Real Estate & Property Law

HOA Defect Fix Forces Owner Out of Condo-Is There Help For That?

Your HOA or Condo association just settled a big lawsuit - or not - but in any event, you as an owner are forced to relocate - who should pay for the expense? Here is the question from a reader, but take heart, the same thing could happen if there is a fire, flood, or the roof blows off the condo.

"Our HOA just recently consolidated [I think that means conversion of apartment to cooperative or condominium but not sure] and an attempt to equalize the unit construction will begin on our unit next month. They told us they will come into our home to tear up the floors to fix the joist below. We just had twins! As you can imagine, the timing could not be worse. What are owners rights or guidelines toward financial reparation for inconvenience, hardship, relocation, moving expenses, bringing the inside of unit back to the original condition (fixing our hard wood floors, re-painting the walls), etc.

Any guidance would be appreciated."

Congats on the babies and I agree, not good timing. There is nothing in Davis Stirling about it this situation and usually there is no obligation on the part of the HOA to pay for relocation expenses. You might check with your own HO-6 policy, assuming you carry individual insurance. There maybe some relocation cost allocation. If there is, there may be conditions on when it can be used, but check.

And as for bringing the inside of the unit back to the original condition (like fixing hard wood floors, re-painting the walls, etc.) it really depends. If equalizing the units includes interior repairs, then they should be covered. If not, it may be a battle between the HOA and the homeowner. I would say first: read the governing documents and see what they say. Usually the CC&Rs say that owners are responsible for the interiors such as paint and flooring. However, there may be something in the documents that suggest who is responsible if repairs are made and in the course of that, damage is caused to the interiors.

More commonly though, the CC&Rs would be silent on what happens when repairs to a unit are made. Replacement of hardwood floors or expensive painting or wallpaper can be the source of much fighting and I have seen in some cases, where settlement is not reached, both parties spend more than the cost of the floors or wallpaper fighting over who ultimately pays.

Hopefully, whoever set up the conversion, if that is what occurring, considered these expenses and addressed them in the conversion docs. If not, then the parties are on their own and that means arguments will abound. I might suggest that the absence of any other language than that saying the owners are responsible for the interiors and the HOA or Condo Association is responsible for the common area, that is probably the ultimate defining and controlling language.

If the damage is due to a different event, like a flood or fire, there may be HOA insurance coverage involved.

These questions can be complicated and a consultation with an attorney might help. But again, consider the cost of the repair vs. the cost of the attorney services.

Full post as published by California Condo & HOA Law on August 05, 2010 (boomark / email).