{"id":88,"date":"2026-09-03T05:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T05:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fightmytxhoa.com\/home\/?p=88"},"modified":"2026-09-03T05:12:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T05:12:57","slug":"part-nine-the-unrecorded-fines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fightmytxhoa.com\/home\/part-nine-the-unrecorded-fines\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unrecorded Fines: How \u00a7 202.006 Makes HOA Penalties Disappear Until They’re Filed — And What It Means When The HOA Gives Them Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n Part Nine of the HOA Foreclosure Series<\/strong> \u00b7 The previous parts documented unclaimed notices, a defective collection letter, inflated lien amounts, a vague board meeting, a resurrected fine, federal pandemic-relief money, a phantom amendment vote, and an inflated collection bill. This part is about the fines themselves \u2014 and the statutory rule that made them unenforceable from the moment they were charged. Series index<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Ninth Problem<\/h2>\n\n

The previous parts of this series told the story of a Texas homeowner whose house was sold at HOA foreclosure through a chain of statutory defects: unclaimed certified mail and a process server who knew the house was displaced (Part One); a defective Sec. 209.0064 collection notice (Part Two); unsecured debt quietly converted into a secured claim (Part Three); a board vote on a vague agenda (Part Four); a $200\/day fine resurrected from a 2022 notice (Part Five); CARES Act pandemic-relief money paid to the HOA followed by same-day notices and an intent-to-sue (Part Six); a phantom 2015 amendment vote that authorized the inflated dues (Part Seven); and an inflated bill supported by a sworn affidavit that misrepresented the work performed (Part Eight).<\/p>\n\n

This part is about the fines themselves<\/strong> \u2014 and a statutory rule that may have made them unenforceable from the moment they were charged.<\/p>\n\n

Texas Property Code Sec. 202.006 requires property owners’ associations to file all of their dedicatory instruments in the county real property records. Subsection (b) says, in language the Legislature does not typically use: a dedicatory instrument “has no effect until the instrument is filed in accordance with this section.” Subsection (c), added by SB 1588 in 2021, goes further: an HOA “may not collect a regular assessment… if the dedicatory instrument authorizing the collection of the regular assessment is not filed.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The fines in this case were charged under a schedule that was never recorded. A former board member \u2014 the homeowner \u2014 knew when the schedule of fines was filed, and knew it never was. The HOA nonetheless sued for those fines, filed a lien based on them, and then \u2014 when challenged \u2014 dismissed its lawsuit, satisfied all liens, and reversed every fine and collection fee.<\/strong> That sequence is not a settlement. It is a concession that the fines were not lawfully owed in the first place.<\/p>\n\n

The statute gave the homeowner a clean, structural defense to every fine the HOA ever tried to collect \u2014 and the HOA’s own conduct in the 2019 lawsuit proved the defense was correct.<\/p>\n\n

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What Sec. 202.006 Actually Says<\/h2>\n\n

The full text of Sec. 202.006, as amended through 2021:<\/p>\n\n

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(a)<\/strong> A property owners’ association shall file all dedicatory instruments in the real property records of each county in which the property to which the dedicatory instruments relate is located.<\/p>\n

(b)<\/strong> A dedicatory instrument has no effect until the instrument is filed in accordance with this section.<\/p>\n

(c)<\/strong> A property owners’ association may not collect a regular assessment, as defined by Section 209.002, if the dedicatory instrument authorizing the collection of the regular assessment is not filed as required by Subsection (a).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

A “dedicatory instrument” is broadly defined in Sec. 202.001(1) to include restrictive covenants, conditions, and restrictions; bylaws; rules and regulations; and any amendment to those instruments. The schedule of fines an HOA uses to charge its members is a rule or regulation imposing a financial obligation. Under Sec. 202.001, it is a dedicatory instrument. Under Sec. 202.006(a), it must be filed. Under Sec. 202.006(b), it has no legal effect until it is filed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Read that subsection again. Not “may be challenged if not filed.” Not “is voidable.” It “has no effect.” Period. An HOA fining a homeowner under an unrecorded schedule of fines is fining that homeowner under a document that, as a matter of statute, does not exist.<\/p>\n\n

The Legislature made this rule strict on purpose. HB 1821 (2011) added subsection (b) so that dedicatory instruments would not bind owners until they were publicly filed. SB 1588 (2021) added subsection (c) to make sure HOAs could not even collect assessments<\/em> under unfiled instruments. The direction of the statute is clear: unfiled dedicatory instruments do not bind owners.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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How That Rule Interacts with Fines<\/h2>\n\n

A fine schedule is a “dedicatory instrument” under Sec. 202.001(1). It must be filed under Sec. 202.006(a). Until it is filed, it has no effect under Sec. 202.006(b). Fines charged under an unfiled schedule are therefore not legally owed \u2014 because the schedule authorizing them has no legal effect.<\/p>\n\n

This rule is reinforced by other parts of Chapter 209:<\/p>\n\n