Can a Declarant of an HOA revoked his own termination of authority 9 months after terminating said rights in Texas?
Good afternoon folks! I have a question regarding how voluntarily terminating your own rights work and if you can decide 9 months later that you want to revoke that termination.
I live in an HOA that is 100% developed, as in there is no more land to build anything. The declarant is retaining his rights over the HOA for the duration of the development period. The governing documents state that the development period is for 20 years. When asked why he will not terminate the development period, the declarant's response is "Well, my lawyer buddy says I should just hold on to them since I already have them." We have no common areas and no amenities. We have no land to even try to put any in even if we or he wanted to. All of this is beside the point of my main question. Just trying to give a little back story about the situation.
Back in August of last year, the Declarant filed a Partial Termination of Declarant Rights. This was drafted by his lawyer, signed, notarized, and filed with the county / state. Below is the wording from that document with the HOA's name removed for obvious reasons.
>XXX HOA PARTIAL TERMINATION OF DECLARANT RIGHTS [Board, ACC, and Rules and Regulations]
>XXX HOA PARTIAL TERMINATION OF DECLARANT'S RIGHTS
> This Partial Termination of Declarant's Rights ("Termination") is made and executed by XXX HOA 2019, LP, a Texas limited partnership ("Declarant") and is as follows:
> A. Declarant is the current "Declarant" under that certain Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for XXX HOA, recorded in Document No. 202134669, in the Official Public Records of XXX County, Texas (the "Declaration"), establishing the XXX HOA Residential Community, Inc., a Texas nonprofit corporation (the "Association").
>B. Pursuant to Section 7.2.1 of the Declaration, Declarant currently has the right to appoint and remove all members of the ACC until twenty-four (24) months after the expiration of the Development Period, or sooner as determined by the Declarant.
>C Pursuant to Section 4.3 of the Declaration, Declarant currently has the sole right to appoint and remove all members of the Board until the 10th anniversary after the date that the Declaration was recorded or sooner as determined by Declarant.
>D. Pursuant to Article 1 of the Declaration, Declarant currently has the right to unilaterally amend and must approve any amendment to the Rules and Regulations adopted by the Board until expiration of termination of the Development Period.
>E. The Development Period is a term of twenty (20) years after the date Declaration was Recorded and is ongoing.
>NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, Declarant agrees as follows:
>
>2. Termination of Right to Unilaterally Appoint and Remove Board. Declarant hereby causes this Termination to serve as notice that Declarant terminates its right to unilaterally appoint and remove the members of the board.
>3. Termination Right to Unilaterally Amend the Rules and Regulations and Approve Amendments to the Rules and Regulations Adopted by the Board. Declarant hereby causes this Termination to serve as notice that Declarant terminates its right to unilaterally amend the Rules and Regulations and to approve amendments to the Rules and Regulations adopted by the Board.
>4. Rights Retained. This Termination only pertains to Declarant’s rights expressly assigned or terminated herein. All other rights of the Declarant under the terms and provisions of the Declaration remain in full force and effect. The Declarant is not terminating the Development Period, and nothing in this Termination shall be construed as a termination of the Development Period.
>5. Capitalized Terms. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to such terms in the Declaration.
>EXECUTED to be effective on the date this instrument is Recorded. [SIGNATURE PAGE FOLLOWS]
This was filed with the state on 08/18/25. On 05/04/26 (last week), the home owners where given a new form from the declarant. This new form was titled Reinstatement of Declarant rights for Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for XXX HOA. Below is the text of this document.
>REINSTATEMENT OF DECLARANT RIGHTS FOR DECLARATION OF
COVENANTS, CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS FOR XXX HOA
>This REINSTATEMENT OF DECLARANT RIGHTS FOR DECLARATION OF
COVENANTS, CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS FOR XXX HOA
(“Reinstatement”) is made this 4 day of May, 2026, by XXX 2019, LP, a
Texas limited partnership (“Declarant”).
>WITNESSETH:
>WHEREAS, Declarant executed that certain Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and
Restrictions for XXX HOA (“Declaration”), dated September 1, 2021 and filed as Instrument No.202134669 of the Official Public Records of XXX County, Texas on September 2, 2021, applicable to certain real property described therein located in XXX County, Texas;
>WHEREAS, Declarant executed that certain XXX HOA Partial Termination of Declarant
Rights (“Partial Termination”), dated August 18, 2025 and filed as Instrument No. XXX of the Official Public Records of XXX County, Texas on August 19, 2025, thereby terminating or assigning certain Declaration rights held by Declarant;
>WHEREAS, pursuant to Declaration § 9.3, Declarant has the authority to unilaterally
amend the Declaration during the Development Period;
>WHEREAS, pursuant to Declaration Article 1, the Development Period began on the date of filing of the Declaration and ends twenty years thereafter unless terminated earlier by Declarant, has not been terminated by Declarant, and is ongoing;
>WHEREAS, Declarant desires to revoke and withdraw the Partial Termination and to
reinstate to Declarant all Declaration rights previously terminated or assigned in the Partial Termination;
>NOW, THEREFORE, Declarant does hereby publish and declare the following:
>The XXX HOA Partial Termination of Declarant Rights, dated August 18, 2025 and filed as Instrument No. XXX of the Official Public Records of XXX County, Texas on August 19, 2025, is hereby withdrawn and revoked in its entirety.
>Declarant revokes and withdraws each and every termination or assignment of rights described in the Partial Termination and reinstates such rights solely to Declarant as set forth in the Declaration.
>Declarant relies on its rights to unilaterally amend the Declaration during the Development Period to the extent this Reinstatement amends any language of the Declaration.
>All capitalized terms used herein but not defined shall have the same meaning as defined in the Declaration.
In the first document from last year, the Declarant terminated his rights to unilaterally amend the Declaration. Can he now come back almost 9 months later and just be like "JK guys, I am giving myself these rights back!"? It is my understanding that once something is terminated, it is final. Can someone please help me understand if the second notice holds and weight, or do you think he was hoping that the home owners would just accept it and move on without questioning it. I am not looking for advice, just an understanding of what is going on here.