AUSTIN -- The Texas Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation today that restricts the use of foreclosure by homeowners' associations and provides financial relief to an elderly Houston woman who lost her home because of late dues. 

"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," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Jon Lindsay, R-Houston. 

Lindsay has quickly moved the bill through the Texas Senate after learning this past week of the case of Wenonah Blevins, an 82-year-old widow whose home was auctioned in March for her failure to pay homeowner dues totaling $814.50 with interest and fees. 

Her $150,000 home in the Champions area, which she had fully paid off, was auctioned to a private buyer for $5,000. 

The legislation now moves to the House, which already has a clogged calendar with hundreds of bills under consideration and less than three weeks left in the session. Still, given Blevins' public plight, Lindsay said he expects that the bill can be pushed through. 

Lindsay's bill would essentially allow homeowners to recoup the equity in their home if a homeowners' association had it auctioned for unpaid dues. In Blevins' case this would amount to about $140,000 that would be owed to her. 

The second prong of legislative efforts to aid Blevins is also in the House, where an amended bill would give owners who lose their homes to foreclosure by a private association two years to repurchase the property for the auction cost plus a small fee. 

That bill has yet to be scheduled for a floor debate. 

Similar efforts to restrict the power of homeowners' associations have died in past legislative sessions because of a powerful lobby by the private groups, which enjoy considerable sway in cities such as Houston that lack zoning regulations. 

Blevins' troubles have sparked the Legislature to revisit the issue and have, in the Senate's case at least, overwhelmed lobbying efforts.