08/28/2026
HOA BILLING ABUSE: Law Firm suing over $737 assessment demands $6,000 including 2027 Dues Early.
A Guadalupe homeowner has filed a formal complaint with the Texas Attorney General's Comsumer Protection Division exposing what consumer advocates call an egregious case of predatory fee-churning by a regional law firm acting on behalf of a local Homeowners Association.
Misti Brown, a homeowner of the Elley Crossing subdivision was blindsided this week by an aggressive 48 hour collection ultimatum issued by regional law firm Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC.
The firm is demanding an immediate payoff of $4509.74, escalating to over $6,083.33 under a mandatory payment plan -all originating from a core 2025 assessment delinquency that the HOA,s own internal accounting dashboard tracks as just $737.38.
Public court tracking ledgers filed in the Guadalupe County Court system (Case No.26-2716-CV-E) further compound the discrepancy, showing an official court tracking balance of $0.00.
Most alarming, the written payment terms provided by the law firm explicitly mandate that Ms. Brown pay her 2027 Annual Assessment dues early as a strict condition to settle the current dispute. Under Texas Finance Code §392.304, it is highly improper for third-party collectors to demand payment for future, unleaded corporate debts under threat of immediate litigation.
To secure these inflated figures, the property management firm, Alamo Management Company, has implemented an administrative "Access Denied" lock on the Homeowners online account portal, actively blocking her from paying her undisputed assessment balance directly to the HOA.
"They are intentionally locking me out of my own account to keep their self-generated billing wheel spinning." says Brown. "To demand next year's dues early while threatening my home over a court balance of 0.00 is completely unconscionable."
A formal case packet detailing the mathematical contradictions across three separate platforms has been forwarded to state regulators to investigate the widespread violations of the Texas Debt Collections Act (TDCA) and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDPCA).
