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HOA forcing orphan teen to move out of grandparents’ home

Posted at 12:09 PM, Jan 15, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-15 12:10:05-05

PRESCOTT, Ariz. – An Arizona teen who recently lost his mother and father is now being told he can’t live with his grandparents because of their homeowners association.

Fifteen-year-old Collin Clabaugh’s parents died two weeks apart while the family was living in California.

“We didn’t plan this. We didn’t go out all of a sudden one day and say, ‘Hey, let’s have Clay kill himself and let’s have Bonnie die. And we’ll take Collin in, and to heck with the HOA.’ It’s not the way it was planned,’” Melodie Passmore, Clabaugh’s grandmother, told KNXV.

Clabaugh’s grandparents live in Arizona in a community for people 55 years old and older.

The HOA says Clabaugh must move out by this summer. The Passmores received a letter that said, “The board must balance the interests of all parties involved, not just the Passmores.”

“It just seems so heartless that even though we’ve explained our whole situation and everything, that they still—it has to be the rule that dictates everything. It can’t be someone’s life,” Clabaugh said.

The HOA’s lawyers told KNXV that the youngest a resident can be is 19 years old. They said the HOA could have legal troubles if they don’t enforce this rule.