$153,000 HOA Bill After 6-Year Fight Over a Tiny Backyard Office Leaves Neighbors Wondering Who Pays
A Texas woman wanted a quiet place to work in her backyard. Instead, she spent six years fighting her homeowners association over a building smaller than many bedrooms.
Masha Davis planned to add a 160-square-foot office behind her Austin home in 2020. The Davis Spring homeowners association rejected her plans, claiming the small building broke neighborhood rules.
Davis refused to give up. She took the HOA to court and won the right to build, along with $100,000 toward her legal fees. The association kept fighting, but a Texas appeals court upheld the award in September 2026.
Now the neighborhood association faces a bill of more than $153,000, including legal fees, court costs, and interest. According to the New York Post, the bill continues to grow while residents question who will pay for it.
A Small Request
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The trouble began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Davis, who had retired, wanted a separate space for consulting work and a place where family members could isolate if needed.
Her plans were modest. The office would measure just 10 feet by 16 feet, with electricity and air conditioning but no plumbing. It would sit behind her house, out of sight from the street.
Still, the HOA had concerns. Its review committee said the building was too tall and could be used as another home on the property.
Davis disagreed. She believed the neighborhood rules in place when she applied did not ban her office or set the height limit the HOA was trying to enforce.
Rather than abandon the project, she filed a lawsuit in January 2021.
The Rules Didn’t Match
The HOA’s argument began falling apart in court. In August 2022, a Williamson County judge found that the neighborhood guidelines did not contain the height restriction used to reject Davis’s plans.
Another ruling in January 2024 cleared the way for the office, finding that the community’s rules did not prohibit the building she had proposed.
By then, Davis had spent years fighting over something she believed she should have been allowed to build from the start.
The court ordered the HOA to pay $100,000 toward her attorney’s fees. But instead of accepting that bill, the association challenged the award.
On September 29, 2026, the Texas Third Court of Appeals sided with Davis, leaving the $100,000 award in place.
Neighbors Get the Bill
Winning in court did not mean Davis immediately received the money. As of November 5, her attorney calculated that the association owed about $153,264, with interest adding roughly $34 each day.
The Davis Spring association represents about 570 homes. Davis told the New York Post that residents had not received a clear answer about how the bill would be paid.
She said the HOA’s legal defense was covered by insurance, but questions remained about whether insurance would also cover the judgment.
At a November 3 board meeting, a former HOA president raised concerns about the financial impact. According to Davis, the board did not explain where the money would come from.
Still Pushing Back
Davis previously served as vice president of the HOA board before resigning in July 2020. She has since become an advocate for stronger rules governing homeowners associations in Texas.
Her concern goes beyond her own office. She wants greater accountability for HOA board members and changes to how legal defense costs are handled.
For Davis, giving up would have meant allowing the association to win simply because she could no longer afford the fight.
“I kept going because I believed the HOA was wrong, and I didn’t want them to be able to win just by making the process too expensive for me,” she told the New York Post.
The office she fought to build is now standing in her backyard. Davis has said the association agreed to pay the judgment, and her attorney has begun efforts to collect the money.
