Condo Association Management Blog

As I understand most condo by laws the owner is responsible for their own windows as they for sure are not any part of the common area. Our by laws specifically state the windows are the owners responsibility

Do your bylaws make the association responsible for window maintenance? If not then advise your Board that since windows (exterior) are common property the association must repair them. And no you cannor go ahead on your own and deduct the cost. Yopu should also check the provuisions in your state condominium act.

I assume your Association's documents state that the HOA is responsible for maintaining the common areas and the window frame is considered to be a common area.The HOA appears to have accepted this by undertaking three repairs.Seems odd to me that the problem has not been resolved, was the repair undertaken by a sub-contractor? If so the HOA should call him back to fix it. If The HOA undertook the work, I would suggest requesting the Association to undertake the repair and advise them if they are not prepared to do so within a reasonable period you will arrange a repair at their at expense - take photos of the frame. If they don't pay up then you could pursue recovery in the small calims court. 
 
I assume you have tried to gain the co-operation of the HOA without success which is disappointing as such matters are best resolved by a little goodwill , have you established why?  
 
It may not be wise to deduct the cost from your maintenance fees, treat the repair as a separate matter.

We have it in our by-laws (of which were written for our association ) that all windows are the associations responsibility. The patio doors (if original) they will also fix. Some people have replace the sliding doors with french doors (with approval) and now this is the owners responsibility to maintain. 
 
 
 
When they had sll the windows replaced in around 2000 they are were responsible to fix them. 
 
 
 
$1,000 seems like a large amount to fix. You might want to check to see when they were put in and who did it. It just might be that your HOA did not have them installed and this is why they are telling you that you have to maintain. But then again they fixed it 3 times already.  
 
Check your by-laws and then print it out and send it along to them Certified and wait for a response. 
 
If it says they are responsible then by all means move forward with letting them know they must fix it. 
 
Also no way do you deduct it from your condo fees. This will fault you and then make you look bad when you go to collect from a lawyer. Sending them a final letter (Certified) that you are going to seek councel will sometime solve the problem. 
 
Again check to see who installed the orginal windows and if they did and your window is original then I would take the steps to have it taken care of. Remember to dock all letters (certified) so you have proof that you sent them to (all) board members. 
 
 
 
Good Luck! 
 
 
 
P.S. this took me 2 years with my spouting and I got results in the end.

In the state of FL, the HOA is now responsible for the windows. This new law trumps whatever your bylaws or condo docs state. However, you do not indicate the state where you live, so check your state laws

Do not deduct anything from your maintenance fee. Ever! This will start a new problem for you. The Board is under obligation to collect all maintenacne fees and will (must) sue you for your short payment.