, and what it can and can't do for you.

Who can request a hearing

If you're entitled to an opportunity to cure the violation, which covers most ongoing conditions, you have the right to submit a written request for a hearing to discuss and verify facts and resolve the matter. The hearing is held before the board, or before a committee the board appoints (§ 209.007(a)). Your violation notice is required to tell you about this right (§ 209.006(b)(2)(B)).

The deadline: 30 days from the notice

Request the hearing on or before the 30th day after the notice was mailed. Put the request in writing and send it by certified mail with a return receipt, so you can prove when the HOA received it.

What the HOA must do

• Hold the hearing within 30 days after the board receives your request, and notify you of the date, time, and place at least 10 days before it (§ 209.007(c)).
• Hand over its evidence. No later than 10 days before the hearing, the HOA must give you a packet with the documents, photographs, and communications it intends to introduce (§ 209.007(f)). If it doesn't, you're entitled to an automatic 15-day postponement (§ 209.007(g)).
• Go first. A board member or the association's designated representative presents the HOA's case first, and then you present your information and issues (§ 209.007(h)).

Your rights around the hearing

• Either you or the board may request a postponement, which must be granted for up to 10 days. Further postponements require both sides to agree (§ 209.007(c)).
• You or the HOA may make an audio recording of the meeting (§ 209.007(c)).
• Either side may use alternative dispute resolution services (§ 209.007(e)).

Does requesting a hearing freeze my fines?

Not automatically. Chapter 209 doesn't say that fines stop while a hearing is pending. That's why the HDE letter expressly demands that the HOA suspend fines and enforcement until the hearing concludes, and why curing the violation within the cure period matters so much: a timely cure bars the fine (§ 209.006(e)).

When these hearing rules don't apply

The notice and hearing provisions don't apply when the HOA files a suit seeking a temporary restraining order or temporary injunctive relief, or a suit that includes foreclosure as a cause of action. They also don't apply to a temporary suspension of common-area privileges for a violation in a common area that involved a significant and immediate risk of harm to others (§ 209.007(d)).