Texas HOA standby generator rights

Texas Property Code 202.019 says a property owners association cannot prohibit, restrict, or have the effect of blocking an owner from owning, operating, installing, or maintaining a permanently installed standby electric generator.

The board keeps a screening right in specific cases: when the unit is visible from the street the home faces, sits in an unfenced side or rear yard visible from a neighbor or from association property, or sits behind a wrought-iron or aluminum fence and shows through it. There is a hard limit, though. A provision that regulates the generator's location is unenforceable if it raises the cost of installing the unit by more than 10 percent.

If backup power is part of why you are buying, 202.019 protects the install and the packet tells you what the board can require around it. A document that bans all exterior equipment is the warning sign: it conflicts with state law on generators and suggests the rest of the rules may be dated.

Read these together before you make an offer:

• The CC&Rs and rules for a blanket ban on generators or exterior equipment, which is likely void as applied to a standby generator.
• The architectural guidelines for any screening or location requirements.
• Recent board minutes for how generator or equipment requests were handled.
• Whether a location rule would push the install cost up by more than 10 percent, which would make it unenforceable.

Generator rights are narrow, but a CC&R that bans them outright is a quick read on whether the document tracks current Texas law.

An HOA Notes brief reads the CC&Rs, the architectural guidelines, and the minutes together, flags the equipment rules that conflict with the Property Code, and cites the page behind every finding.

Texas Property Code section 202.019 (Standby generator rights). An association may not prohibit, restrict, or have the effect of prohibiting or restricting an owner from owning, operating, installing, or maintaining a permanently installed standby electric generator. The association may require screening when the generator is visible from the street or adjoining properties, regulate generator location on the lot, require use of licensed contractors, and set reasonable times for periodic testing; however, location or screening restrictions that increase installation costs by more than 10 percent are unenforceable.

When you read the disclosure packet, watch for no generators mechanical equipment or machinery on any lot, no permanent structures or equipment in any yard area, and all exterior equipment requires Board approval and may be denied. HOA Notes flags each of these against the statute and tells you which restrictions are actually enforceable.