Is there a percentage of ownership before requiring condo fees? My condo started switching the apartments over to condos as of 2008. We have over 300 condos and only 34 owners...the other condos are renters or empty. How is this legal? On top of that, we don't even have a condo association board. This is my second year paying $144/month for water, sanitation and trash. The frustrating part is that the streets are messed up, trash is not being picked up on the grounds and we have more renters than owners. Please advise...I am ready to get all of the owners together but need more direction to do it the professional and correct way. Thanks

I have lived in my unit for over 15 years, and have one unit above me. Over the past ten years, my bathroom has sustained a lot of water damage from the unit above. the first time it leaked from my shower ceiling, I contacted the HOA who then came over to investigate and wrote a letter to both me and the owner of the unit above, that he was responsible. He fixed it himself, but did nothing to initiate the process to repair my damage. Over the next couple years, there were several leaks, which I told him about, and he supposedly repaired them himself instead of hiring a professional. There was yet another major leak, so I had the HOA back over again and they gave him another letter. Again, no initiative by him to get my damage repaired. Then a couple years ago, there was a major sewer leak. When HOA went up to his place, they indicated to me that there were no seals on his tub around the tile, or floor, the flooring was all curled up from the damage, and they gave him another letter mandating they bring in a professional, and that he was responsible for my repairs. They also indicated that he had no homeowner's insurance. They had to gut his place it was in such bad shape, but it was done by a handyman, not a licensed contractor. Anyway, because of all the other leaks over the years, I waited to make sure there were no more leaks before finally getting bids to get it fixed, but there is another leak. I am now requesting that a professional fix this new leak. I have decided to sell my place and move so this must get this repaired. I went out and got a bid and presented it to him (in hindsight I should have gotten three but thought I was using a reasonable contractor based on referrals). He does not like the cost and asked for another bid, at his choosing. I indicated that I did not think he could dictate to me who I used for estimating, much less set the terms for estimate. I indicated that I will only use someone who is licensed, insured, background checked and their work warranted. I have agreed to get two more bids, and my question is, does he have any say in who I have do the cost estimates? It seems to me that since he has no insurance, and never initiated anything to get the damage repaired, that he has no say. Any comments or referrals to resources on this type of situation is appreciated. I am at my wits end with this guy who keeps stalling. Thank you.