Condo Association Management Blog

I would like to know the answer to this particular problem. 
Thanks

I cannot believe 182 units don't have their own water meters and don't have their own shut offs. You the home owner (of which is MIA) is responsible for this problem. Find out who his insurance company is, get someone in their and shut off the water, like maybe the water company, and stop the other unit from being damaged any further. Why do people not use their heads in a sitution like this. It's not that hard to figure out. If there is a bill, please pay it and then send it to the bank for the forclosure. I really do hate the fact that some associations make it bad for others, 56 people not paying-----take them to small claims court and retrieve some of your money. We have 4 in our association and that's just where they are going when we have our meeting next month. If these people don't pay then let them move out. Stop making associations the scum of real estate 
 

Sounds like your association is in need of a good collection agent. Give me a call and I'll be happy to talk to you about what we could offer your association. 
 
The short answer to the question you posed is that the absentee homeowner is legally responsible. Now, good luck finding him or her and getting him or her to pay. That won't happen. So, this is something that you turn into your insurance for the condo association's master policy. The deductible will have to be borne by the association. It's possible, though not likely, that you could get the bank to pay some portion of the special assessment. The other alternative is that some sets of governing documents have in them a clause that allows the association to bill a particular unit the entire cost of repairs if that unit's negligence caused damage to the association. For your sake, I pray that's in your documents already. Otherwise, you're simply out of luck. 
 
Darron 
 
HOA Receivables Management

We had a similiar situation at my association.(FLA) Under emergency situations such as yours, you can enter the unit. We had to get a locksmith to get us in to take care of the problem which was a water heater located on the 2nd floor on the condo. The damage was contained to the unit itself. There is ceiling damage and more Since the unit has been in foreclosure for 2 years, it's the banks problem, they will have to fix it before the can sell it or the new owner will have it to deal with. Out of 68 units we have 5 in some sort of foreclosure process. We have taken the step to not only file are own lien but we have also filed for personal judgements against the owner.This will follow them for l0 years and then we can reinstitute the judgement again if not paid in full. We also will not allow for a sale to go threw until all past fees are paid in full. And to go a extra step we have established parking enforcement and all cars need to be registered, if a unit owner that is in foreclosure or out of their unit and try to rent it out we tow the vechicles off our property until fees are paid up. We have also been successful with shutting bulk cable off, there are restrictions to this but we were able to do it.  
 
Good Luck, and get creative within your legal boundaries!