The challenge posed by algebra story problems creates a significant hurdle for many students, transcending both the mathematical content of the problem and the specific instructional background received. This study offers a distinctive contribution to the existing literature by focusing on the cognitive conditions essential for comprehension in mathematics, aiming to identify obstacles to comprehension on algebra story problems. A total of 40 participants engaged in a one-on-one task-based interview session, tackling algebra story problems of the students and professor variety. Analysis of the interview data uncovered three distinct categories of obstacles contributing to students formulating incorrect models of algebra story problems. The findings of this study offer detailed insights into these obstacle categories and present implications for future research.