SUIT TO ENFORCE RESTRICTIONS

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the municipality may sue in any court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin or abate a violation of a restriction contained or incorporated by reference in a properly recorded plan, plat, or other instrument that affects a subdivision located inside the boundaries of the municipality. (b) The municipality may not initiate or maintain a suit to enjoin or abate a violation of a restriction if a property owners' association with the authority to enforce the restriction files suit to enforce the restriction. (c) In a suit by a property owners' association to enforce a restriction, the association may not submit into evidence or otherwise use the work product of the municipality's legal counsel. (d) In a suit filed under this section alleging that any of the following activities violates a restriction limiting property to residential use, it is not a defense that the activity is incidental to the residential use of the property: (1) storing a tow truck, crane, moving van or truck, dump truck, cement mixer, earth-moving device, or trailer longer than 20 feet; or (2) repairing or offering for sale more than two motor vehicles in a 12-month period. (e) A municipality may not enforce a deed restriction which purports to regulate or restrict the rights granted to public utilities to install, operate, maintain, replace, and remove facilities within easements and private or public rights-of-way.