Sometimes the Good Guys Win!
You might have heard me bloviating about the Andover Forest Homeownes Association in Kentucky. Seems they were going to start fining and/or suing the family of a three year boy named Cooper.
Cooper has cerebral palsy, you see, and several family doctors have recommended that he be allowed to have a playhouse of his own to help with his therapy.
BAM! That ran into a brick wall of stiff necks at the HOA Board Meeting. “Nobody gets an exemption from the covenents, not even a sick kid!” you can just hear that kind of language being hurled about.
Both sides “lawyered up,” which means thousands of dollars have already been spent.
After tons of national and international publicity, the HOA lawyer, Nathan Billings said, “The Board of Directors would allow the playhouse to stay in the family’s yard for the time being.
“There has not been a denial of the requested accomodation for the playhouse. There is a continued temporary exemption of the playhouse pending the parties mediating the dispute or a court determining what information the association is entitled to.”
Don’t you just love the weasel words that come from most lawyers? What he really means is, “this case is good for some more money. Let’s just keep it moving along, slow down the process, collect our billable hours as long as we can get away with it.”
In the meantime, little Cooper is smiling at us from the window of his nice new playhouse.
Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association
