Deed restrictions, and why there is no HOA

Timberwood has no homeowners association. There are no dues, no board, no architectural review committee, and nobody who sends violation letters.

Texas keeps a public registry of property owners' associations, because Property Code 209.004 requires an association to file a management certificate with the state. Timberwood does not appear in it. A search of that registry returns thirteen registered associations in Harris County, including several in Humble, and none of them is Timberwood.¹

Deed restrictions still apply

Deed restrictions come with the property, not with an association. They are a covenant that "runs with the property" and "limits use of properties within the subdivision", and buying the house makes you a party to them.² The absence of an association does not change that.

Three things follow from it.

Any neighbor under the same restrictions can enforce them. Houston's legal department lists who can sue: "a property owner within the subdivision", a homeowners association or civic club, and the city attorney.² Texas also awards attorney's fees to whoever wins a restrictive covenant case they brought, under Property Code 5.006.³

They can run out, in two ways. Most restrictions carry a time limit: "Most deed restrictions have an average life span of 25 to 30 years. Some are in effect in perpetuity," and many renew on their own unless owners act to stop it.⁴ Timberwood's were filed in 1977, so whether they are still in force depends on what the documents say. Nobody here has read them yet.

A restriction that goes unenforced can also be abandoned: "If an association has become so lax in enforcing a particular restriction that it appears to be no longer valid, a court may find that the restriction has been abandoned." A court weighs how serious the past unenforced violations were, how much the person now enforcing the rule relied on it when they bought, and how many lots have gone unenforced.⁵

A city can sometimes enforce them, and Humble probably cannot. Subchapter F of Chapter 212 of the Texas Local Government Code lets a city "sue in any court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin or abate a violation of a restriction" recorded against a subdivision inside its limits.⁶ Houston does this through its legal department and cites that chapter as its authority.⁷ Section 212.151 limits the subchapter to a city of 1.5 million or more that has passed an ordinance requiring uniform enforcement, one small lakeside city, or a city with no zoning ordinances that has passed that same ordinance.⁶ Houston qualifies on population. Humble has around 16,000 people, so it would have to fall into the third group, and no such ordinance appears in its code.

Getting a copy

Timberwood's recorded restrictions are public. The Harris County Clerk holds them, and they can be looked up through the Real Property search, which asks for a "Subdivision or Description" and an instrument type.⁸ There are four restriction codes to search: RESTR (Restrictions), DREST (Deed Restriction), NOTICE (Notice of Restrictions) and AMEND (Amendment).⁹

Scanned images go back to November 1, 1960, so the 1977 filings are included.⁸ Viewing them is free, the copy shown carries a watermark, and an account is needed to buy a clean one.⁸ In person, the Clerk is at 201 Caroline, Suite 320, in Houston, and plain paper copies are $1.00 a page.¹⁰

Most owners also received a copy of the restrictions in their closing packet.

Still open

• What the documents say, starting with how long they last and whether they renew
• Whether the City of Humble ever passed the ordinance section 212.151 calls for⁶
• Whether there was ever a volunteer civic club here
• Which restrictions apply to which section, and whether any have been amended

See also

• Permits, which is a separate question from restrictions
• How Timberwood got here