Editor's note: This article by Jaclyn Cosgrove appeared in The Oklahoman on February 23.
ADA Brittany Melton sits in her wheelchair in her pink and purple bedroom, watching "Blue's Clues" as her stepbrother and sister sit nearby doing their homework.
She's enjoying time spent in an empty bedroom she might never sleep in, only there because her parents are in the dining room for an interview.
Brittany's mother, Amy Melton, wanted to build a dream home for her family, in hopes that the house would be fully accessible for 15-year-old Brittany, who has developmental disabilities.
Melton applied for a rural housing loan through a program that the U.S. Department of Agriculture administers for low-income residents.
However, she has since filed a lawsuit against four men who worked on the home's construction, alleging that Steve Sutton, Mario Hernandez, Ron Ridley and Alfonzo Guzman were negligent and made "numerous false and misleading statements of fact," according to the court petition.
And until a court date is set, the family will continue living in a rental house less than a mile from their new home, awaiting either a settlement or a decision in court about whether Melton will be reimbursed for the home. They have no plans to move into the home, regardless of the outcome, Melton said.
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