HOA Ordered to Pay $153K After Losing Fight With Homeowner

A Texas homeowner has prevailed after a six-year legal fight with her homeowners association, which tried to stop her from building a small backyard office and now faces more than $153,000 in legal costs.

Masha Davis, a resident of Austin’s Davis Spring subdivision, challenged the association after it rejected her plans in 2020 for a 160-square-foot backyard office, the New York Post reported. 

The HOA’s architectural review committee objected to the proposal, raising concerns over the structure’s height and whether it might function as a separate residence.

The planned office was only 10 feet wide and 16 feet long, with a height of 9 feet, 6 inches. It was designed to include electricity and air conditioning but no plumbing. Davis also said the structure would not be visible from the street.

Davis, who had retired, planned to use the space for consulting work. She also wanted it to provide a separate area where relatives could isolate during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She maintained that the HOA was relying on a height restriction that did not appear in the architectural guidelines legally in force when she submitted her application.

Davis filed suit against the association in January 2021, launching a protracted legal dispute that ultimately ended in her favor.

In August 2022, a Williamson County district court determined that the relevant architectural guidelines contained no height limit that barred the project. The court also ruled that the review committee lacked authority to reject the plans on that basis.

Masha Davis, a resident of Austin’s Davis Spring subdivision, has won a six-year legal battle with her homeowners association over plans for a small backyard office

The HOA’s architectural review committee rejected the proposal, citing concerns about the office’s height and whether it could be used as a separate dwelling

A second ruling, issued in January 2024, found that no restrictive covenant prevented Davis from constructing the office as planned.

The court later awarded Davis $100,000 in attorney’s fees, although she said her total legal expenses had risen to approximately $150,000.

Rather than challenge the decisions allowing the office to be built, the HOA appealed the award of attorney’s fees.

On September 29, 2026, however, the Texas Third Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the award and added $30,000 in conditional appellate attorney’s fees.

According to calculations supplied by Davis’s attorney, the association owed about $153,264 in attorney’s fees, court costs and interest as of November 5.

That total continues to rise, with interest adding roughly $34 each day.

The HOA represents around 570 homes. Davis said residents still had not been given a clear explanation of how the judgment would be paid.

She said the association had agreed to satisfy the judgment and that an attorney had started efforts to collect the money.

The association represents about 570 homes, and Davis said residents had not received a clear explanation of how the $153,264 judgment would be paid

Davis also questioned whether the association’s insurer, which paid for its legal defense, would cover the judgment or whether the bill would have to come from HOA funds.

During a November 3 board meeting, a former HOA president asked about the lawsuit’s potential financial impact. Davis said the board did not give a clear response.

Before stepping down in July 2020, Davis had served as vice president of the HOA board.

She is now calling for changes to Texas HOA law, including tougher accountability standards for association directors and restrictions on how much of their legal defense costs can be covered by insurance.

‘I kept going because I believed the HOA was wrong, and I didn’t want it to win simply by making the legal process too expensive for me,’ Davis told the Post.

‘An HOA should be required to follow the same rules it expects homeowners to follow. That shouldn’t be controversial.’