Texas court upholds $100,000 legal fee award for homeowner
The Texas Third Court of Appeals affirmed the decision after a homeowner successfully challenged her association's rejection of a backyard office.
The Texas Third Court of Appeals affirmed a $100,000 award for attorney fees on September 29, 2026, following a dispute over a backyard structure. According to the Times of India, the legal battle began in 2020 when Masha Davis, a resident of the Davis Spring subdivision in Williamson County, Texas, sought to build a 160-square-foot accessory structure.
The Davis Spring Property Owners’ Association and its board president, Amanda Mock, had denied the application. The association's Architectural Review Committee claimed the proposed home office exceeded permitted height limits and rose above the roofline. Davis argued that the community's design guidelines did not contain such height restrictions.
A trial court previously found that the 2002 Design Guidelines, which were the only records available when the application was submitted, lacked any height limitations for the structure. The court ruled the committee had no basis to deny the request based on height or other restrictive covenants.
While other claims involving fair housing violations and breach of fiduciary duty were dismissed, the challenge to the restrictive covenants continued for over four years. Davis's legal team requested $149,680.25 in fees, citing approximately 300 hours of attorney work and 37 hours of paralegal time.
The association and Mock appealed the $100,000 award, arguing that Davis was not entitled to the expenses under the Texas Property Code and that costs were not properly itemised. The appellate court rejected these arguments, stating the association had not raised the statutory objection during the original proceedings.