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Community Living

Responsibility for leaks can be a tricky question

By RICHARD WHITE
Published August 26, 2006

Q. I own a second-floor condo. There is a water leak in the bathroom ceiling in the unit below. Is the condo association responsible for internal plumbing between units as common areas?

A. Much of the answer depends on your documents and the circumstances. I must assume that you are addressing a plumbing leak and not a rain leak. In most situations, the second-floor owner would be responsible for the repairs to the plumbing system. The damage to the first floor unit would depend on several situations as to who would be responsible for the repairs.

Usually, the association would be responsible only for the unfinished ceiling and/or walls, and the lower-floor owner would be responsible for the other damage, such as to wallpaper or paint.

Locate owner or trustee for necessary repairs

Q. I live in an adult community. One of our homeowners is in a nursing home, and his 18-year-old granddaughter and her boyfriend are residing in his home. The exterior of the home is in disrepair. Our president says that our association attorney says that she can stay as long as her grandfather gives permission. I am concerned not only about our property values, but that we comply with the Housing of Older Persons Act. Can you provide any guidance?

A. The Federal Register, Part IV, 24 CFR Part 100 agrees with your attorney's answer. Children 18 or older can live in the unit. However, that does not mean that the property can decline in maintenance and lower the value of the community. The board must evaluate the maintenance standard for the community and require that this home meet the standard. It may be difficult to communicate with the owner since he is in a nursing home. Your attorney should be able to help locate a trustee of the estate if the grandfather is unable to respond to the needed maintenance or repairs. You first must determine a responsible party for the estate. Find out who is paying the monthly fees. Search your records to see if any emergency number or relative is listed.

Your documents may allow the association to enter on the property to make necessary repairs. This is called self-help. It is extremely important to understand that self-help is not a carte blanche right by the association to enter a property and make repairs. Notification to the owner is required, because any expenses will be charged to the unit. Seek guidance from your lawyer before you go the self-help route.

Robert's Rules of Order not a requirement

Q. We have a benevolent dictator, who is good with people but controls instead of conducts board meetings. He dominates the meetings, makes motions and votes on every motion instead of voting to break a tie. Few directors contribute to the meeting by discussing the matters on the table. What can we do to force the president to properly conduct a meeting according to Robert's Rules of Order?

A. Robert's is a parliamentary procedural guide. It does not precede the state statutes, which require that all directors must vote on all matters. There is an exception for conflicts of interest. Robert's does not prevent the president from voting on motions.

The best president I worked with met with individual directors before the meeting and scripted each director's input. On the surface, this sounds like a dictator but, in fact, each director had personal time to research and discuss the information before the meeting with the president. This allowed time to complete his or her reports. Since the president knew in advance each director's position and what they were going to say, it gave each time to research and come up with the best answers. Since all directors knew the matters to be discussed and voted on, meetings went fast and were efficient. Motions and discussions were solved with the best answers because directors had time to find the best answers.

Richard White is a licensed community associations manager. Write to him c/o Community Living, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. He can't take phone calls or provide personal replies by mail, but you can e-mail him at CAMquestions@cfl.rr.com

[Last modified August 25, 2006, 08:56:26]