Nashville HOA Threatens To Fine Family For Using A Generator During Power Outage In Below-Freezing Temperatures

This is why everybody hates HOAs.

As many in Nashville enter their fifth day without power, one homeowners association apparently decided that their residents should sleep in the cold, threatening to fine them after a family bought a generator to heat their home.

In Nashville and across much of the south and eastern United States, a massive winter storm caused chaos after dropping snow and ice over the weekend.

Music City got hit with around a half inch of ice, which caused widespread power outages, forced businesses to shut down, and wreaked havoc on the roads. At one point on Sunday, Nashville Electric Service reported that there were around 240,000 customers without power – nearly half of the 470,000 customers in Davidson County.

The scenes out of Nashville over the weekend were almost post-apocalyptic, with trees falling on power lines, poles breaking, and roads completely impassable due.

As of right now, there are still over 90,000 people without power in the Nashville area, many of whom have been in the dark – and cold – since Sunday when the storm hit. And even after the storm passed, there hasn’t been much relief from Mother Nature: The temperature has remained below freezing all week, though it’s expected to climb to a balmy 40 degrees today, which would be a welcome development in trying to get rid of some of this ice.

Those without power are experiencing dangerously cold temperatures inside their homes, with many reporting that even inside it’s dropped down into the 30s.

Naturally that’s led many to try to find generators to power their homes while they wait for Nashville Electric Service to restore their power. But one family who was lucky enough to score a generator then ran into another problem: Their HOA threatened to fine them for using it.

According to WSMV, Talia Caravello managed to find a generator after her power went out, and hooked it up outside on her porch. But just hours after firing it up, she got an email from her HOA’s management company, Metropolitan Properties, demanding that it be removed immediately due to the generator being a “fire hazard” and – get this – not fitting the community’s aesthetic guidelines.

Honestly, that would have sent me over the edge. You’re worried about the look and noise of a generator when these people have been days without heat in freezing temperatures? Get the hell out of here.

Caravello said that they tried to stay at their house without the generator, but eventually had to leave because it got too cold:

“We try to spend time here, but it’s unbearable. It’s super weird and upsetting because we need it. Obviously, anyone wants to have power. I’d much rather get electricity back than have to use that forever.”

Well apparently the HOA quickly realized they were the bad guys in this situation, because after WSMV reached out to them they seemed to back off their threats of issuing fines, with property manager Barbara Reid saying that they’ve so generously agreed to make a “one time exception.”

“Regarding the installation of an unapproved and improperly installed gas generator outside the condominium, as well as the associated noise disturbance, the Board has agreed to make a one-time exception. Due to the recent weather-related issues and the loss of power at the property, the Board will allow temporary use of the generator.”

See? HOAs aren’t evil at all. They’ll allow you to stay in your home and not freeze, as long as you go to the news to expose them first.

And the “associated noise disturbance?” Give me a break. Three people have already died in Nashville due to the storm and power outages, and they’re worried about noise disturbances? Something tells me Reid wrote that email from the warmth of her own home, not sitting in the dark after 5 days without heat or power.

Absolutely ridiculous.