Tonight at 10- we’re talking about the increase in the number of Houston-area bank robberies committed by women. A neat tool an investigator told me about is Bandit Tracker. Law enforcement officers use it to see pictures of bank robbers all over the country… and compare the pictures and crimes to robberies in their own jurisdictions; but anyone can log onto the site. If you recognize one of the suspects, call the police agency investigating the case.
New HOA Laws
September 2, 2011 - Leave a Response
Thursday at 5pm, we aired a story about a slew of new HOA laws that came out of this Legislative session. Some took effect in June, some yesterday… and some will start in January. We couldn’t include all 32 of the laws in our 2 minute report; but some of you have called and emailed asking where you can get a list. For your convenience, I am posting all of the new laws here. The summary of each new law is very general. For specifics and exceptions, refer to the House or Senate bill or the Texas Property Code to read the law in its entirety.
Rain Barrel Rules (Texas Prop. Code 202.007d) HB3391 Effective 9/1/11
HOAs must permit owners to install and use rain-harvesting devices if they meet certain architectural requirements.
Solar Panels (Texas Property Code 202.010) HB 362 Effective 6/20/11
HOAs must permit owners to install solar panels with certain permissable limitations.
Storm Shingles (Texas Property Code 202.011) HB 362 Effective 6/20/11
HOAs must allow owners to install shingles of certain materials made to resist wind and hall, provide heating/ cooling efficiency, or generate solar energy.
Flags (Texas Property Code 202.011) HB 2779 Effective 6/20/11
HOAs must permit owner to display the US, Texas or military branch flag, with permissible limitations.
Religious Display (Texas Property Code 202.018) HB 1278 Effective 6/20/11
HOAs must allow an owner to display religious items on his front door or doorframe, with certain permissible limitations.
Open Board Meetings (Texas Property Code 209-0051) HB 2761 Effective 1/1/12
Board Meetings (regular and special) must be open to owners, with some exceptions.
Meeting Notice (Texas Prop. Code 209.0056) HB 2761 Effective 1/1/12
HOAs must give owners notice of an HOA-wide election or vote.
Recount Procedures (Texas Prop. Code 209.0057) HB 2761 Effective 1/1/12
HOAs must conduct a recount of an election vote if requested by an owner.
No Secret Ballots (Texas Prop. Code 209.0058) HB 2761 Effective 9/1/11
Secret Ballots are prohibited.
Owner Voting Rights (Texas Prop. Code 209.0059) HB 2761 Effective 9/1/11
Owners may not be disqualified from voting for any reason.
Director Qualifications (Texas Prop. Code 209.00591 & .00592) HB 2761 Effective 9/1/11
Owner director qualifications are void; all owners may run for the Board.
Developer Director Transition (Texas Prop. Code 209.00591c) HB 2761 Effective 1/1/12
Establishes time frame when non-declarant owners must be elected to the Board.
Electronic & Absentee Ballots (Texas Prop Code 209.00593 & .00592) SB 472 & HB 2761 Eff. 9/1/11
Electronic and absentee ballots votes are valid if the ballots meet certain requirements.
Director Appointment (Texas Prop. Code 209.00593) HB 2761 Effective 1/1/12
Directors may not be appointed to positions whose terms have expired.
Election Vote Tabulators (Texas Prop. Code 209.00594) SB 472 & HB 2761 Effective 9/1/11
Only election vote tabulators allowed access to ballots.
Annual Meetings & Elections (Texas Prop. Code 209.014) HB 2761 Effective 1/1/12
HOAs must hold annual meetings or owners may themselves call an election meeting.
Recording Requirement (Texas Prop. Code 202.006) HB 1821 Effective 1/1/12
Unrecorded HOA dedicatory instruments are of “no effect.”
Website Posting (Texas Prop. Code 207.006) HB 1821
An HOAs dedicatory instruments must be posted on an HOA “publicly accessible” HOA website that must include copies of all governing documents of the HOA (i.e., declaration, bylaws, rules, articles and all amendments).
Declaration Amendment (Texas Prop. Code 209.0041 (SB 472) Effective 9/1/11
Declarations may be amended by 67% of the Owners (or less stated in the declaration).
Open Records (Texas Prop. Code 209.005) HB 2761 Effective 1/1/12
HOAs must adopt and file an open records policy; open records procedures established.
Records Retention Policy (Texas Prop. Code 209.005m) HB 2761 Effective 1/1/12
HOAs must adopt a records retention policy; certain statutory time frames established.
Military Notice (Texas Prop. Code 209.006b) HB 1127 Effective 1/1/12
Mandatory inclusion of military notice established.
Payment Plan Guidelines (Texas Prop. Code 209.0062) HB 1228 & HB 1821 Effective 1/1/12
Payment plans required and guidelines are mandated.
Application of Payments (Texas Prop. Code 209.0063) HB 1228 Effective 1/1/12
Mandatory application of payments schedule. States HOA must apply owners’ payments in the following order: delinquent assessments, current assessments, attorney fees or third party collection costs, other attorney fees, fines, other amounts.
Third Party Collections (Texas Prop. Code 209.0064) HB 1228 Effective 1/1/12
Required notice to owner prior to turning delinquent accounts over to a third party collection agent and certain contingency fee arrangements made unenforceable against an owner.
Copy Charge Foreclosure (Texas Prop. Code 209.009) HB 2761 Effective 1/1/12
No HOA foreclosure for copy charges related to books and records.
Junior Lienholder Notice (Texas Prop. Code 209.0091) HB 1228 Effective 1/1/12
Prior notice of foreclosure must be sent to junior lienholders.
Judicial Foreclosure (Texas Prop. Code 209.0092) HB 1228 Effective 1/1/12
Non-judicial HOA foreclosures prohibited.
Foreclosure Amendment (Texas Prop. Code 209.0093) HB 1228 Effective 1/1/12
Foreclosure provisions can be added or removed by owners from declaration.
Lien Notices (Texas Prop. Code 209.0094) HB 1228 Effective 1/1/12
Confirms prior law that HOA lien notices and similar instruments affect title to property.
Transfer Fees (Texas Prop. Code Chap. 5, subchap. G) HB 8 Effective 6/17/11
Certain types of transfer fees are prohibited with general exceptions for most HOA transfer fees.
Resale Certificates (Texas Prop. Code 207.003) HB 1821 Effective 1/1/12
New requirements and time frames for resale certificates are established.
Two other websites you might be interested in:
Bagged at Target
June 30, 2011 - 2 Responses
Have you heard about Target’s recyclable bag policy? If you bring a reusable bag to the store, Target will give you a 5 cent discount for NOT using one of its plastic bags.It seems like a good idea to get people thinking about recycling. But it seems like Target employees are missing the point. I recently walked to a Target near my house, pushing my son in his stroller. At the check-out, I told the clerk I didn’t need a bag because I could just put my purchases in the bottom part of the stroller. Then she refused to give me the 5 cent discount because she said I wasn’t using a recyclable bag. What??!?
Which Family Deserves a Free Home Energy Makeover?
June 4, 2011 - Leave a Response
Well… they’re all deserving… but only one can win! And you get to choose.
Click here to read about the families and cast your vote.
The folks over at Thirty Green and Gary Parr on KSEV are pooling contractors to overhaul one home. The goal is to cut their electric bill in half by making the home more energy efficient. The winner may get a new AC, hot water heater, windows… all sorts of stuff. Vote now and tune into KSEV 750 AM today at 2pm. I’ll be on the air with Gary talking about the contest and the finalists.
Baby Formula Deal Too Good Not to Share
May 1, 2011 - One Response
Yes, yes! I am still here! I know my last post was mid-Feb., and now it’s almost May. I am buried in Babyville (typing with one hand, holding Jack with the other right now)!
Little Jackson Five Eisenbaum was born March 8, 2011. Ever since, my days go something like this: Feed Jack, change Jack, calm Jack, hurry and clean the bottles/ wash poopy baby clothes/ scarf down lunch while Jack is sleeping, repeat. Yes, my beautiful baby boy is keeping me busy; but I found a deal I wanted to share with other first time parents out there.
Abbott Nutrition is selling a 48-pack of 2-oz Similac Advance Ready-to-Feed Formula bottles (normally $41.94) for $13 + Free Shipping.
My husband and I have found these bottles so convenient for feeding Jack on the go. Just stash several bottles in your diaper bag… and you don’t have to worry if you can’t find a private or clean place to nurse in public. But convenience comes at a cost. At Target, the 8 bottles will cost you $6.99 or .87 a bottle. With this deal, you pay only .23 a bottle.
Just go to the Similac site and use promo code LUTEIN. Shipping is free. If you stack with promo code THANKS15, the price is just $11.13 (This code is only usable if you are a new customer for an additional 15% off and is limited to one request per household, one code per family).
Some websites say that the promo codes above have expired, but we just used it this week and they worked.
