If the Texas heat wave turns your front lawn brown, can your HOA punish you?

A homeowners association, if the deed restrictions say so, can require you to have a grass lawn and ornamental shrubs and to keep them green, says J. Patrick Sutton, an Austin-based real estate attorney who specializes in HOA law.

The sweltering heat of North Texas can quickly turn front lawns brown if not watered, but can HOAs really compel members to keep the grass green? If you buy a home in Texas these days chances are you are buying into an HOA. More than 21,000 homeowners’ associations exist in Texas managing 2,093,000 homes, with residents paying $9.5 billion a year to maintain their communities, according to the Community Associations Institute.

An HOA is still subject to local government restrictions however, so if a city or county halts watering, the HOA must comply. Sutton expects that, in coming years, local governments will act to limit grass watering. If an HOA is in a county that doesn’t limit water use, that’s probably where Texans are most likely to see issues, he said. Those areas also tend to be where water is most expensive because they often have private water companies.

“I definitely see problems down the road with HOAs that insist on lawns being watered to keep them green,” Sutton said.

What can Texas homeowners do to change restrictive rules?

If an HOA board is against water conservation and not required by the local government to limit watering, homeowners can get politically active in their subdivision, force a special meeting and vote out the directors standing in the way of water conservation. In addition, a majority of property owners can amend the restrictive covenants to eliminate the requirement of grass lawns, Sutton said.

Also, the HOA cannot prohibit you from installing drought-resistant or water-conserving turf and plants, Sutton says. Per the Texas Property Code Section 202.007, a property owners’ association may not include or enforce a provision in a governing document that prohibits or restricts a property owner from:

1. implementing measures promoting solid-waste composting of vegetation, including grass clippings, leaves, or brush, or leaving grass clippings uncollected on grass;

2. installing rain barrels or a rainwater harvesting system;

3. implementing efficient irrigation systems, including underground drip or other drip systems; or

4. using drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving natural turf.