Tennessee first responder HOA parking bill never got a hearing
Tennessee first responder HOA parking bill never got a hearing
2026-09-19 · Tennessee · Legislation · Did not pass
A proposal to stop Tennessee associations from penalising first responders who park an emergency vehicle at their own homes was filed earlier than any other association bill of the 2026 session and never reached a committee calendar in either chamber. It is dead, without a deferral, a vote, or a recorded objection from anyone.1
That absence of a paper trail is what distinguishes this bill from the session's other failures. Measures that died in committee at least produced a record of who declined to move them. This one produced nothing.
What it would have prohibited
HB 1462 was filed by Representative Shaundelle Brooks and SB 1763 by Senator Pody. The bill would have added a section to Part 7 of Title 66, Chapter 27 — the part already carrying Tennessee's protections for vested rental rights and its limits on special assessments for amenities:
“A homeowners' association shall not: (1) Prohibit or effectively prohibit a first responder from parking an emergency vehicle at the first responder's residence or on a roadway adjacent to the first responder's real property, including by adopting new or amending existing declarations or rules and regulations; or (2) Penalize or threaten to penalize a first responder regarding the first responder parking an emergency vehicle at the first responder's residence or on a roadway adjacent to the first responder's real property.”
The phrase “or effectively prohibit” would have reached indirect restrictions — a commercial-vehicle ban, a size or marking rule, a driveway-parking restriction — rather than only an express prohibition on emergency vehicles.
The definitions were the detailed part
The bill amended section 66-27-701 to add four definitions. “Emergency vehicle” meant “a passenger motor vehicle, motorcycle, or bicycle designated by a law enforcement agency or the entity for which another first responder works for official use by the first responder.” That is narrower than it first appears: it covers the assigned take-home vehicle and not a privately owned one.
“First responder” meant “a firefighter, emergency services personnel, including an emergency medical technician or paramedic or emergency management personnel, or law enforcement officer.” The definition of law enforcement officer expressly reached capitol police, the Highway Patrol, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Wildlife Resources Agency and state park rangers.
Like several association bills of the session, it would have operated prospectively only: effective July 1, 2026, “and applies to declarations and rules and regulations adopted or amended on or after that date.”
The action history, in full
The whole record fits in a paragraph, which is the point.
HB 1462 was filed on December 16, 2025 — before the session began, and before any other association bill of the 114th General Assembly's second year. It was introduced and passed first consideration on January 13, 2026. On January 14 it passed second consideration, was referred to the State and Local Government Committee, and was assigned to the Cities and Counties Subcommittee. Nothing further happened to it.
SB 1763 was filed on January 20, 2026, introduced the next day, and on January 22 passed second consideration and was referred to Senate Commerce and Labor. Nothing further happened to it either.
Neither bill was ever placed on a committee or subcommittee calendar. Neither was deferred, taken off notice, assigned to a general subcommittee, or voted on. Both simply sat in committee for the three months of session that remained and expired when the assembly adjourned sine die on April 23, 2026.
A fiscal note was prepared anyway
The Fiscal Review Committee produced a note for HB 1462, analysed by Justin Billingsley and certified by executive director Bojan Savic. Both the fiscal impact and the impact to commerce were assessed as not significant.
The reasoning is a useful statement of how the state characterised the measure. The note records that the legislation “will primarily impact private parties to an HOA agreement,” and that the prospective-only application meant no effect on association rules adopted before the effective date.2
That characterisation — a matter between private parties, with no cost to the state — is the standard Tennessee framing for association governance questions, and it is consistent with the state's broader position that it does not supervise associations.
What governs the question now
Nothing was added to Part 7, so an association's authority over vehicle parking remains a matter of the recorded declaration and the rules adopted under it, construed in the ordinary way.
The restrictions that generate these disputes are rarely aimed at first responders. They are general commercial-vehicle, equipment or vehicle-appearance provisions — the same class of restriction that produces disputes over work trucks, trailers and boats — and a marked patrol car or a department pickup can fall inside them on the text. Whether it does is a question of construing the particular covenant.
Tennessee's Part 6 protections, enacted in 2017, cover flag display and water-hazard warning signs; they do not reach vehicles. Nothing in the condominium statutes addresses emergency vehicle parking either, and an association's fining authority over a parking violation derives from the declaration rather than from statute.
What to watch next
The bill drew organised opposition without ever being scheduled. The Community Associations Institute's Tennessee committee listed it among the measures it opposed and recorded the outcome as “died in committee” — a description that is generous to the process, since no committee ever took it up.3
A Tennessee bill on the same subject in the 115th General Assembly would start from a new number and a new committee referral. The early-filing advantage this one had made no difference to where it ended up, which suggests the obstacle was scheduling priority rather than timing.
Related Tennessee HOA Topics
- HB 1462 / SB 1763 as introduced, 114th General Assembly — full text (Tennessee General Assembly) ↩
- HB 1462 fiscal note, Tennessee Fiscal Review Committee ↩
- HB 1462 bill history and committee actions (Tennessee General Assembly) ↩
- “2026 Tennessee End of Legislative Session Report,” Community Associations Institute Advocacy ↩
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