Hollis v. Chestnut Bend Homeowners Ass'n

• Decision Date: 29 July 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–6434.,13–6434.
• Citation: 760 F.3d 531
• Parties: Charles M. HOLLIS, Jr.; Melanie Hollis, Individually and as Next Friends for H.H. and C.A.H., two minor children, Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. CHESTNUT BEND HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

760 F.3d 531

Charles M. HOLLIS, Jr.; Melanie Hollis, Individually and as Next Friends for H.H. and C.A.H., two minor children, Plaintiffs–Appellants,

v.CHESTNUT BEND HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 13–6434.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: June 19, 2014.

Decided and Filed: July 29, 2014.

ARGUED:Stephen M. Dane, Relman, Dane & Colfax PLLC, Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Gary R. Wilkinson, Law Office of Gary R. Wilkinson, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee. ON BRIEF:Stephen M. Dane, Ryan C. Downer, Relman, Dane & Colfax PLLC, Washington, D.C., Larry L. Crain, Crain, Schuette & Associates, Brentwood, Tennessee for Appellants. Gary R. Wilkinson, Law Office of Gary R. Wilkinson, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Before: SILER, CLAY, and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

In this appeal we are asked to determine the proper summary-judgment framework for evaluating a reasonable-modification claim brought under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Melanie and Charles Hollis filed a complaint against the Chestnut Bend Homeowners Association (CBHA), which governed their residential neighborhood and enforced the neighborhood's restrictive covenants. The complaint charged the CBHA with unlawfully refusing to permit the Hollises to construct a sunroom addition to their home. The sunroom allegedly would have alleviated some of the problems experienced by the Hollises' two minor children, H.H. and C.A.H., each of whom has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome. The Hollises brought the suit both individually and as “next friends” of the children. The district court dismissed their personal-capacity claims for want of standing and then, applying the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting test to the reasonable-modification claim, awarded summary judgment to the CBHA on the “next friend” claim. We vacate and remand.

I.

The events at the heart of this suit transpired in late 2011 and early 2012, when Charles and Melanie Hollis lived with their five children in a house they owned in Franklin, Tennessee. Their two youngest children, H.H. and C.A.H., both had Down Syndrome and suffered from developmental disabilities. H.H. was prone to spontaneous outbursts and self-injurious attacks, and C.A.H. experienced severe hearing and vision impairment. No one disputes that H.H. and C.A.H. were disabled within the meaning of the FHA. This action instead turns on whether the CBHA unlawfully refused to permit the Hollises to attach a sunroom to their house in order to permit H.H. and C.A.H. to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of sunlight.

A.

The Hollises' home was situated in a residential subdivision known as Chestnut Bend, which encompasses about 168 houses. The CBHA, a not-for-profit corporation, was responsible for managing the neighborhood. The CBHA was governed by a five-member board, which retained Westwood Property Management to manage the CBHA's day-to-day affairs. Westwood employed Mary Jean Turner to act as its property manager, and in that capacity Turner regularly met and corresponded with the board.

Properties located within Chestnut Bend were subject to various covenants, conditions, and restrictions. One such covenant barred homeowners within Chestnut Bend from erecting above-ground structures or improvements until the homeowner acquired approval from the CBHA's Architectural Review Committee (ARC). Three members comprised the ARC, all of whom the board appointed but none of whom were members of the board. One board member acted as a liaison between the ARC and the board, and Turner acted as a liaison between the ARC and the homeowners.

Homeowners submitted architectural improvement applications to Turner using a form application captioned “APPLICATION FOR FENCE/STRUCTURE/EXTERIOR CHANGE—080810” (Form 080810). Form 080810 provided that homeowners seeking ARC approval must submit the proposed structure's specifications together with a plot plan showing the homeowner's property lines and building setbacks, a sample board of materials to be used, and color samples of paints and stains. Turner reviewed homeowners' proposals to ensure their completeness. The application was not considered complete if it did not include all of the information requested on Form 080810.

Turner was then responsible for putting the application into the hands of the ARC members and the board's ARC liaison. The ARC would review the proposal and convey its decision to Turner. Chestnut Bend's Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions stipulated that any architectural plan submitted to the ARC “shall be deemed approved if not acted upon by the [ARC or the board] within thirty (30) days of submission.” If the ARC decided not to approve a project, it often provided no reason for its decision; Turner simply sent a boilerplate letter informing the applicants of the ARC's decision. A homeowner who was displeased with the ARC's decision could request review of his or her application by the board.

B.

At some point in time the pediatric cardiologist treating H.H. and C.A.H. advised the Hollises that the children “would benefit from a particularized living environment that is therapeutically designed to stimulate their development.” The Hollises therefore decided to construct a sunroom addition to their house. They chose their preferred design for the sunroom and submitted four separate proposals to the ARC. Although this appeal relates only to the fourth proposal, the Hollises initially challenged the CBHA's treatment of each application, and the district court analyzed all four. We therefore provide a brief review of each application.

In March 2011 Mrs. Hollis sent an email to an ARC member declaring the Hollises' intention to add a sunroom to their house. The next day Mrs. Hollis provided that ARC member with Form 080810, which listed the proposed sunroom's measurements and included a photograph of the proposed design. But the application did not provide the detailed specifications required by the ARC, and it included no information about the exterior elevations, property lines and setbacks, or materials. The following month Turner sent a letter to the Hollises stating that their application was incomplete and asking them to resubmit their application with the missing information. The Hollises' contractor subsequently delivered the requested specifications to Turner, but the board nevertheless rejected the Hollises' application because they disapproved of the aesthetics of the proposed construction materials.

The Hollises submitted a second application in August 2011. They proposed a new design for the sunroom that would better match their house and the other residences in the community. The exterior would be covered in the same style of siding used on the Hollises' house, and they opted for a shingled roof rather than metal. But the ARC vetoed this proposal as well and asked the Hollises to use a brick or stone exterior rather than siding. Turner also asked them to submit an exterior plot plan and a professional drawing of the proposed sunroom.

Rather than submitting the requested information, the Hollises sent an email in September 2011 proposing to construct an exact replica of the sunroom owned by Chestnut Bend homeowner and former ARC member Clay Morgan. Like the two prior proposals, this application omitted many of the details required by Form 080810, and the board immediately denied the application for that reason. In a lengthy, exasperated, and heartfelt email response to that denial, Mrs. Hollis explained that the sunroom's “sole purpose” was to give H.H. and C.A.H. “needed safe play space with as many windows and screens as possible to allow them to enjoy the ‘feel’ of being outdoors.” Mrs. Hollis explained her willingness to “battle[ ] for an ‘outdoor’ play space” because H.H. “wants to be outside more than anything else in the world.” This marked the first time Mrs. Hollis informed the ARC that the purpose of the sunroom was to provide therapeutic benefits to her disabled children.

Three weeks later Turner responded by letter and again asked the Hollises to submit a complete application packet, including a plot plan, professional drawings of the sunroom, and samples of the materials to be used. Mrs. Hollis responded in an email whose tone betrayed her vexation. Although she declined the board's invitation to attend one of its meetings, she berated the ARC and board members who were responsible for the denial of her applications. Mrs. Hollis attached to her email copies of her previous correspondence with the ARC and board members, and she also attached photographs of the proposed sunroom, apparently in lieu of the requested drawings and samples. Mrs. Hollis also pasted the text of the FHA's “reasonable accommodations” provision and stated that she would “involve an attorney” if her application were again denied. Evidently no one responded to Mrs. Hollis's email.

Sometime around October 2011 both the Hollises and the CBHA retained counsel, and the involvement of dispassionate personalities led to a denouement of sorts. After a spurt of communications between the two sides, Bob Notestine, counsel for the CBHA, sought to reset the application process and asked the Hollises' attorney to submit a complete application “clearly showing what [the Hollises] want to build and meeting the application criteria.” On December 6, 2011, the Hollises' attorney, Tracey McCartney, submitted a complete application to Turner. In an email conversation the next day, members of the ARC agreed to approve the application “with one change”: The ARC wanted the Hollises to use a shingled roof rather than the metal roof proposed in their application. But the ARC members agreed that the ultimate decision to approve the Hollises' application should be made by the board. Turner forwarded the ARC members' email conversation to the board.

The board discussed the Hollises' application at its December...