AUSTIN -- The Texas Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday that would restrict the use of foreclosures by homeowners associations and provide financial relief to an elderly Houston widow who lost her home because of late dues. 

The bill, filed a week ago by Sen. Jon Lindsay, R-Houston, would allow homeowners to recover the equity in their home if it was auctioned for less than its market value, as was the case with 82-year-old Wenonah Blevins. 

Blevins was evicted last month for not paying dues of $814.50. Her case prompted legislators to reconsider restricting homeowners associations' powers, an issue that has died in past sessions. The associations, which have a powerful lobby, enjoy considerable sway in cities that, like Houston, lack zoning regulations. 

"It's just not right for someone to be able to have substantial equity in their home to then lose it over a small amount of debt," Lindsay said. 

Under the proposed law, which would be retroactive to Jan. 1, Blevins would receive nearly $145,000 from the Champions Community Improvement Association because she had paid off the $150,000 home, and it was auctioned for $5,000. 

Advocates for homeowners associations said the bill was a knee-jerk reaction to Blevins' plight. 

"I'm pretty shocked," said Margey Meyer, president of Prime Site Inc., a Houston community association management firm. "What happened to Ms. Blevins is so emotional that the Legislature is forgetting what would happen if homeowners associations would not be able to foreclose." 

Meyer and others said that, without the ability to foreclose, homeowners associations will go bankrupt because they would not have an effective tool to collect assessments. 

Without such a tool, they say, homeowners associations will lose the money needed to landscape and, in the case of neighborhoods in unincorporated areas, keep streetlights turned on and hire off-duty peace officers. 

"I'm very concerned about anything we might do that would have the potential to hinder or eliminate an association's ability to foreclose," said John Carona, R-Dallas, one of the two senators to vote against the bill. 

"This bill could, in effect, do that for many associations because they do not have the financial resources or the reserves necessary to go in and make these types of purchases and foreclosures." 

A possible compromise lies in a bill that Carona is sponsoring. Like Lindsay's legislation, the Carona bill has passed the Senate, but Carona's is closer to passage in the House. 

Carona's bill would allow a homeowner 90 days after an eviction notice or two years after a foreclosure sale to buy back the home and pay fees of up to 25 percent of the auction price. 

This right of redemption is similar to that which a taxing entity, such as a city or county, must follow when it forecloses a home. No such right currently exists for private foreclosures. 

Michael Gainer, a Houston lawyer who represents several homeowners associations, said a right of redemption of two years after foreclosure is too long and would have a chilling effect on bid prices for properties. 

"Ninety days is about right," he said. "Even 120 to 180 days is probably reasonable." 

Homeowners association supporters appeared to accept Carona's bill grudgingly, especially in light of Lindsay's bill, which they view as considerably more punitive. 

Lindsay does not believe his bill strips the associations of their ability to foreclose. He had filed three bills, two of which barred foreclosure altogether but were later dropped. 

The bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday would establish a minimum value, usually the appraised value minus liens and back taxes, for which an association could auction a property. 

If a property were auctioned for less than the minimum value, the original owner could sue the homeowners' association for the difference, as well as legal fees. 

If a property were sold above the minimum value, any profit left over after payment of the sale expenses and late assessments would have to be paid to the original owner. 

Marian Rosen, Blevins' attorney, welcomed Lindsay's bill and said it was a necessary companion to the Carona legislation. 

"I'm gratified to see that the Texas Legislature is trying to do something about this problem," Rosen said. "It should have been done some time ago."