Tarr v. Timberwood Park Owners Association, Inc.
San Antonio, Bexar · TX · Supreme Court of Texas
Member win · rentals
What happened
Kenneth Tarr bought a Timberwood Park (San Antonio) home in 2012. After a work transfer to Houston, he advertised on VRBO, formed an LLC to manage rentals, and in mid-2014 entered many one-to-seven-day rentals. The association notified him that rentals violated residential/single-family restrictions and obtained summary judgment enjoining the practice; the Fourth Court of Appeals affirmed. On May 25, 2018, the Supreme Court of Texas reversed and remanded, holding the covenants did not unambiguously ban short-term vacation rentals.
What the court (or agency) held
Tarr won on the covenant-interpretation issue. Unambiguous Timberwood restrictions limiting tracts to residential purposes and single-family residences did not, by themselves, prohibit short-term vacation rentals or treat temporary occupancy as non-residential. Courts may not inject duration or “business” limits under the guise of interpretation where the text does not. Association summary judgment improper; remanded for further proceedings consistent with that holding.
Why this matters for members
Texas STR disputes start with the deed-restriction text. Labels like VRBO, hotel taxes, or profit motive do not automatically convert residential use into forbidden commercial use if activity on the lot itself remains ordinary residential occupancy without on-site business indicia. Associations that want length-of-stay bans generally need covenants that say so.
What the member did
Challenged the HOA's reading of the covenants and sought review in the Supreme Court of Texas.
What did not work
Lower courts had accepted the HOA's argument that temporary stays were not 'residential.'
Questions for the board
- Do the recorded Timberwood (or similar) covenants expressly limit rental length, or only say residential/single-family?
- What on-site activity (leasing office, signage, hotel services) if any is the board claiming?
- Has the association amended covenants after Tarr, and were proper amendment procedures followed?
- How is enforcement being applied across comparable short-term rental homes?
Questions for a lawyer
- Under Tarr, do these exact covenants unambiguously allow or forbid the owner’s STR pattern?
- What factual issues remain on remand after the Supreme Court’s interpretation holding?
- Would different covenant language (hotel ban, minimum lease term) change the result?
- How do hotel-tax remittances and off-site advertising affect the residential-use analysis?
Citation
Tarr v. Timberwood Park Owners Association, Inc., 556 S.W.3d 274; No. 16-1005 (Tex. 2018) (2018-05-25). Supreme Court of Texas. Outcome chip: member_win. Flags: remand. Source: https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1441730/161005.pdf
_General information, not legal advice. Outcomes turn on facts and current law._
General information, not legal advice. Outcomes turn on facts and current law.