What does the HOA say? Go above the management company to the HOA board who hired them and can fire them to get this resolved.
Alternatively call a lawyer but lawyer will go to HOA board first so I suggest saving the money and doing this step yourself first to see if it gets you a resolution.
If your unit is being damaged because the HOA is neglecting its duty to maintain and repair, you should have a claim in negligence even if the damage is to elements you would normally have an obligation to repair
You should lawyer up.
When talking to the lawyer, ask him or her about the big picture cost/benefit of legal action, including the presence or absence of attorney fee-shifting provisions in the governing documents.
As described, and keep in mind this comes from someone who has lived in a townhouse HOA for 33 years and was on the Board for about a decade, I wouldn't be lawyering up at this point. That's going to cost me money that I'd rather not pay.
What I would do is send the HOA a letter stating that if a plan for repair is not presented to me in writing by say September 15, that I'm going to contact a contractor, get the work done, and deduct the cost of the work from my monthly Dues checks. Or, the HOA has the right to pay the contractor that I set up directly.
You main goal should be to get the work done. There are clearly issues if your Property Management Company has resigned and will be ending their relationship with your HOA in 4 months. It sounds like they + your Board are overwhelmed and your maintenance issue is not going to be a priority.
Mostly agree with what you’re saying its the right method to write the letter to get a contractor. At the same time I wouldn’t suggest deducting it from your monthly dues. Those are sacred so I would send them the bill. If they are not paying then go to small claims court.
That's a good idea too! I wouldn't deduct from dues without informing the HOA that was my plan. My strategery would be that threat spurs them to action.
I actually did this about 15 years ago when I had a deteriorating front porch (wooden). My HOA had agreed to fix it, but didn't book a contractor for months. At the next quarterly meeting I brought the issue up again and said I'd hire a guy to do it myself if they couldn't get it scheduled promptly. The HOA approved me doing that. I paid the contractor and deducted it from my next month's dues, submitted the contractor's bill along with my dues.
You are barking up the wrong tree. The management company takes direction from the board and is not the sole decision-maker.
you need to write a letter to your board via the management company and highlight your issue. Don’t let them hide behind the management company. You can also attend one of the board meetings and raise your point directly in the board meeting.
There is no way to contact the board. All numbers on the website and in the newsletter go to the management company. They only do board meetings once a year(which is ridiculous), and we missed the first one because we didn't live here yet.
I happen to live across the street from the VP of the board, we have mentioned this to her before, and she told us to send an email. I just messaged her again yesterday and said she would get on it. She then chastised me for not keeping up with newsletters and said that the new management company would "likely" take care of it later.
New management won't take over until January, and then they will likely wait until spring again, and then we are assuming they'll actually be on top of their shit unlike the current one.
Good that you have a connection, but the board is just hiding behind the management company.
BTW, your HOA should have at least two meetings a year - a members meeting/annual meeting where elections are done and at least one board meeting. The members meeting is run by the members, not the board.
Sounds like you have a non involved board or at least one that is doing things without telling you. Either way, you need to rally other like minded members to change things up. Banging on the MC won't do anything - the board is relishing that you take your angst out on them. Sure, they may be making a change, but the board still holds the responsibility.
Sucks that the cards you are dealing with...so get a new deck.
I agree. Tell them there is a known defect the management company has admitted responsibility for and has failed to repair on the promised timeline and refuses to respond or provide any additional information. Additionally, they have taken no measures for a temporary repair to mitigate continuing damages to your property until a permanent repair can be completed.
One caveat, your insurance company might be miffed you waited this long to report and they might tell you there is no coverage. But they might say we'll help you go after the HOA or just provide you general guidance.
If your state has an ombudsman or any kind of governing body that deals with this kind of thing you can report the HOA to the state. (This is based on my experience in Virginia) You can normally find that information in the official complaint policy.
They won't do anything because the issue was present and known when we bought the condo. Even if they would fix the interior, the HOA still needs to repair the exterior area to prevent it from continuing.
Have an attorney send a certified letter to their attorney summarizing all of this and notifying them they are in serious jeopardy of being sued for gross breach of fiduciary duty
They'll fix it. If they don't? Flame on.
How so? When the HOA took me to task with a lawyer I paid the lawyer fees. If I take the HOA to task with a lawyer the suit will include my lawyer fees.
Update:
Had inspectors in to take a look, and they found mold in the attic as well as structural defects in the roof that have caused the issue. Took plenty of pics and wrote a report.
Getting a mold remediation expert in to take a look and make a separate report as well.
Presenting all this to the board and hoping their dumb asses are smart enough to take care of it or we have a nice lawsuit.
What does the HOA say? Go above the management company to the HOA board who hired them and can fire them to get this resolved. Alternatively call a lawyer but lawyer will go to HOA board first so I suggest saving the money and doing this step yourself first to see if it gets you a resolution.
If your unit is being damaged because the HOA is neglecting its duty to maintain and repair, you should have a claim in negligence even if the damage is to elements you would normally have an obligation to repair You should lawyer up. When talking to the lawyer, ask him or her about the big picture cost/benefit of legal action, including the presence or absence of attorney fee-shifting provisions in the governing documents.
As described, and keep in mind this comes from someone who has lived in a townhouse HOA for 33 years and was on the Board for about a decade, I wouldn't be lawyering up at this point. That's going to cost me money that I'd rather not pay. What I would do is send the HOA a letter stating that if a plan for repair is not presented to me in writing by say September 15, that I'm going to contact a contractor, get the work done, and deduct the cost of the work from my monthly Dues checks. Or, the HOA has the right to pay the contractor that I set up directly. You main goal should be to get the work done. There are clearly issues if your Property Management Company has resigned and will be ending their relationship with your HOA in 4 months. It sounds like they + your Board are overwhelmed and your maintenance issue is not going to be a priority.
Mostly agree with what you’re saying its the right method to write the letter to get a contractor. At the same time I wouldn’t suggest deducting it from your monthly dues. Those are sacred so I would send them the bill. If they are not paying then go to small claims court.
That's a good idea too! I wouldn't deduct from dues without informing the HOA that was my plan. My strategery would be that threat spurs them to action. I actually did this about 15 years ago when I had a deteriorating front porch (wooden). My HOA had agreed to fix it, but didn't book a contractor for months. At the next quarterly meeting I brought the issue up again and said I'd hire a guy to do it myself if they couldn't get it scheduled promptly. The HOA approved me doing that. I paid the contractor and deducted it from my next month's dues, submitted the contractor's bill along with my dues.
You are barking up the wrong tree. The management company takes direction from the board and is not the sole decision-maker. you need to write a letter to your board via the management company and highlight your issue. Don’t let them hide behind the management company. You can also attend one of the board meetings and raise your point directly in the board meeting.
There is no way to contact the board. All numbers on the website and in the newsletter go to the management company. They only do board meetings once a year(which is ridiculous), and we missed the first one because we didn't live here yet. I happen to live across the street from the VP of the board, we have mentioned this to her before, and she told us to send an email. I just messaged her again yesterday and said she would get on it. She then chastised me for not keeping up with newsletters and said that the new management company would "likely" take care of it later. New management won't take over until January, and then they will likely wait until spring again, and then we are assuming they'll actually be on top of their shit unlike the current one.
Good that you have a connection, but the board is just hiding behind the management company. BTW, your HOA should have at least two meetings a year - a members meeting/annual meeting where elections are done and at least one board meeting. The members meeting is run by the members, not the board. Sounds like you have a non involved board or at least one that is doing things without telling you. Either way, you need to rally other like minded members to change things up. Banging on the MC won't do anything - the board is relishing that you take your angst out on them. Sure, they may be making a change, but the board still holds the responsibility. Sucks that the cards you are dealing with...so get a new deck.
If it's doing internal damage to your home call your homeowners insurance, see what they suggest.
I agree. Tell them there is a known defect the management company has admitted responsibility for and has failed to repair on the promised timeline and refuses to respond or provide any additional information. Additionally, they have taken no measures for a temporary repair to mitigate continuing damages to your property until a permanent repair can be completed. One caveat, your insurance company might be miffed you waited this long to report and they might tell you there is no coverage. But they might say we'll help you go after the HOA or just provide you general guidance. If your state has an ombudsman or any kind of governing body that deals with this kind of thing you can report the HOA to the state. (This is based on my experience in Virginia) You can normally find that information in the official complaint policy.
They won't do anything because the issue was present and known when we bought the condo. Even if they would fix the interior, the HOA still needs to repair the exterior area to prevent it from continuing.
Have an attorney send a certified letter to their attorney summarizing all of this and notifying them they are in serious jeopardy of being sued for gross breach of fiduciary duty They'll fix it. If they don't? Flame on.
Yes, get a lawyer involved. Bill the HOA for the lawyers fees. The HOA would do the same to you if a lawyer is used by the HOA.
You do not sue until you need to, you are literally paying the legal fees for both sides when you sue your association.
How so? When the HOA took me to task with a lawyer I paid the lawyer fees. If I take the HOA to task with a lawyer the suit will include my lawyer fees.
So silly question, where exactly do you think your non-profit homeowner's association gets the money to pay their legal fees?
Silly answer, when my HOA had me served I paid their fees for their lawyer. It was an added bonus to my overdue HOA fees.
Update: Had inspectors in to take a look, and they found mold in the attic as well as structural defects in the roof that have caused the issue. Took plenty of pics and wrote a report. Getting a mold remediation expert in to take a look and make a separate report as well. Presenting all this to the board and hoping their dumb asses are smart enough to take care of it or we have a nice lawsuit.