Resident wants handicapped parking place

Q: I really enjoyed your article about accommodations for the disabled on Sept. 4. As a member of a homeowners association (in an age-qualified) community, I have an additional question.

Our rules and regulations require residents to park their cars in the twocar garages attached to each housing unit. No street parking is allowed. The rules also indicate that the two-car can garage only be used for incidental storage; and that storage should not impede the parking of two vehicles.

We have a resident who says that he cannot park his vehicle in the garage because of his handicap and insists that the HOA allow him to park in guest parking on the street. His wife, who is not handicapped, parks in the garage, but since he is using his garage for additional storage and says he cannot get his vehicle in the garage. He doesn’t appear to have a handicap since he walks from his residence to the guest parking area, in addition to walking around the community. The majority of our residents have handicap placards but seem to be able to get two cars into their garages. Is there anything we as concerned residents can do to require him to park in his garage?

A: A number of years ago, one of my associations had a similar issue. The homeowner had a two-car garage with access to the interior of the home. One of the cars was a very expensive and luxurious vehicle and the other a sports utility vehicle, which was designed to accommodate the family member with the disability. When the two vehicles were parked in the garage, they did not have enough space to allow the disabled family member to exit the SUV.

This community had limited street parking and there was one handicapped parking space near the home. The homeowner wanted the handicapped parking space to be dedicated to them. It was the board’s position that the homeowner should park the luxury vehicle in the common parking area near their home and allow the SUV to be parked in the garage. The association wanted to keep the handicapped space open to allow use for other homeowners and or their guests. The association board was adamant as to its position.

The homeowner contacted the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and filed a formal complaint. The nightmare began and it cost the association thousands of dollars of legal fees to defend its position. Now, you would have thought that the investigators from HUD would initiate a logical investigation. Go to the home, see that the homeowner had a two-car garage that had ample room for the SUV and that the luxury vehicle should be parked in the common area parking lot. That did not happen.

I was personally interviewed by three HUD gentlemen which almost felt like a modern day inquisition with the association’s legal counsel present at my side. They then began an investigation visiting homeowners in the community to ascertain whether the association promoted discrimination in enforcing its rules and regulations of the community. Weeks later, I was working late at the office when I saw the latest communication from the association’s attorney that came from the investigators, a possible settlement. I literally fell off my chair. The settlement included the association buying the homeowner’s home and paying the homeowner money to allow the homeowner to buy another home in a different community. This is when I called our congressional representative, Shelley Berkley as I was beyond furious over the entire matter.

I tell this story because associations have to be more than careful when making assumptions (in this case, is the person really disabled) and taking action that appears to be quite logical and fair as was my association’s case, where the Pandora’s Box was opened with unexpected consequences.

Ultimately, should you contact legal counsel who practices in this field and who is knowledgeable of association’s law. Here are some questions that I have for this association to consider. Is the association enforcing its regulation that the garages should not be used for storage? If so, what documentation does the association have to provide as evidence that such a policy is being equally enforced within the community? Does the association have ample guest parking throughout the community? Is the guest parking by the homeowner always full? These are some of the kinds of questions that the association would have to answer if a formal investigation were to begin in a discrimination case, along with other questions as to whether the association practices some form of discrimination, in general, at their community.

As an end to my story, no, the association did not agree to the settlement and common sense began to prevail with the intervention of our congregational representative but at a significant cost in money and managerial time in closing the complaint.

THINKSTOCK/PHOTODISC