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HOA damage and responsibilities of board, owner, and contractor

Posted on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 @ 06:18 AM
  
  
  
  
  
  
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condo association insuranceWe are trying to acquire an attorney to be our HOA consultant but having no luck to find someone that is specialized and knows about HOA laws. We have a very difficult unit tenant who claims they are the owners. Property shows their children are the legal owners. There was a recent fire that occured in this unit that damaged their balcony, which no one can have access other than than the people residing in the unit. This unit insists the HOA to paid and repair the damage. The fire department could not pin down the cause of the fire, the photo shows a table with burning incent tools. We called a meeting with the HOA and we voted to share the cost between HOA and the unit tenants/owner. The unit owner's parents now wants to sue us for the entire damage cost.

What is your opinion on this matter? Our HOA bylaws spells out that the HOA responsible for exterior wall and common area, but all balcony decks has been the responsibility of each owner. To avoid confusion, I am going to list the problems:

1. Unit fire occurred within the unit balcony

2. Condo association insurance willing to paid for the damage after deductible.

3. The deductible was raised by this unit owner(parents) when she was a board and changed the agent and our policy without notifying the HOA board.

4. Contractor #1 (approved by HOA) pulled the permit for the initial repair.

5. City inspection found further damage of the balcony due to water damage.

6. unit owner's parent went and inform the insurance adjuster for the damage cost - the insurance was willing to paid the extended damages (no communication to HOA)

7. The unit owner's parents hired another contractor to repair the extend damage and claimed they have pull another permit. (no notification to the HOA)

8.Contractor #1 now no longer assumes liability.

9. The unit owner's parents now sends a letter and request for the full damage cost and will take legal action if we don't comply.

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Comments

Typically, balconies are referred to as "limited common elements" and as such are the responsibility of the the unit that has sole access to it. Your By-Laws may be different though. Are there any restrictions to open flames in your By-Laws, or Rules and Regulations? I think that the Association's offer to share costs is doing the unit owners a favor. However, it does not seem like the occupants are too keen on working this out in a reasonable manner. So depending on what your By-Laws say, I would do the math and see if paying the bill is going to be more expensive than having a lawyer respond to a lawsuit.  
 
I am no expert, but it seems ridiculous to sue over such a small cost - but I know for a fact that some people and some lawyers live on the premise that most people/entities being sued will usually pay small sums rather than fight...
Posted @ Thursday, July 22, 2010 7:09 AM by Kris
I checked my by-laws and it does say that the patios and balconeys are the responsibility of the unit holder. So I would say their (unit holders) insurance company should take care of it. Now if per chance the fire was cause by lets say electricial that was not on the same line as the unit holder, I would think it would be up for question. The cause of this fire is important to pin down who is responsible. If a grill exployed while cooking on it, then I would say its the unit holders responsibility. 
 
People need o read their by-law before jumping at the association.  
 
You as a unit holder or owner need to get this clarified when you buy a residence. They need to speak to their insurance agent and let them fight the reason of who pays. 
 
Incense causes that much damage I ask? HUM! I say unit holder or owners were in bad taste to be burning something like that, they should not have been burning.
Posted @ Thursday, July 22, 2010 11:38 AM by s
First I would have gone to City Hall to find out who is in title and the actual owner of this unit. If the parents are not the owners, I would not have spoke with them. I would have reached the owners and spoke only with them. The way this read is the parents are living in this unit not the owner ? The HOA should only work with the actual title owner. That is were I would start.
Posted @ Thursday, July 22, 2010 2:20 PM by Judith
Community Association Institute atwww.caionline.org has a list of lawyers who specialize in Homeowner Association Law. I suggest checking for someone in your State. Once you are on the website click on Information and Tools and then click on Find a Service Provider. Select Attorneys to see the list.
Posted @ Wednesday, July 28, 2010 11:25 AM by Sara Lassila
Can someone send me a copy of their by-laws which address the different/distinction between strutual vs. common areas that the association should be responsible for?
Posted @ Monday, August 02, 2010 3:58 PM by Board
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