SB2629

For condominium associations, the law expressly permits association meetings by electronic or telephone communication and electronic voting under Business Organizations Code section 6.002. That provision requires a system allowing every participant to communicate with all other participants; when voting occurs remotely, reasonable voter-identification measures and a record of votes or other action are required. It is subject to the code and governing documents. Final law; Remote-meeting safeguards.

Condominium board meetings may also use those methods, with required notice and each director able to hear and be heard by every other director. Before voting on a member’s fine, damage assessment, architectural-denial appeal or suspension of rights, the member must have an opportunity to attend a board meeting and present a position and defense. Unanimous written board consent without a meeting remains possible, with the same member-opportunity restriction and the action recorded with the minutes. These safeguards were already in prior law; the bill reorganizes them and removes the previous introductory exception for contrary declaration, bylaws or articles. It does not abolish notice or member protections. Final law; Previous condominium meeting law.

Condominium meeting notices still follow the bylaws first. Where the bylaws do not provide notice, the law replaces obsolete nonprofit-law references with current Business Organizations Code provisions: sections 6.051 and 22.156 for association meetings, and 6.051, 6.052 and 22.217 for board meetings. These address access information for remote meetings, member notice timing and board notice/waiver rules. The corporation requirement is unchanged; “certificate of formation” and “Texas Corporation Law” replace old incorporation terminology. Final law; General notice; Member notice; Waiver; Board notice; Previous organization rule.

For property owners’ associations covered by the Chapter 209 provisions, owners’ meetings may likewise use remote communications under section 6.002. Previously an owner had to be allowed to vote by absentee ballot or proxy; electronic ballot is now a third way to meet that requirement. Unless governing documents require otherwise, an association need not provide more than one method. Existing electronic-ballot identity, receipt and website-notice safeguards remain, as do the rules about in-person votes superseding earlier ballots and amended proposals. Final law; Prior meeting-notice rules; Prior voting rules.

Scope matters: Chapter 209 generally covers mandatory residential associations authorized to assess all or most subdivision property, not condominiums. Its specified older mixed-use master associations and associations subject to the identified public-information-law provision have exceptions to these meeting/voting sections. Condominium Chapter 82 generally applies to declarations recorded from January 1, 1994, or older condominiums that opted in; section 82.108 also reaches older condominiums subject to the statute’s protections for existing governing documents. The electronic-voting addition to section 82.110 is not separately listed in that older-condominium extension. Chapter 209 scope; Meeting exception; Voting exception; Condominium scope; Previous condominium voting law.

The five posted bill versions were compared through enrollment; no operative change was found. The official amendment index lists no amendments, so there is no rejected floor proposal being presented here as law. Version record; Amendment index; Final law.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Remote participation may make meetings easier to attend, while an electronic-only voting option can be harder for owners without suitable technology. These are practical possibilities, not measured outcomes. Associations still need to follow applicable safeguards and their governing documents; this briefing does not determine a particular association’s compliance. Final law.

The sole posted fiscal note anticipates no fiscal implication for state or local government. It does not estimate owners’ technology access or private associations’ software and administration costs. April 9 fiscal note.