Can an HOA ban short-term rentals in Texas?

Often yes. Texas has no statewide short-term rental preemption statute, and an HOA declaration is a private contract that can be amended to restrict or prohibit short-term rentals. Tarr v. Timberwood Park (Tex. 2018) held only that a bare residential-purposes-only covenant does not by itself bar short stays.

What Tarr actually decided

Tarr v. Timberwood Park Owners Association, No. 17-0088 (Tex. 2018), is the case every investor hears about and almost nobody reads. The Texas Supreme Court held, unanimously, that where renters use a single-family home for a residential purpose, the rental does not violate a bare "residential purposes only" covenant — regardless of how short the stay is (Texas Municipal League, Short-Term Rentals).

Read the scope of that carefully, because the scope is the whole point:

It is a case about interpreting a specific covenant. The declaration in Timberwood Park said "residential purposes" and did not define the term, did not set a minimum lease length, and did not address transient occupancy.
It is not a holding that HOAs cannot restrict short-term rentals.
It says nothing about city zoning, city permits or licensing. A municipal ordinance is a separate body of law and Tarr does not touch it.

The useful way to state the rule: a Texas HOA that wants to stop short-term rentals generally needs language that actually does that. A generic "residential use only" clause, standing alone, does not.

How an HOA gets to yes anyway

Deed restrictions are private contracts among the owners. Most Texas declarations include an amendment mechanism, typically requiring some supermajority of owners. If the membership amends the declaration to define a minimum lease term, prohibit transient occupancy, or ban short-term rentals outright, the analysis changes — and Texas appellate courts have upheld amended restrictions that restrict short-term rentals (Silberman Law Firm, analysis of the Tarr ruling).

That is the exposure nobody prices in. A buyer can close on a property whose current declaration is silent, run it as a short-term rental profitably, and then watch the association amend the declaration two years later. Whether a particular amendment binds a particular owner — and whether any grandfathering applies — depends on the amendment language, the declaration's own amendment provision, and the facts. That is a question for a Texas real estate attorney, not for a real estate agent and not for a forum post.

There is no state law overriding any of this

Texas does not have a statewide short-term rental preemption statute. HB 2127 (2023) does not specifically cover short-term rental regulation, so cities retain their authority to license and restrict them (Texas Municipal League).

The practical result is that a Texas short-term rental sits under two independent sets of rules that do not talk to each other:

Public law — the city ordinance, zoning, permitting, and hotel occupancy tax.
Private law — the recorded declaration, deed restrictions and any POA rules.

Either one can stop the business. Neither one cures the other.

A city permit is not HOA permission, and HOA permission is not a city permit

This is the sentence to remember. In Boerne, for example, the city issues a short-term rental permit under Ordinance No. 2023-09 with a fee, an inspection, an insurance minimum and a block-face separation rule. Holding that permit says nothing about whether the subdivision's declaration allows the use. And a friendly HOA board says nothing about whether the city will issue the permit.

A buyer underwriting a short-term rental needs both cleared, independently, before the option period expires. Clearing one and assuming the other is how a deal closes and then cannot operate.

Note also that Boerne is in Kendall County and is not governed by San Antonio's ordinance. Whatever city the property sits in, read that city's rules.

How to actually check the private side before you close

The declaration is a recorded document. It can be pulled and read.

Get the full recorded declaration and every recorded amendment, not the HOA's summary sheet and not the listing agent's description. Amendments are where the restriction usually lives.
Order the subdivision information, including the resale certificate. Under Texas Property Code Chapter 207, a property owners' association must provide subdivision information on proper written request, including assessments, unpaid amounts, certain known violations, insurance, certain pending litigation and transfer restrictions. Delivery is within 10 business days of a written request, and the certificate must be prepared no earlier than 60 days before delivery.
Read the minutes and any pending amendment notices. An amendment already circulating for a vote is the clearest possible warning, and it will not show up in the covenants themselves.
Ask whether the association has enforced against short-term rentals before. Enforcement history is a fact; assurance is not.
Have a Texas real estate attorney read the declaration if the investment thesis depends on the answer. Interpreting covenants is legal work.

The TREC forms that carry the HOA side of a Texas transaction are the Addendum for Property Subject to Mandatory Membership in a Property Owners Association (form 36-11, effective 07/01/2026) and Subdivision Information, Including Resale Certificate (form 37-5).

The condominium wrinkle

Condominium regimes operate under their own declaration and rules, and a condo association can carry rental restrictions, minimum lease terms and registration requirements that read nothing like a single-family HOA's covenants. Tarr involved a single-family subdivision. Do not port its reasoning onto a condo declaration without an attorney reading the actual document.

The short version for an investor

A bare "residential purposes only" covenant, by itself, probably does not stop a short-term rental in Texas, under Tarr.
Nearly anything more specific than that probably does.
The declaration can be amended later, and amended restrictions have been upheld.
The city can regulate independently, because no state statute preempts it.
Both boxes have to be checked before closing, and the declaration is the box people skip.

Questions about a specific property?

Call or text 830-446-3847 · Email heath.shepard@kw.com

This page explains how Texas deed restrictions and city ordinances interact as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. A Texas real estate attorney is the right person to tell you what a specific declaration permits for a specific property.