Bill Text: TX HB1933 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating to condominium association records and meetings.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-23 - Left pending in committee [HB1933 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB1933-Introduced.html

---

83R9157 AJA-D
By: Allen H.B. No. 1933

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to condominium association records and meetings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 81.209(b), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding a provision in a declaration, master
deed, or master lease, the books and records of a condominium
regime, including [The] accounts and supporting vouchers and any
other financial records, [of a condominium regime] shall be made
available to the apartment owners in accordance with Section
81.2091 [for examination on working days at convenient,
established, and publicly announced hours].
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 81, Property Code, is
amended by adding Sections 81.2091 and 81.2092 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.2091. AVAILABILITY AND RETENTION OF RECORDS. (a)
This section applies to all condominium regimes and controls over
other law not specifically applicable to a condominium regime.
(b) A condominium regime's council of owners shall make the
books and records of the council, including financial records, open
to and reasonably available for examination by an apartment owner,
or a person designated in a writing signed by the owner as the
owner's agent, attorney, or certified public accountant, in
accordance with this section. An owner is entitled to obtain from
the council copies of information contained in the books and
records.
(c) Except as provided by this subsection, an attorney's
files and records relating to the council of owners are not records
of the council and are not subject to inspection by an apartment
owner or production in a legal proceeding. If a document in an
attorney's files and records relating to the council would be
responsive to a legally authorized request to inspect or copy
council documents, the document shall be produced by using the copy
from the attorney's files and records if the council has not
maintained a separate copy of the document. This subsection does
not require production of a document that constitutes attorney work
product or that is privileged as an attorney-client communication.
(d) An apartment owner or the owner's authorized
representative described by Subsection (b) must submit a written
request for access or information under Subsection (b) by certified
mail, with sufficient detail describing the council of owners'
books and records requested, to the mailing address of the council
or the council's authorized representative. The request must
contain an election either to inspect the books and records before
obtaining copies or to have the council forward copies of the
requested books and records and:
(1) if an inspection is requested, the council, on or
before the 10th business day after the date the council receives the
request, shall send written notice of dates during normal business
hours that the owner may inspect the requested books and records to
the extent those books and records are in the possession, custody,
or control of the council; or
(2) if copies of identified books and records are
requested, the council shall, to the extent those books and records
are in the possession, custody, or control of the council, produce
the requested books and records for the requesting party on or
before the 10th business day after the date the council receives the
request, except as otherwise provided by this section.
(e) If the council of owners is unable to produce the books
or records requested under Subsection (d) on or before the 10th
business day after the date the council receives the request, the
council must provide to the requestor written notice that:
(1) informs the requestor that the council is unable
to produce the information on or before the 10th business day after
the date the council received the request; and
(2) states a date by which the information will be sent
or made available for inspection to the requesting party that is not
later than the 15th business day after the date notice under this
subsection is given.
(f) If an inspection is requested or required, the
inspection shall take place at a mutually agreed on time during
normal business hours, and the requesting party shall identify the
books and records for the council of owners to copy and forward to
the requesting party.
(g) A council of owners may produce books and records
requested under this section in hard copy, electronic, or other
format reasonably available to the council.
(h) A council of owners must adopt a records production and
copying policy that prescribes the costs the council will charge
for the compilation, production, and reproduction of information
requested under this section. The prescribed charges may include
all reasonable costs of materials, labor, and overhead but may not
exceed costs that would be applicable for an item under 1 T.A.C.
Section 70.3. The policy required by this subsection must be
recorded as a dedicatory instrument in accordance with Section
202.006. A council of owners may not charge an apartment owner for
the compilation, production, or reproduction of information
requested under this section unless the policy prescribing those
costs has been recorded as required by this subsection. An owner is
responsible for costs related to the compilation, production, and
reproduction of the requested information in the amounts prescribed
by the policy adopted under this subsection. The council may
require advance payment of the estimated costs of compilation,
production, and reproduction of the requested information. If the
estimated costs are lesser or greater than the actual costs, the
council shall submit a final invoice to the owner on or before the
30th business day after the date the information is delivered. If
the final invoice includes additional amounts due from the owner,
the additional amounts, if not reimbursed to the council before the
30th business day after the date the invoice is sent to the owner,
may be added to the owner's account as an assessment. If the
estimated costs exceeded the final invoice amount, the owner is
entitled to a refund, and the refund shall be issued to the owner
not later than the 30th business day after the date the invoice is
sent to the owner.
(i) A council of owners must estimate costs under this
section using amounts prescribed by the policy adopted under
Subsection (h).
(j) Except as provided by Subsection (k) and to the extent
the information is provided in the meeting minutes, the council of
owners is not required to release or allow inspection of any books
or records that identify violation history of an individual
apartment owner, an owner's personal financial information,
including records of payment or nonpayment of amounts due the
council, an owner's contact information, other than the owner's
address, or information related to an employee of the council,
including personnel files. Information may be released in an
aggregate or summary manner that would not identify an individual
property owner.
(k) The books and records described by Subsection (j) shall
be released or made available for inspection if:
(1) the express written approval of the apartment
owner whose records are the subject of the request for inspection is
provided to the council of owners; or
(2) a court orders the release of the books and records
or orders that the books and records be made available for
inspection.
(l) A council of owners of a condominium regime composed of
more than 14 apartments shall adopt and comply with a document
retention policy that includes, at a minimum, the following
requirements:
(1) certificates of formation, bylaws, restrictive
covenants, including a declaration, master deed, or master lease,
and all amendments to those instruments shall be retained
permanently;
(2) financial books and records shall be retained for
seven years;
(3) account records of current apartment owners shall
be retained for five years;
(4) contracts with a term of one year or more shall be
retained for four years after the expiration of the contract term;
(5) minutes of meetings of the council of owners or the
council's board of administration shall be retained for seven
years; and
(6) tax returns and audit records shall be retained
for seven years.
(m) A member of a council of owners who is denied access to
or copies of council books or records to which the member is
entitled under this section may file a petition with the justice of
the peace of a justice precinct in which all or part of the property
that is included in the condominium regime is located requesting
relief in accordance with this subsection. If the justice of the
peace finds that the member is entitled to access to or copies of
the records, the justice of the peace may grant one or more of the
following remedies:
(1) a judgment ordering the council to release or
allow access to the books or records;
(2) a judgment against the council for court costs and
attorney's fees incurred in connection with seeking a remedy under
this section; or
(3) a judgment authorizing the apartment owner or the
owner's assignee to deduct the amounts awarded under Subdivision
(2) from any future regular or special assessments payable to the
council.
(n) If the council of owners prevails in an action under
Subsection (m), the council is entitled to a judgment for court
costs and attorney's fees incurred by the council in connection
with the action.
(o) On or before the 10th business day before the date a
person brings an action against a council of owners under this
section, the person must send written notice to the council of the
person's intent to bring the action. The notice must:
(1) be sent certified mail, return receipt requested,
or delivered by the United States Postal Service with signature
confirmation service to the mailing address of the council or the
council's authorized representative; and
(2) describe with sufficient detail the books and
records being requested.
(p) A council of owners may not foreclose an assessment lien
if the debt securing the lien consists solely of amounts added to
the apartment owner's account as an assessment under Subsection
(h).
(q) For the purposes of this section, "business day" means a
day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a state or federal holiday.
Sec. 81.2092. MEETINGS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Board" means the board of directors or the body,
regardless of name, designated to act on behalf of the council of
owners.
(2) "Board meeting":
(A) means a deliberation between a quorum of the
voting board of the council of owners, or between a quorum of the
voting board and another person, during which council business is
considered and the board takes formal action; and
(B) does not include the gathering of a quorum of
the board at a social function unrelated to the business of the
council or the attendance by a quorum of the board at a regional,
state, or national convention, ceremonial event, or press
conference, if formal action is not taken and any discussion of
council business is incidental to the social function, convention,
ceremonial event, or press conference.
(b) Meetings of the council of owners must be held at least
once each year. Unless the declaration provides otherwise, special
meetings of the council may be called by the president, a majority
of the board, or apartment owners having at least 20 percent of the
votes in the council.
(c) Meetings of the council and regular and special board
meetings must be open to apartment owners, subject to the right of
the board to adjourn a meeting of the board and reconvene in closed
executive session to consider actions involving personnel, pending
or threatened litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement
actions, confidential communications with the council's attorney,
matters involving the invasion of privacy of individual apartment
owners, or matters that are to remain confidential by request of the
affected parties and agreement of the board. Following an
executive session, any decision made in the executive session must
be summarized orally and placed in the minutes, in general terms,
without breaching the privacy of individual owners, violating any
privilege, or disclosing information that was to remain
confidential at the request of the affected parties. The oral
summary must include a general explanation of expenditures approved
in executive session.
(d) Except for a meeting held by electronic or telephonic
means under Subsection (i), a board meeting must be held in a county
in which all or part of the condominium is located or in a county
adjacent to that county.
(e) The board shall keep a record of each regular or special
board meeting in the form of written minutes of the meeting. The
board shall make meeting records, including approved minutes,
available to a member of the council of owners for inspection and
copying on the member's written request to the council's managing
agent at the address appearing on the most recently filed
management certificate or, if there is not a managing agent, to the
board.
(f) Members of the council of owners shall be given notice
of the date, hour, place, and general subject of a regular or
special board meeting, including a general description of any
matter to be brought up for deliberation in executive session. The
notice shall be:
(1) mailed to each apartment owner not later than the
10th day or earlier than the 60th day before the date of the
meeting; or
(2) provided at least 72 hours before the start of the
meeting by:
(A) posting the notice in a conspicuous manner
reasonably designed to provide notice to council members:
(i) in a place located on the condominium
regime's common property or, with the property owner's consent, on
other conspicuously located privately owned property within the
condominium regime; or
(ii) on any Internet website maintained by
the council or other Internet media; and
(B) sending the notice by e-mail to each owner
who has registered an e-mail address with the council.
(g) It is an owner's duty to keep an updated e-mail address
registered with the council under Subsection (f)(2)(B).
(h) If the board recesses a regular or special board meeting
to continue the following regular business day, the board is not
required to post notice of the continued meeting if the recess is
taken in good faith and not to circumvent this section. If a
regular or special board meeting is continued to the following
regular business day, and on that following day the board continues
the meeting to another day, the board shall give notice of the
continuation in at least one manner prescribed by Subsection
(f)(2)(A) within two hours after adjourning the meeting being
continued.
(i) A board may meet by any method of communication,
including electronic and telephonic, without prior notice to
apartment owners under Subsection (f), if each board member may
hear and be heard by every other board member, or the board may take
action by unanimous written consent to consider routine and
administrative matters or a reasonably unforeseen emergency or
urgent necessity that requires immediate board action. Any action
taken without notice to owners under Subsection (f) must be
summarized orally, including an explanation of any known actual or
estimated expenditures approved at the meeting, and documented in
the minutes of the next regular or special board meeting. The board
may not, without prior notice to owners under Subsection (f),
consider or vote on:
(1) fines;
(2) damage assessments;
(3) initiation of foreclosure actions;
(4) initiation of enforcement actions, excluding
temporary restraining orders or violations involving a threat to
health or safety;
(5) increases in assessments;
(6) levying of special assessments;
(7) appeals from a denial of architectural control
approval; or
(8) a suspension of a right of a particular council
member before the member has an opportunity to attend a board
meeting to present the member's position, including any defense, on
the issue.
(j) Notice of a meeting of the council of owners must be
given as provided by the bylaws, or, if the bylaws do not provide
for notice, notice must be given to each apartment owner in the same
manner in which notice of a board meeting is given to members under
this section.
SECTION 3. Section 82.108, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 82.108. MEETINGS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Board meeting":
(A) means a deliberation between a quorum of the
voting board of the association, or between a quorum of the voting
board and another person, during which association business is
considered and the board takes formal action; and
(B) does not include the gathering of a quorum of
the board at a social function unrelated to the business of the
association or the attendance by a quorum of the board at a
regional, state, or national convention, ceremonial event, or press
conference, if formal action is not taken and any discussion of
association business is incidental to the social function,
convention, ceremonial event, or press conference.
(2) "Development period" means a period of declarant
control described by Section 82.103(c).
(b) Meetings of the association must be held at least once
each year. Unless the declaration provides otherwise, special
meetings of the association may be called by the president, a
majority of the board, or unit owners having at least 20 percent of
the votes in the association.
(c) [(b)] Meetings of the association and regular and
special board meetings must be open to unit owners, subject to the
right of the board to adjourn a meeting of the board and reconvene
in closed executive session to consider actions involving
personnel, pending or threatened litigation, contract
negotiations, enforcement actions, confidential communications
with the association's attorney, matters involving the invasion of
privacy of individual unit owners, or matters that are to remain
confidential by request of the affected parties and agreement of
the board. Following an executive session, any decision made in the
executive session must be summarized orally and placed in the
minutes, in general terms, without breaching the privacy of
individual owners, violating any privilege, or disclosing
information that was to remain confidential at the request of the
affected parties. The oral summary must include a general
explanation of expenditures approved in executive session.
(d) Except for a meeting held by electronic or telephonic
means under Subsection (i), a board meeting must be held in a county
in which all or part of the condominium is located or in a county
adjacent to that county.
(e) The board shall keep a record of each regular or special
board meeting in the form of written minutes of the meeting. The
board shall make meeting records, including approved minutes,
available to a member for inspection and copying on the member's
written request to the association's managing agent at the address
appearing on the most recently filed management certificate or, if
there is not a managing agent, to the board.
(f) Members shall be given notice of the date, hour, place,
and general subject of a regular or special board meeting,
including a general description of any matter to be brought up for
deliberation in executive session. The notice shall be:
(1) mailed to each unit owner not later than the 10th
day or earlier than the 60th day before the date of the meeting; or
(2) provided at least 72 hours before the start of the
meeting by:
(A) posting the notice in a conspicuous manner
reasonably designed to provide notice to association members:
(i) in a place located on the association's
common property or, with the property owner's consent, on other
conspicuously located privately owned property within the
condominium regime; or
(ii) on any Internet website maintained by
the association or other Internet media; and
(B) sending the notice by e-mail to each owner
who has registered an e-mail address with the association.
(g) It is an owner's duty to keep an updated e-mail address
registered with the association under Subsection (f)(2)(B).
(h) If the board recesses a regular or special board meeting
to continue the following regular business day, the board is not
required to post notice of the continued meeting if the recess is
taken in good faith and not to circumvent this section. If a
regular or special board meeting is continued to the following
regular business day, and on that following day the board continues
the meeting to another day, the board shall give notice of the
continuation in at least one manner prescribed by Subsection
(f)(2)(A) within two hours after adjourning the meeting being
continued.
(i) A [The general nature of any business to be considered
in executive session must first be announced at the open meeting.
[(c) Unless the declaration, bylaws, or articles of
incorporation of the association provide otherwise:
[(1) a meeting of the] board may meet [be held] by any
method of communication, including electronic and telephonic,
without prior notice to owners under Subsection (f), if[:
[(A) notice of the meeting has been given in
accordance with Subsection (e);
[(B)] each director may hear and be heard by
every other director, or [; and
[(C) the meeting does not involve voting on a
fine, damage assessment, appeal from a denial of architectural
control approval, or suspension of a right of a particular
association member before the member has an opportunity to attend a
board meeting to present the member's position, including any
defense, on the issue; and
[(2)] the board may take action [act] by unanimous
written consent to consider routine and administrative matters or a
reasonably unforeseen emergency or urgent necessity that requires
immediate board action. Any action taken without notice to owners
under Subsection (f) must be summarized orally, including an
explanation of any known actual or estimated expenditures approved
at the meeting, and documented in the minutes of the next regular or
special board meeting. The board may not [of all the directors],
without prior notice to owners under Subsection (f), consider or
vote on [a meeting, if]:
(1) fines;
(2) [(A) the board action does not involve voting on
a fine,] damage assessments;
(3) initiation of foreclosure actions;
(4) initiation of enforcement actions, excluding
temporary restraining orders or violations involving a threat to
health or safety;
(5) increases in assessments;
(6) levying of special assessments;
(7) appeals [assessment, appeal] from a denial of
architectural control approval; [,] or
(8) a suspension of a right of a particular
association member before the member has an opportunity to attend a
board meeting to present the member's position, including any
defense, on the issue[; and
[(B) a record of the board action is filed with
the minutes of board meetings].
(j) [(d)] Notice of a meeting of the association must be
given as provided by the bylaws, or, if the bylaws do not provide
for notice, notice must be given to each unit owner in the same
manner in which notice of a board meeting is given under this
section [to members of a nonprofit corporation under Section A,
Article 2.11, Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-2.11,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)].
(k) This section applies to a meeting of an association
board during the development period only if the meeting is
conducted for the purpose of:
(1) adopting or amending the governing documents,
including declarations, bylaws, rules, and regulations of the
association;
(2) increasing the amount of regular assessments of
the association or adopting or increasing a special assessment;
(3) electing non-developer board members of the
association or establishing a process by which those members are
elected; or
(4) changing the voting rights of members of the
association.
[(e) Notice of a meeting of the board must be given as
provided by the bylaws, or, if the bylaws do not provide for notice,
notice must be given to each board member in the same manner in
which notice is given to members of the board of a nonprofit
corporation under Section B, Article 2.19, Texas Non-Profit
Corporation Act (Article 1396-2.19, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes).
[(f) An association, on the written request of a unit owner,
shall inform the unit owner of the time and place of the next
regular or special meeting of the board. If the association
representative to whom the request is made does not know the time
and place of the meeting, the association promptly shall obtain the
information and disclose it to the unit owner or inform the unit
owner where the information may be obtained.]
SECTION 4. Section 82.114(b), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding a provision in a declaration, the books
and records of the association, including [All] financial [and
other] records, [of the association] shall be made [reasonably]
available to the unit owners in accordance with Section 82.1141 [at
its registered office or its principal office in this state for
examination by a unit owner and the owner's agents. An attorney's
files and records relating to the association are not records of the
association and are not subject to inspection by unit owners or
production in a legal proceeding].
SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 82, Property Code, is
amended by adding Section 82.1141 to read as follows:
Sec. 82.1141. AVAILABILITY AND RETENTION OF RECORDS. (a)
This section applies to all condominium unit owners' associations
and controls over other law not specifically applicable to a
condominium unit owners' association.
(b) Notwithstanding a provision in a declaration, an
association shall make the books and records of the association,
including financial records, open to and reasonably available for
examination by a unit owner, or a person designated in a writing
signed by the owner as the owner's agent, attorney, or certified
public accountant, in accordance with this section. An owner is
entitled to obtain from the association copies of information
contained in the books and records.
(c) Except as provided by this subsection, an attorney's
files and records relating to the association are not records of the
association and are not subject to inspection by a unit owner or
production in a legal proceeding. If a document in an attorney's
files and records relating to the association would be responsive
to a legally authorized request to inspect or copy association
documents, the document shall be produced by using the copy from the
attorney's files and records if the association has not maintained
a separate copy of the document. This subsection does not require
production of a document that constitutes attorney work product or
that is privileged as an attorney-client communication.
(d) A unit owner or the owner's authorized representative
described by Subsection (b) must submit a written request for
access or information under Subsection (b) by certified mail, with
sufficient detail describing the association's books and records
requested, to the mailing address of the association or authorized
representative as reflected on the most current management
certificate filed under Section 82.116. The request must contain
an election either to inspect the books and records before
obtaining copies or to have the association forward copies of the
requested books and records and:
(1) if an inspection is requested, the association, on
or before the 10th business day after the date the association
receives the request, shall send written notice of dates during
normal business hours that the owner may inspect the requested
books and records to the extent those books and records are in the
possession, custody, or control of the association; or
(2) if copies of identified books and records are
requested, the association shall, to the extent those books and
records are in the possession, custody, or control of the
association, produce the requested books and records for the
requesting party on or before the 10th business day after the date
the association receives the request, except as otherwise provided
by this section.
(e) If the association is unable to produce the books or
records requested under Subsection (d) on or before the 10th
business day after the date the association receives the request,
the association must provide to the requestor written notice that:
(1) informs the requestor that the association is
unable to produce the information on or before the 10th business day
after the date the association received the request; and
(2) states a date by which the information will be sent
or made available for inspection to the requesting party that is not
later than the 15th business day after the date notice under this
subsection is given.
(f) If an inspection is requested or required, the
inspection shall take place at a mutually agreed on time during
normal business hours, and the requesting party shall identify the
books and records for the association to copy and forward to the
requesting party.
(g) An association may produce books and records requested
under this section in hard copy, electronic, or other format
reasonably available to the association.
(h) An association board must adopt a records production and
copying policy that prescribes the costs the association will
charge for the compilation, production, and reproduction of
information requested under this section. The prescribed charges
may include all reasonable costs of materials, labor, and overhead
but may not exceed costs that would be applicable for an item under
1 T.A.C. Section 70.3. The policy required by this subsection must
be recorded as a dedicatory instrument in accordance with Section
202.006. An association may not charge a unit owner for the
compilation, production, or reproduction of information requested
under this section unless the policy prescribing those costs has
been recorded as required by this subsection. An owner is
responsible for costs related to the compilation, production, and
reproduction of the requested information in the amounts prescribed
by the policy adopted under this subsection. The association may
require advance payment of the estimated costs of compilation,
production, and reproduction of the requested information. If the
estimated costs are lesser or greater than the actual costs, the
association shall submit a final invoice to the owner on or before
the 30th business day after the date the information is delivered.
If the final invoice includes additional amounts due from the
owner, the additional amounts, if not reimbursed to the association
before the 30th business day after the date the invoice is sent to
the owner, may be added to the owner's account as an assessment. If
the estimated costs exceeded the final invoice amount, the owner is
entitled to a refund, and the refund shall be issued to the owner
not later than the 30th business day after the date the invoice is
sent to the owner.
(i) An association must estimate costs under this section
using amounts prescribed by the policy adopted under Subsection
(h).
(j) Except as provided by Subsection (k) and to the extent
the information is provided in the meeting minutes, the association
is not required to release or allow inspection of any books or
records that identify the violation history of an individual unit
owner, an owner's personal financial information, including
records of payment or nonpayment of amounts due the association, an
owner's contact information, other than the owner's address, or
information related to an employee of the association, including
personnel files. Information may be released in an aggregate or
summary manner that would not identify an individual unit owner.
(k) The books and records described by Subsection (j) shall
be released or made available for inspection if:
(1) the express written approval of the unit owner
whose records are the subject of the request for inspection is
provided to the association; or
(2) a court orders the release of the books and records
or orders that the books and records be made available for
inspection.
(l) An association composed of more than 14 units shall
adopt and comply with a document retention policy that includes, at
a minimum, the following requirements:
(1) certificates of formation, bylaws, restrictive
covenants, and all amendments to the certificates of formation,
bylaws, and covenants shall be retained permanently;
(2) financial books and records shall be retained for
seven years;
(3) account records of current unit owners shall be
retained for five years;
(4) contracts with a term of one year or more shall be
retained for four years after the expiration of the contract term;
(5) minutes of meetings of the unit owners and the
board shall be retained for seven years; and
(6) tax returns and audit records shall be retained
for seven years.
(m) A member of an association who is denied access to or
copies of association books or records to which the member is
entitled under this section may file a petition with the justice of
the peace of a justice precinct in which all or part of the property
that is governed by the association is located requesting relief in
accordance with this subsection. If the justice of the peace finds
that the member is entitled to access to or copies of the records,
the justice of the peace may grant one or more of the following
remedies:
(1) a judgment ordering the association to release or
allow access to the books or records;
(2) a judgment against the association for court costs
and attorney's fees incurred in connection with seeking a remedy
under this section; or
(3) a judgment authorizing the unit owner or the
owner's assignee to deduct the amounts awarded under Subdivision
(2) from any future regular or special assessments payable to the
association.
(n) If the association prevails in an action under
Subsection (m), the association is entitled to a judgment for court
costs and attorney's fees incurred by the association in connection
with the action.
(o) On or before the 10th business day before the date a
person brings an action against an association under this section,
the person must send written notice to the association of the
person's intent to bring the action. The notice must:
(1) be sent certified mail, return receipt requested,
or delivered by the United States Postal Service with signature
confirmation service to the mailing address of the association or
authorized representative as reflected on the most current
management certificate filed under Section 82.116; and
(2) describe with sufficient detail the books and
records being requested.
(p) An association may not foreclose an assessment lien if
the debt securing the lien consists solely of amounts added to the
unit owner's account as an assessment under Subsection (h).
(q) For the purposes of this section, "business day" means a
day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a state or federal holiday.
SECTION 6. (a) Sections 81.209(b) and 82.114(b), Property
Code, as amended by this Act, and Sections 81.2091 and 82.1141,
Property Code, as added by this Act, apply only with respect to
information requested or sought on or after the effective date of
this Act. Access to information requested or sought before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
(b) The requirements of Sections 81.2091(l) and 82.1141(l),
Property Code, as added by this Act, apply only with respect to
books and records generated on or after the effective date of this
Act. Books and records generated before the effective date of this
Act are governed by the law applicable to the books and records
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect January 1, 2014.