Condo Association Management Blog

My condo association is harassing me, what can I do about it?

  

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I’m interested in finding out how to deal with a condo association that has waged a campaign of harassment against me for the last 6 years. This all started a few months after the condo was purchased in 2005 and after a major rain storm my unit had water intrusion in 3 rooms. At the time the developer was on the board and responsibility had not been fully turned over to the owners. I spent a few months trying to work out the details of the repair with the developer but was getting nowhere. By this time the condo owners had taken over the board but the developer was still on the board as our treasurer. I wrote numerous letters to the “new” board providing all of the details of my situation and explaining that I had attempted to work with the developer but was not getting anywhere. I paid out of pocket for my own assessment of the damage including mold remediation and at that point had been living in my dining room which was not affect ed by the water intrusion. At this point, those that decided to become board members had become “buddies” with the developer as he had not alerted them to the water intrusion problem or that I had contacted him about the problem. I asked the board to investigate the issue because it was an outside common wall that allowed the water to enter my unit. I immediately received negative pushback from all but one of the board members and the developer. I heard excuses ranging from the fact that it was not their responsibility because it was not a common wall issue and even told that I should not have purchased a ground level patio unit if I didn’t expect to get some water occasionally. I hired an attorney and started proceedings to sue the developer as well as the board. Eventually, I was able to get my unit fixed without having to go to court but it still cost me thousands in legal fees. I also sent letters to the board stating that it was a conflict of interest to have the developer on the board and that I did not think that they has done their fiduciary duty in assessing the health of the building before taking over control from the developer. Had they done so, this problem would have been found out immediately, as the building had only been occupied for 2 or 3 months prior to the water intrusion and the full responsibility would have fallen on the shoulders of the developer. The board did not retain its own attorney to review legal documents or have an inspection done at the behest of the “I’m your friend” developer. Ultimately, the developer had to dig a 6 foot deep trench down the side of the building and put in all new drainage piping, water p roofing membrane, appropriately grade the grounds and install a sump pump. A month later I received a noise complaint from one of the board members. (I had been living there for 3 months with no problem up until I started proceedings to sue them. I was fined $25 for the complaint. I was then sent a letter that I could no longer have my grill because it was a fire code violation. The reason why I purchased that unit was because it had a patio large enough to allow a grill based on DC fire code laws. I spent the next few months fighting the board about the grill at which point, on a fourth of July, one of the board members called the fire department to my unit 3 times. Each time the Fire Marshall said that I was within the required distance and up to code. The board, being unsuccessful in making a case for DC fire codes, eventually tried to make it an insurance issue and failed and finally changed the Rules and Regulations to not allow the storage of Charcoal or Propane on the premises which successfully ended my being able to grill because I receive d a $25/day fine for everyday that the grill was stored or in use. Also, before the water incident, I was told that it would not be a problem to have a second small dog. I purchased the dog from a breeder in Florida and flew down to get her. It was not officially changed in the Bylaws that owners could now have more than one pet and I didn’t worry about it because we were all getting along. After the water problem, I was told that I was in violation of the Bylaws and fined $25/day for everyday that I had the second dog. I eventually was able to find her a good home with a relative but incurred huge fines because I was not willing to just give her up. These are just some of the issues that I have had since attempting to protect my home, my health and my investment. Since 2005 I have received no less than 50 complaints and well over three thousand dollars in fines for various “complaints” for everything from noise violations, not even being able to have a friend visi t with a pet because that would “constitute me having more than one pet in my home”, having the police called at two in the afternoon because I was having a party on my patio, and yes the police said I was within my right but I was still fined by the board. One of the members even entered my unit without my permission when my door was left open to harass me about a form that they wanted. I have since moved out of the unit and now just rent it out because I was tired of the constant issues with the board and feeling like a prisoner in my own home. Now, even with me gone, they harass my tenants to the point that no one stays more than a year and I still constantly receive fines or my tenants complain about being harassed. I am at my wits end with this and need guidance. There was another unit that had water damage and he was actually on the board. He was out voted and out gunned and eventually harassed so much that he and his wife sold their unit and moved. They even mad e it hard for him to sell his unit. Also, to add to this problem is that I am the only remaining African American person in the building as the other person (a renter in a developer unit who was given a unit due to DC’s tenant rights law was run out as well. This board has shown a history of do it our way or get out whether we are right or wrong, and the ring leader of the group is the same person who has now forced two people to leave their homes. I refuse to be a victim of harassment, racial bias (multiple witnesses available to corroborate this fact) or just plain ignorance.