Elections & Governance · Texas · Evergreen

Candidate Eligibility for the HOA Board in Texas: Who Can Run?

Election disputes almost always start with an eligibility question. The Texas board that handles candidate vetting with discipline and documentation prevents most of them. The board that improvises invites every one.

The Bottom Line

Eligibility to serve on a Texas community-association board is governed by three nested layers: the governing documents (declaration and bylaws); the Texas statute (Property Code Chapter 209 for residential subdivisions; Chapter 82 for condominiums); and the Texas Business Organizations Code Chapter 22 (general nonprofit corporation framework). The default position is that any owner in good standing can serve, subject to specific disqualification grounds in the governing documents. The Texas statute does not impose categorical candidate disqualification grounds the way Florida condominium law does — but it does impose a mandatory candidate-solicitation and ballot framework for associations with more than 100 lots under Property Code § 209.00593. Boards should publish eligibility criteria in advance, vet candidates against those criteria consistently, and handle disqualifications through a documented process — not on the night of the meeting.

Operational Context: Why Eligibility Disputes Are So Common

Elections are the most procedurally exposed activity a Texas community association conducts. The decisions are time-sensitive, the participants are emotionally invested, and the consequences are personal. Candidates who are disqualified for cause sometimes accept the determination; many don’t, particularly when the disqualification feels like board self-preservation. The dispute that follows almost always traces to one of two failure modes: eligibility criteria that weren’t published in advance, or criteria that were applied inconsistently. Both are entirely preventable.

The Texas board that runs a clean eligibility process starts by reading the declaration, the bylaws, and the statute together, identifying the eligibility requirements that apply to the association, publishing them in the notice that opens the candidacy window, vetting each candidate against the same checklist, and documenting each disqualification with a written, citation-supported determination.

The Three Layers of Eligibility Authority in Texas

1. The Governing Documents

The recorded declaration and the bylaws are the primary source of eligibility rules for Texas community associations. Common provisions include:

• Ownership requirement. Most Texas associations require that a candidate be a record owner of a lot. Some allow spouses, beneficiaries of trust owners, or entity representatives to serve in specific circumstances; many do not.
• Good standing / delinquency requirement. Many Texas bylaws require that a candidate not be more than a defined period delinquent on assessments. Common thresholds are 60 or 90 days.
• One-director-per-household rule. Some bylaws prohibit co-owners of a single lot from both serving simultaneously.
• Residency requirement. Some older Texas bylaws require that directors reside in the community (this provision is increasingly disfavored in newer documents).
• Term limits. Some bylaws cap the number of consecutive terms a director may serve.
• Conflict-of-interest grounds. Bylaws sometimes disqualify candidates with active material conflicts (e.g., a candidate who is the principal of a vendor under contract with the association).
• Criminal conviction provisions. Some older Texas bylaws include conviction-based disqualifications; see below for cautions on applying them.

2. Texas Property Code Chapter 209

Texas Property Code Chapter 209 (the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act) does not generally impose categorical candidate disqualification grounds. The governing documents control eligibility. The most significant statutory addition is the candidate-solicitation framework at § 209.00593, which applies to associations with more than 100 lots:

• At least 10 days before disseminating ballots, the association must provide notice soliciting candidates, with instructions for requesting placement on the ballot and the deadline to submit the request.
• The deadline for candidate requests may not be earlier than 10 days after the notice.
• Notice must be mailed to each owner or posted in a conspicuous manner on common property (or other approved locations) and emailed to each owner who has registered an email address.
• The association must include on each ballot the name of every eligible candidate who timely submitted a request. The board cannot unilaterally exclude a timely-submitted, eligible candidate.

Texas Property Code § 209.00591 addresses board composition requirements. § 209.00592 addresses annual meeting requirements. Texas condominium associations under Chapter 82 follow the eligibility rules in their bylaws and the relevant condominium-statute provisions.

3. Texas Business Organizations Code Chapter 22

TBOC Chapter 22 is the general nonprofit corporation framework that undergirds Texas community-association governance. It sets baseline director-eligibility requirements: a director must be a natural person of legal age and capacity. Most Texas community-association bylaws build on this framework by imposing owner-specific requirements. TBOC does not independently impose disqualification grounds beyond the baseline capacity requirement.

Common Texas Bylaw Disqualifications

While the statute imposes few categorical disqualifications, common Texas bylaws include:

• Delinquency on assessments beyond a specified period (often 60 or 90 days).
• Being subject to an active suspension of voting rights for any reason permitted by the documents.
• Not being an owner of record (some bylaws permit spouses, beneficiaries, or entity representatives; many do not).
• Conviction of certain crimes within a defined look-back period — see the cautions below before applying these provisions.

The Conviction Question: Tread Carefully

Some Texas bylaws disqualify candidates with certain criminal convictions. Boards applying these provisions should be cautious for several reasons:

• Texas bylaws-based conviction provisions are not statutorily required and may be more vulnerable to challenge, particularly when they reach offenses unrelated to the candidate’s fitness to serve on a board of directors.
• Disparate-impact concerns under the Fair Housing Act may apply if the conviction-based disqualification produces a discriminatory effect on a protected class. HUD guidance on criminal-history screening in housing decisions (2016) is directly relevant.
• Verification is procedurally tricky. Boards should not run informal background checks; if conviction-status is to be considered, the process must be structured, documented, and consistently applied.

Counsel involvement is recommended for any disqualification on conviction grounds.

The Co-Owner Question: Who Counts as “The Owner”?

When a Texas lot is owned by a married couple, a family trust, an LLC, or two co-tenants, the question of who can run for the board becomes nuanced. The general framework:

• Husband-and-wife co-ownership. Many Texas declarations treat the couple as a single owner with one vote. Some bylaws permit both to run; others permit only one, particularly where a one-director-per-household rule applies.
• Trust ownership. The eligibility question turns on whether the Texas bylaws permit the beneficial owner or the trustee to serve. Most bylaws permit one or the other — rarely both.
• LLC or entity ownership. A natural person designated by the entity is typically eligible if the bylaws permit entity-owner representation. Some bylaws disqualify entity-owned lots from board service entirely.

These are document-specific questions. The election committee or the board should resolve them by reading the bylaws — not by inference.

The Eligibility-Vetting Workflow

1. Publish eligibility criteria in advance. The candidate-solicitation notice under § 209.00593 (for 100+ lot associations) should include the eligibility checklist. Owners should know what they need to satisfy before they submit a candidacy request.
2. Request written candidacy with required attestations. The candidacy request form should include attestations on each eligibility element (ownership, good standing, no disqualifying conviction within scope, no conflict of interest).
3. Verify each element. The election committee (or the secretary) verifies ownership of record against deed records; good standing against the assessment ledger; conflicts against the vendor list and director-disclosure forms.
4. Document the determination. Each candidate’s file should contain the candidacy request, verification documents, and a written determination of eligibility or disqualification with a citation to the governing-document section or statute relied on.
5. Notify the candidate. A candidate determined ineligible should be notified in writing, with the basis stated and the opportunity to cure (where curable, e.g., paying outstanding assessments) within a defined window.
6. Include all eligible, timely-submitted candidates on the ballot. Under § 209.00593, the association must include on each ballot the name of every eligible candidate who timely submitted a request. A board cannot unilaterally exclude a timely-submitted, eligible candidate from the ballot.
7. Maintain the records. The election file remains part of the association’s records for the statutory retention period under § 209.005.

Why This Matters

Eligibility disputes set the tone of the election. An owner who feels they were improperly disqualified often becomes the leading source of post-election challenges, regardless of the merits of the underlying eligibility question.

Selective application is the failure mode. Disqualifying one candidate for delinquency while overlooking another candidate’s delinquency is the structural pattern that produces successful election challenges. Consistency is the entire defense.

The § 209.00593 deadline is jurisdictional. For Texas associations with more than 100 lots, late candidacy solicitation can invalidate the election or expose the association to a member challenge. The deadline must be calendared well before the annual meeting cycle begins.

The Fair Housing overlay is real. Eligibility criteria that produce disparate effects on protected classes can convert a routine board election into a Fair Housing complaint. This is most acute for conviction-based provisions.

Best-Practice Guidance

1. Adopt a standing eligibility checklist.

Develop a one-page checklist that captures every eligibility element under the governing documents and statute. Use the same checklist every election cycle.

2. Publish it with the candidacy solicitation notice.

Owners should never be surprised by an eligibility rule. The § 209.00593 notice (for 100+ lot associations) or the equivalent bylaw notice should include the eligibility criteria and the procedure to challenge an eligibility determination.

3. Use an election committee, not the sitting board.

Wherever the bylaws and budget permit, run candidate vetting through an independent election committee. This is a structural defense against perception of incumbent self-protection.

4. Provide a cure window for curable disqualifications.

Delinquency is often curable. Notifying the candidate of the determination with sufficient time to cure (e.g., pay the outstanding assessments) and re-confirm eligibility before the ballot deadline is the equitable and defensible posture.

5. Document every determination with citation.

Each eligibility decision — eligible or ineligible — should be supported by a written record citing the specific bylaw, declaration provision, or statute relied on.

6. Treat conviction-based provisions cautiously.

Run any conviction-based disqualification through counsel. Confirm the provision is in force, that the conviction falls within scope, and that the application is consistent across candidates. Consider the Fair Housing disparate-impact exposure.

7. Resolve close calls before the meeting.

Eligibility disputes raised on the floor of the annual meeting almost always escalate. Resolve them administratively, with notice and a record, in the weeks leading up to the election.

Common Mistakes & Pitfalls

Actionable Takeaways

1. Read the declaration and bylaws together; extract every eligibility element into a written checklist.
2. For Texas associations with more than 100 lots, calendar the § 209.00593 candidate-solicitation notice deadline — at least 60 days before the annual meeting.
3. Publish eligibility criteria with the candidacy-solicitation notice.
4. Adopt a candidacy form with attestations on each eligibility element.
5. Stand up an election committee with the verification responsibility — not the sitting board.
6. Provide written determination letters with citations for every disqualification.
7. Include a cure window for delinquency-based disqualifications where the governing documents permit.
8. For conviction-based provisions, engage counsel before application and confirm Fair Housing exposure has been considered.
9. Maintain the election file for the statutory retention period under § 209.005.

Related CIC-SC Resources

• Texas Candidate Solicitation Requirements Under § 209.00593
• Inspector of Elections — Role, Selection, and Responsibilities
• Electronic Voting in HOA Elections — Rules and Requirements
• How to Handle a Contested Election
• Member Petition Rights — What Owners Can Require Boards to Do
• Fair Housing Act — What HOA Boards Must Know
• Texas Business Organizations Code Chapter 22 — What HOA & Condo Boards Must Know

References & Sources

1. Common Interest Community Standards Council, Fundamentals of Association Management — chapter on Elections, Member Rights, and Governance Procedure.
2. Texas Property Code Chapter 209 — Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act.
3. Texas Property Code § 209.00591 — Composition of board; related election framework.
4. Texas Property Code § 209.00592 — Annual meeting of property owners.
5. Texas Property Code § 209.00593 — Election of Board Members; candidate solicitation procedures for associations of more than 100 lots.
6. Texas Property Code § 209.005 — Association records; retention requirements.
7. Texas Business Organizations Code Chapter 22 — Nonprofit corporation framework for Texas community associations.
8. HUD, Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions (April 4, 2016) — disparate-impact framework for criminal-history-based decisions.
9. Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3631.

Tags: candidate eligibility · HOA board election · § 209.00593 · co-owner candidacy · delinquency disqualification · election committee · candidacy form · Fair Housing · Texas HOA

CICSC publishes this article for educational and informational purposes only. It is not legal, tax, accounting, engineering, insurance, or financial advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Statutory references and operational frameworks are intended to support informed governance, not to substitute for advice from qualified legal counsel and other professional advisors familiar with your jurisdiction and your association's facts. CICSC, its authors, and its members assume no liability for actions taken in reliance on this content.