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HOA roof replacement project goes against bylaws and fails. Next steps?

Posted on Thu, Aug 05, 2010 @ 05:59 AM
  
  
  
  
  
Add to delicious  delicious  
  

hoa capital projectsMy HOA, along with advice from the property management person decided to change the roof on the four model condos. The condos where I live was built by two different builders. The first group of about 40 were build to be the best condos in the state of New Jersey. They were built with all solid wood doors, dual heating systems and air conditioners, 3 1/2 bath rooms, one with whirlpool and my particular condo had 7 skylights. The roof was a GAF Timberline that was guaranteed for 40 years. When the condo was 21 yrs. old, the HOA & management person decided to change the roof and forced us to get new skylights. I fought this but the lawyer that we pay wrote a letter on behalf of the HOA & management company that an engineer said they had to be replaced...she turned out to have a degree in Zoology.

I wrote to the HOA and told them I would not pay for anything that wasn't the same quality. I tried my best to fight against the skylights because I knew our skylights had so many good features and you can only get them today if you have them custom made. The HOA authorized Velux $225 skylights and $100 flashing to replace the $1200 (today's price) skylights I had with copper flashing and about 7 different features. They hired a policeman to make sure no one stopped them. Anyway the old great skylights were replaced and the roof of a different color without our knowledge was replaced with a 50 year Timberline roof/our old roof was a 40 year Timberline roof. I just recently found out that skylights are not supposed to get condensation between the panes of glass and all 7 of mine do. The roofer only charged the HOA $100 to install the new skylights because he is a roofer who needed the work. I am getting charged extra fees from the lawyer because I am the only one who refused to pay for the skylights because they weren't equal but now beside that they are all defective and probably because of installation.

Can I sue the HOA & the management person or the management company, the manager is the wife and owner is the husband for going against our HOA bylaws? They actually went against an engineer's report from 2000 that we paid to have done that said our roof was due to be replaced in 2023. I only can come up with one reason this was done and that was to pad the bill and they could not do it large enough without the skylights changed. I really think this could be criminal but I don't know if I can prove it as the manager's husband does the books. Thank you for any help you can suggest.

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Comments

Last year, condo owners in our association, found out our roof reserve ($40,000) was lost because the treasurer put the money into a Promissory Note with a Mortgage company that went bankrupt. At the time this was brought before us for a vote, we ( mostly widows and seniors), were told we would get more interest with the mortgage company than the banks, so, because we thought they were looking out for our interest, we voted for it. Little did we know the money was not insured. We lost all of the money! This year we were told our roofs needed to be replaced and we have to pay for it, out of pocket. They gave us one year to get them done. Most of us have, but those that can't afford it at this time will have to pay for any leakage problems, and they, the board, insist they all be done by 2011. 
 
Now we found we may get some of the money back for the Mortgage company, but the board decided to put the money back into the roof reserve for the next time the roofs have to be replaced. I am 75 years old do you think I'll be around in 20 + years? So far we've gotten $2000 back. It was put into the roof reserve. 
 
Do you think this is the right way to handle this? 
 
Is there anything we can do to get our out of pocket money we used to get our roof replaced. We're in Illinois
Posted @ Thursday, August 05, 2010 8:41 AM by NAN
I am not a lawyer so with that in mind here are my thoughts about the skylights.  
If you feel the management company gave the board wrong or misleading roof information. You can sue the management company and your board members since they voted yes for the replacements. You can sue one or both. If you want to take on the headache of suing, I would recommend talking to other homeowners and get them on your side. It defrays the costs and also looks better in court having a majority of homeowners instead of just one home owner fighting the same issue.  
Before you go to court make sure you have more than enough paperwork to prove your point. Did you previously hire your own roof inspector to check the quality of your old roof? Did you take pictures of the old roofs and the new roofs with condensation? Find out if the roofer who did the job was licensed by the state of NJ? If not then the work was done illegally. Here is a link to NJ licenses. <a>http://www.state.nj.us/njbusiness/licenses/ 
You have made a valid point about your skylight and the condensation. Did you go to a board meeting and complain to them about the condensation problem? Is the management company going to fix the skylights? What did they do with the old skylights? Did they throw them out? If there in as good a shape as you think they were they might reuse them and charge some other community for the replacements. 
 
Good luck! 
Victor 
Posted @ Thursday, August 05, 2010 10:14 AM by Victor
Dear Nan, Your HOA is treating you with the utmost disrespect. Please call someone that helps seniors or call your newspaper. There is also a person from TV Channel 7 that is called "7 on your side" that might get you help as they like to do a story showing that they were able to help people out. This is outrageous to put away money that was supposed to be used for a new roof and think it is okay that you paid for the roof. I wish you the best of luck! From my experience, allowing condos to have their own government is like calling out all the criminals to take advantage of others. We can't seem to count on anyone in the United States lately. I thought we were going to have better health care for those under 65 to purchase and that is not so. I take a medication that was first made in the 1940's. Two years ago a month's supply cost through my plan $141. Right now to get that same medicine through my plan is $309....now remember this formula was first made in 1940 and 90 pills are $309....why isn't our government putting a stop to health care being a money making business. Why is it the Queen of England buys her meds cheaper than we can in the USA where they are made. God Bless you, Nan.
Posted @ Thursday, August 05, 2010 2:00 PM by Chilly
We had a situation here where owners were given the option of replacing their skylight with ones that open. This was during a $2.5M roofing project on buildings completed in the 2002 – 2005 timeframe. Anyway, one owner who opted for the new skylight wound up with interior damage caused by the contractor who did the installation. After contacting the property manager about the damage, the owner was told that damage repair was the owner’s responsibility because it was on the inside of the unit. One of the foreman indicated it was pretty standard that contractors are not responsible for inside damage.
Posted @ Thursday, December 08, 2011 7:20 AM by Bob
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