Oklahoma Senate Bill SB2149

Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/2/26
• Refer: 2/3/26

Caption

Cities and towns; requiring county clerks to remove certain language. Effective date.

Summary

SB2149 amends Oklahoma law governing restrictive covenants in residential additions and plats. The bill preserves existing procedures for amending restrictive covenants by parcel-owner vote, including notice requirements and supermajority thresholds, and it adds a specific mechanism for creating or changing a neighborhood association covenant. Under that mechanism, an amendment may establish mandatory participation for future successors-in-interest, while current owners are exempt from mandatory participation at the time the amendment is recorded. The bill also requires notice by mail and publication before such amendments are considered, and it allows later revocation by a 60% owner vote. A central feature of the bill is its treatment of discriminatory language in recorded plats. It authorizes a municipality, after notice and local approval, to amend an existing plat to remove an illegal discriminatory restrictive covenant and directs the county clerk to remove that language from the recorded plat. The bill further declares that illegal discriminatory restrictive covenants in recorded plats are unenforceable, unlawful, null and void, and severed from the remainder of the plat, which remains effective. The act is set to take effect November 1, 2026.

Impact

The bill would amend 11 O.S. Section 42-106.1, expanding the statutory framework for modifying residential restrictive covenants and clarifying municipal authority over discriminatory plat language. It would affect property owners in residential additions, neighborhood associations, municipalities, planning commissions, and county clerks by setting procedures for notice, voting, recording, and removal of unlawful covenant language. It also reinforces that discriminatory covenants tied to race or other protected characteristics are unenforceable under state law and may be administratively removed from recorded plats.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears generally remedial and administrative rather than controversial in its core purpose, with a focus on cleaning up recorded property documents and aligning them with fair housing law. There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided materials, so no formal opposition or support is documented. The bill’s structure suggests an effort to balance property-owner control over covenant changes with municipal authority to eliminate unlawful discriminatory language.

Contention

The most likely points of contention are the bill’s treatment of neighborhood association creation and the level of owner consent required for covenant changes. Some property owners may object to amendments that create mandatory participation for future successors-in-interest or that allow changes by supermajority rather than unanimous consent. Another possible issue is the municipality’s authority to direct county clerks to remove discriminatory language without approval from all parcel owners, although the bill expressly states that such approval is not required when removing illegal discriminatory restrictive covenants.