Texas HOA Board Roles & Responsibilities
What each board position actually does, how many people you need, and how to keep a volunteer board functioning as members rotate out year after year — including where board composition is actually set by state law versus your own bylaws.
Texas at a Glance
Most HOA boards have three to five members, elected by the membership for terms set in the bylaws — often one to two years, frequently staggered so the entire board doesn't turn over at once. Your specific bylaws define much of the exact structure, but in some states, part of that structure — minimum board size, owner-eligibility, or officer requirements — is actually set by statute, not left to the association to decide.
⚠ Common mistake: Assuming Texas's minimum board size comes from HOA law. It comes from general nonprofit corporation law, which applies only if your association is incorporated as a nonprofit, so check your articles of incorporation.
Here's the ArmadealioIn everyday terms…
Texas's main HOA law (Chapter 209) covers property owners associations but not condos. It sets who can serve and how contracts with board members work; board size comes from nonprofit law.
President
Runs board meetings, is usually the primary point of contact with homeowners and outside parties (attorneys, vendors, the county), and typically has authority to sign on the association's behalf for routine matters. The president does not unilaterally make board decisions — actions still require a board vote — but does set the agenda and keep meetings moving.
Secretary
Keeps official records: meeting minutes, the membership roll, and official correspondence. In a self-managed HOA, the secretary is often the person who ends up being the institutional memory of the association — the one who can answer "wait, when did we actually vote on that?" This role matters more than it sounds like it should, because undocumented decisions are one of the most common sources of later disputes.
Treasurer
Handles dues collection, financial reporting, and the annual budget process. Many associations require some form of annual budget, and increasingly a reserve study projecting future major expenses. The treasurer role is also the one most commonly outsourced even in an otherwise self-managed association — hiring an accountant or bookkeeper for the mechanics while the treasurer sets policy and reviews the numbers is common and often worth the cost.
Texas — Officer RequirementsGeneral corporate law
If the association is incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, it must have a president and a secretary and may have vice presidents, a treasurer, and other officers. One person may hold two or more offices, except that the president and secretary must be different people.
Minimum board size and who can serve
Whether your association has a statutory floor on board size, and whether some or all of the directors must be owners, depends on your state. Where a rule exists, it usually comes from one of two places: a law written specifically for homeowners or condominium associations, or general nonprofit corporation law, which applies only because the association is incorporated as a nonprofit. The badge on each rule below shows which one applies in Texas.
Texas — Minimum Board SizeGeneral corporate law
If the association is incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, at least 3 directors. Chapter 204 of the Property Code also sets a 3-member minimum for the associations it covers.
Texas — Owner/Member RequirementHOA/condo statute
Chapter 209 generally voids provisions in the association's dedicatory instruments that restrict a property owner's right to run for the board.
Texas — Other Eligibility Rules
With limited exceptions, a person may not serve on the board if they live at the same primary residence as another board member. A board member convicted of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude within the past 20 years is ineligible to serve.
Dillo ExplainsPsst… here's what this actually means…
With limited exceptions, two people who live together can't both be on a Texas HOA board, and a felony or crime of moral turpitude in the past 20 years makes a board member ineligible.
Term limits
Some states cap how long a single director term can run. A cap on one term is different from a limit on how many terms in a row someone can serve: a term cap alone doesn't stop a director from being re-elected. That takes a separate consecutive-term limit. Check both rows in the reference below for Texas.
Texas — Term LimitsBylaws/documents
No statutory maximum. If the association is incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, directors serve the terms set by the certificate of formation or bylaws.
Conflict-of-interest disclosure
If a board member stands to personally benefit from a contract or decision the board is voting on, several states require a specific disclosure process before that vote can happen — not just a general "act in good faith" expectation. Some states wrote this rule directly into their HOA or condominium statute; others expressly import the state's general nonprofit corporation conflict-of-interest rules instead of creating a separate one.
Texas — Conflict-of-Interest RuleHOA/condo statute
Under Chapter 209, an association may enter into an enforceable contract with a current board member only if specific statutory conditions are met. If the association is incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, a transaction in which a director has an interest can also be approved after disclosure by a majority of the disinterested directors.
The Dillo-DownOkay, minus the legalese…
In Texas, an HOA contract with a current board member isn't enforceable unless specific statutory conditions are met, so check Chapter 209 before any board member does paid work for the association.
⚠ Common mistake: Treating a conflict of interest casually because "everyone already knows" a board member has a stake in a vendor contract. In states with a statutory disclosure requirement, informal awareness isn't the same as a documented disclosure — skipping the formal step can make the contract itself challengeable later, regardless of whether the board's decision was actually reasonable.
Additional roles on larger boards
Associations with five or more board members sometimes add a vice president (covers for the president, sometimes chairs a specific committee like ARC) and an at-large member with no fixed portfolio, available to take on whatever the board needs — chairing a violations committee, leading a specific project, or simply providing another vote and perspective.
Can one person hold two roles?
It depends mostly on your bylaws, and in some states on the statute itself. Very small associations sometimes explicitly allow combining roles out of necessity. Others prohibit certain combinations — most commonly, keeping treasurer separate from any role with check-signing authority, as a basic financial control. Check your specific bylaws, and the state reference below, before assuming either way.
The real challenge: surviving turnover
The hardest part of running a self-managed board usually isn't any single role — it's what happens when the person who understood how everything worked rotates off the board and nobody wrote it down. A self-managed HOA has no institutional memory beyond what the current board happens to remember or document. The associations that handle this well share one habit: they write things down as they happen, not from memory afterward — meeting minutes the same day, a violation logged when it's observed, a decision recorded the moment it's made.
State-by-State Quick Reference
Select your state below for its actual board-composition rules. Every field is tagged with where the rule comes from — a statute written for HOAs or condominiums, general nonprofit corporate law that happens to apply, or your own governing documents — because those aren't the same thing, even when the resulting number looks identical.
| Scope / governing statute | Texas Property Code Chapter 209 (the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act) applies to property owners associations but not condominiums, and sets board eligibility and board-member contract rules. Chapter 204 also governs the associations it covers and requires them to be nonprofit. If the association is incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, Business Organizations Code Chapter 22 also applies. The rules below include 2025 amendments. |
| Minimum board size General corporate law | If the association is incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, at least 3 directors. Chapter 204 of the Property Code also sets a 3-member minimum for the associations it covers. |
| Owner/member requirement HOA/condo statute | Chapter 209 generally voids provisions in the association's dedicatory instruments that restrict a property owner's right to run for the board. |
| Other eligibility rules | With limited exceptions, a person may not serve on the board if they live at the same primary residence as another board member. A board member convicted of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude within the past 20 years is ineligible to serve. |
| Officer requirements General corporate law | If the association is incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, it must have a president and a secretary and may have vice presidents, a treasurer, and other officers. One person may hold two or more offices, except that the president and secretary must be different people. |
| Max individual term Bylaws/documents | No statutory maximum. If the association is incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, directors serve the terms set by the certificate of formation or bylaws. |
| Consecutive-term limit | Chapter 209 does not address consecutive terms. |
| Conflict-of-interest disclosure HOA/condo statute | Under Chapter 209, an association may enter into an enforceable contract with a current board member only if specific statutory conditions are met. If the association is incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation, a transaction in which a director has an interest can also be approved after disclosure by a majority of the disinterested directors. |
| Citation | Tex. Prop. Code §§ 204.004; 209.002; 209.0052; 209.00591; Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code §§ 22.204; 22.208; 22.230; 22.231 |
Read the law
What Texas's law actually says about board composition, in its own words, with links to the full text where available:
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Tex. Prop. Code § 209.003(d)
- Governing Statute / Scope: “This chapter does not apply to a condominium as defined by Section 81.002 or 82.003.”
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Tex. Prop. Code § 204.004(b)
- Governing Statute / Scope: “The association must be nonprofit and may be incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation.”
- Minimum Board Size: “The association's board of directors or trustees must be 3”
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Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 22.204(a)
- Minimum Board Size: “If the corporation has a board of directors, a corporation may not have fewer than three directors.”
- Required Officer Positions: “The officers of a corporation shall include a president and a secretary and may include one or more vice presidents, a treasurer, and other officers”
- Required Officer Positions: “Any two or more offices, other than the offices of president and secretary, may be held by the same person.”
- Maximum Individual Term: “Directors other than the initial directors are elected, appointed, or designated for the terms provided by the certificate of formation or bylaws.”
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “the board ... authorize the contract or transaction by the affirmative vote of the majority of the disinterested directors”
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Tex. Prop. Code § 209.00591(a)
- Owner/Member Eligibility Requirement: “a provision in a dedicatory instrument that restricts a property owner's right to run for a position on the board ... is void”
- Additional Eligibility Rules: “A person may not serve on the board ... if the person cohabits at the same primary residence with another board member”
- Additional Eligibility Rules: “the board member was convicted of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude not more than 20 years before”
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “An association may enter into an enforceable contract with a current association board member ... only if the following conditions are satisfied”
Making the transition easier
Formtabulous keeps your association's records — elections, violations, ARC requests, homeowner communication — in one place that survives board turnover, instead of scattered across whoever's personal inbox happened to handle it.
See how it works →Texas — Common Questions
This article is general information about how HOA boards typically operate and is not legal advice. The specific roles, terms, and requirements for your association are set by your bylaws and, in some states, statute — consult the governing documents and, where needed, a qualified attorney for your specific situation.