Will the HOA Come For ME?

January 20, 2009 3:04 PM

Can the HOA make me ultimately responsible for their drama ?

I own a condo, but rent it out. Last year, the owner below me experienced leakage in her ceiling due to a design flaw. The leak originated in the outside deck of my condo.

At first, she contacted me, and we found dry rot in the door frame, which was replaced. At this point, it was also determined that the damage was centered outside, which is considered a common area and not my responsibility.

Now, she is still experiencing the leak and new damage and is going to the board demanding they resolve the issue. The board is maintaining (politely) that the original issue was resolved several years ago. I have not been directly contacted about anything, but am being cc'ed on various emails. It does seem that everyone wants to avoid litigation.

I am worried that at some point, this will come back to me. Can they come after me at all after they exhaust all of their options with each other? And if they can .. what are my options? I mean .. other than shelling out thousands of dollars I don't have.

posted by duckus to home & garden (4 comments total)

Not a lawyer, but three things jump out at me:

Just to be safe, it sounds like you need to review your deed (to determine where your property ends) and your CCRs (to determine where your rights end).

If the HOA is claiming that the problem was resolved several years ago, yet the leak is originating from the same place, they really don't have a leg to stand on, do they? Their beef is with the contractor who performed the repair, not with you.

It also seems to me that coming after you wouldn't be their final option. If they thought it was your responsibility, they'd come after you FIRST, not last.

Getting a lawyer's opinion wouldn't be a bad idea, either.
posted by mudpuppie at 3:17 PM on January 20

I think you're indeed indulging in drama that does not (yet) affect you. Step 1 might be to tell people to stop CC:'ing you, just to remove that temptation. Then, you can just go about your life if and until you receive something on paper. If the HOA is saying the leak is from a common area, I think you can take solace in that. It's a significant distinction here.
posted by rhizome at 3:42 PM on January 20

It's your unit whether you live there or not, therefore it's ultimately your drama and it doesn't hurt for you to know what's going on.

Who fixed the problem the first time around?
posted by jerseygirl at 5:49 PM on January 20

I wasn't around the first time this came up .. but it sounds like I don't need to worry about anything right this second.

Thanks all ..
posted by duckus at 8:34 AM on January 21