A homeowner in Katy says he did what plenty of Texans try to do before buying into a deed-restricted neighborhood: he read the HOA rules first. Bernard Ukbu told KPRC 2 that he and his wife bought two homes in the Sunterra master-planned community as investment properties after confirming that leasing was allowed under the governing documents, as long as certain conditions were met.
Then, after the purchases, Ukbu said the association rolled out a new policy that changes the math for anyone who rents out a home there. In the source post, he described being told via an HOA email that landlords will now be charged a $1,000 annual leasing fee, on top of existing community costs.
Two purchases, made with the old rules in mind
Ukbu said he and his wife bought two homes specifically as rentals, and that the HOA’s governing documents at the time permitted leasing under certain requirements. That matters because, for most families, buying a rental home isn’t a casual decision—it’s a long-term plan built around predictable costs: the mortgage, insurance, maintenance, property taxes, and whatever the HOA charges each year.
Ukbu told the station that if the new $1,000 fee had already been in place, he would have weighed that cost before moving forward. Instead, he described it as “really distressful” because it arrived after the fact, when the properties and financing were already locked in.
The new policy: $1,000 per year, plus tighter leasing requirements
According to the email described in the report, the Sunterra HOA policy adds a $1,000 annual leasing fee for homeowners who rent out their property. The policy also includes additional requirements such as minimum 12-month lease terms, tenant registration, and lease documentation…