Upscale Tennessee Neighborhood’s HOA Threatens Disabled Man With Lawsuit Over Wheelchair Ramp

A Homeowners Association (HOA) in an upscale Tennessee neighborhood has threatened a disabled man and his wife with a lawsuit over the wheelchair ramp he uses to get into and out of his home, Reverb Press is reporting.

Reverend Michael Broadnax lives in The Woodlands at Copperstone, a tony subdivision in Brentwood, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. Houses in the neighborhood fetch between $600,000 and $800,000. And the local HOA, like many HOA’s throughout the country, tightly controls what improvements can and can’t be made.

When Rev. Broadnax suffered a stroke last summer, his wife, Charlotte, had a wheelchair ramp installed so her husband, who is currently in the hospital, can receive therapy at home once he’s discharged.

“The nursing home said they were sending my husband home and I needed a ramp put up. I didn’t do this to deface my home. My priority was taking care of my husband.”

She thought nothing of it — until last week, when she received a letter from an attorney representing the HOA.

“The association demands that within 14 days of the date of this letter, you remove the wheelchair ramp and restore the exterior of your home… [The HOA’s contract] authorizes the association to come onto your property and remove the ramp and charge you with the work.. If you force the association to sue you, it will seek a court order [to charge the family for attorneys’ fees].”

A WSMV (Nashville) reporter contacted Ghertner and Company, the company that manages the HOA, to get their side of the story. The company issued a statement.

“The governing documents for this community require that all exterior improvements receive prior approval. A letter was sent to the owner regarding the ramp as no application for approval had been received. The board did not know the ramp was for the homeowner, Mr. Broadnax. The association would like to work with the owners on a compromise regarding the appearance and location of the ramp and compliance with any applicable codes.”

Rev. and Mrs. Broadnax are not the first couple to run afoul of their HOA for seemingly trivial reasons. In perhaps one of the most egregious examples of HOA fanaticism of late, a Missouri HOA forced the family of a six-year-old cancer patient to remove the little girl’s princess playhouse because it violated the HOA contract, according to this Inquisitr report.

As of this post, it is not clear what sort of compromise the disabled man’s family and his HOA are going to work out.

[Image courtesy of: Shutterstock/LesPalenik]