VRMA Administrator
A Nashville doctor cannot rent his home in a lake resort community on sites short-term rental (STR) platforms, the Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled, even as it delivered a potential win for STRs in communities where homeowners associations (HOAs) limit properties to "residential" uses. Citing dozens of cases in other states and picking apart the grammar of a single phrase in the governing documents of Four Seasons, a development on Center Hill Lake in DeKalb County, the court ruled unanimously that the homeowners association rules were too ambiguous to prohibit STRs. The ruling in Pandharipande v. FSD Corporation could significantly shift ongoing and future disputes in favor of homeowners in resort communities who rent their homes out for fewer than 30 days, the state definition of an STR. It will force many HOAs to put the issue to a vote and pass an amendment rather than using generic residential use restrictions to prohibit STRs.
Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN) (10/19/23) Daniel Dassow
