The "Norchester Constitution"
A.K.A. Norchester Maintenance Fund, Inc. 
Governing Documents
We have chosen to name this page “Norchester Constitution” (with no offense intended to our forefathers) because it contains accessible copies of Norchester’s current governing documents, as well as the most recent drafts of the proposed new governing documents. When newer draft versions become available, they will replace older ones.  

New By-Laws and Deed Restrictions have not been finalized at this time. These documents are still dynamic, and being modified by the Document Control Review Committee. Open discussion and review meetings continue. Notices of the meetings appear on Nextdoor Norchester and elsewhere on this website. In the meetings, contrasting opinions are evident and debated. All are invited and your input is solicited by the Committee. When the Committee believes the documents best represent the Norchester Homeowners’ goals, then the documents will be put up for a vote. The Board of Directors DOES NOT control the decision related to passing or rejecting these documents. It is ultimately in the hands of the Homeowners to decide Norchester’s future. Any change to the governing documents can only be made with the approval of 2/3 of the Norchester Homeowners (We the People). 

See the current governing documents GoTo.
There are many opinions, pro and con, related to the rules and regulation and fees under which Norchester will operate in the future. This page contains only access to the “Norchester Constitution” documents themselves. For commentary about the governing documents, please look at the posts on Nextdoor Norchester and other pages on this website, Norchester.org.  The Blog page has several commentaries discussing the needs of Norchester.  There is information on Cathy's Page and Current Topics related to our governing documents and the need for changes. 

Norchester has begun the process to adopt newer governing documents.  For more information GoTo.

Fee Structure History

2019 NMF Fee Structure

In December 2018, Sections 1, 2, and 3 passed an Amendment to the Restrictions, raising the annual lot fee to $500 for 2019, and then raising $50 per year until the fee reaches $700. Any increase after the fee reaches $700 requires a vote from the Homeowners. Owners with multiple contiguous lots in these Sections pay 50% of the base fee for the 2nd lot. The lot fee for Norchester South (Section 4) has been raised to $412 for 2019, and will be increased minimally 10% per year until parity is reached for Sections 1, 2, and 3. 


2020 NMF Fee Structure

The annual lot fee for 2020 in Sections 1, 2, and 3 is $550.  Owners with multiple contiguous lots in these Sections pay 50% of the base fee for the 2nd lot.  The lot fee for Norchester South (Section 4) has been raised to the same as Sections 1, 2, and 3 for 2020.


2021 NMF Fee Structure

The annual lot fee for 2021 in Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 is $600. Owners with multiple contiguous lots pay 50% of the base fee for the 2nd lot.


2022 NMF Fee Structure
The annual lot fee for 2022 in Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 is $650. Owners with multiple contiguous lots pay 50% of the base fee for the 2nd lot.


2023 NMF Fee Structure
The annual lot fee for 2023 in Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 is $700. Owners with multiple contiguous lots pay 50% of the base fee for the 2nd lot.


2024 NMF Fee Structure

The annual fee for 2024 is the same as 2023.

The following is a synopsis of the Declaration of Fines

In 2019, the NMF Board of Directors adopted the following schedule of fines. The decision to fine (or not fine) for a violation is determined by the Board. The intention is to maintain the Norchester Subdivision’s welfare, and be fair to its Homeowners as much as practical. A full copy of this 8 page document can be downloaded by clicking GoTo.

Fine Schedule. 
The following fine schedule has been adopted for all recurring covenant violations:

First violation                                                           Courtesy Letter
Second violation (of same covenant or rule)           $50.00         
Third violation (of same covenant or rule)               $100.00 plus certified demand fee 
Forced Maintenance                                                At Cost 
Fourth and subsequent covenant violations may be turned over to the Association's attorney to take appropriate legal action. Any      Owner committing three or more violations of the same nature within a six (6) month period may be immediately turned over to           the Association's attorney for appropriate legal action after the required registered violation notice has been sent.

Waiver of Fines. 
The Board may waive all, or any portion, of the fines if, in its sole discretion, such waiver is appropriate under the circumstances. Additionally, the Board may condition waiver of the entire fine, or any portion thereof, upon the Violator coming into and staying in compliance with the Articles, Declaration, Bylaws or Rules.

Please be aware that the above fees are preceded by third party costs to the NMF to correct violations of the restrictions. Payments of the fees are used to help offset out of pocket costs to the Association.  

Our HOA's best way to gain compliance with our deed restrictions is the integrity of the individual homeowner coupled with a fair administration of the rules by the HOA. If a homeowner chooses not to follow our deed restrictions, then our HOA is placed in the undesirable condition of trying to enforce the rules by imposing fines or, after extended non-compliance, ultimately filing a lawsuit against the homeowner. The HOA and the homeowner are then in a lose-lose battle. It has been the goal of the current HOA Board of Directors to avoid this lose-lose position by engaging in discussions with the homeowner; to reach an amicable solution. This has worked most of the time. However, the deed restrictions must be fairly applied to all residents. Consequently, the HOA will resort to legal action if necessary to protect the Norchester Subdivision.   

The following documents are the current Norchester Maintenance Fund Governing Documents for our Subdivision.
Articles of Incorporation
 
The Norchester Maintenance Fund, Inc. is a corporation under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act.  A copy of the Articles of Incorporation can be downloaded by clicking the Button below.  The Articles of Incorporation have not been changed. 
Download Articles of Incorporation
By-Laws

The attached file is a modified copy of the By-Laws.  It has been modified cosmetically to make it easier to read.  
Current Restrictions

The current governing document  in effect for the Norchester Maintenance Fund is the document “Restrictions” that was approved a number of years ago when Norchester merged Sections 1, 2, 3 and Norchester South. Norchester plans to replace this single document with two new documents (the By-Laws and the Deed Restrictions). A copy of the current governing document (Restrictions) is available as a PDF file for download. Click the Button below to download this file.
Download current Restrictions governing document. Download Resolution of Statutory Policies.

New documents have been filed with Harris County by the Norchester Maintenance Fund to better enforce the Norchester Deed Restrictions.  You can download a copy of the documents here.  DOWNLOAD the "Notice of Dedicatory Instruments".

Supplemental Notice of Dedicatory Instruments (September 2021)

Recent changes in the Texas law applicable to Homeowners Associations have been accommodated by adoption of the "Bid Solicitation Policy", "209 Hearing Policy" and the "Display of Religious Items Policy". Click on DOWNLOAD to open the PDF of these additions to Norchester's Governing Documents.


New Governing Documents for Norchester (DRAFT VERSION)

Below are the first drafts of the new governing documents that Norchester needs - to implement and replace our current  out-of-date, inconsistent and fragmented governing documents.  (More detailed discussion has been presented in the Norchester News. (GoTo) It is the goal of the current Board of Directors to get a consensus and then voter approval of new documents by the end of 2021, providing the next Board of Directors a sound basis of operations for the long term future of Norchester.  This will be an ongoing process of input from Homeowners to achieve an adequate consensus before going to the full official voting stage.  Without substantial support from the Homeowners, it will not be possible to achieve this goal of comprehensive, and up-to-date, governing documents for Norchester.

At this point, there are three draft documents to review:

  1. Amended and Restated Certificate of Formation (DOWNLOAD) - This replaces our Articles of Incorporation
  2. Amended and Restated Bylaws (DOWNLOAD)
  3. Amended, Restated and Consolidated CCR's (DOWNLOAD)

Please send any comments or questions to Cathy Dunn, Norchester Maintenance Fund President, using the Contact form on Cathy's Page (GoTo).

Note: The following dissertation is out of date now, as the Amendments have been approved.  However, the information is relevant to why the fees needed to increase over the next few years. 

The following is now historical information and is left on the website for reference.  The Amendments for Sections 1, 2 and 3 were passed for 2019.  Section 4 voted to accept the same fee structure in 2020 as the other sections.   

Amendment Synopsis in Layman's Language

This First Amendment to Restrictions Norchester, Section (1 or 2 or 3 or South), pertains specifically to changing the HOA fees (Maintenance Charge) to be paid to the Norchester Maintenance Fund. 

Currently the fee is capped at $375 per lot. This amendment changes the annual fee to $500 per lot for the year 2019, $550 per lot for the year 2020, $600 per lot for the year 2021, $650 per lot for the year 2022, $700 per lot for the year 2023. The fee can be paid in two payments if the lot owner chooses to do this. The first installment for 2019 is $250 due by January 31, 2019, and the second installment is due May 31, 2019. Owners of a second, undeveloped lot will pay 50% of the full lot fee. Changes beyond 2023 are tied to actual cost increases.  

A provision for a special assessment if the need arises is added, subject to a 51% approval vote of a quorum of the lot owners. 

Each section of Norchester (Section 1, Section 2, Section 3, and Section 4-South) had its own amendment for approval by the lot owners. Sections 1, 2, and 3 require 51% of the current lot owners voting for approval in order to become effective. Section 4 (South) requires 67% of the current lot owners voting for approval.

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