Who is Responsible: Homeowners, Association or Developer?

Started by SusanS9 • 7 replies • 3974 views

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SusanS9 (California)
Posts: 56

Posted:

If some homes are flooding (slightly) due to grading and drainage problems of the common areas, are homeowners or the homeowners association responsible for putting in drains, etc. to handle the problems? Or should homeowners be told to go after the developers who did the work on their own? Doesn't the fact that homeowners inspected the property prior to purchase put the responsibility on their shoulders, that this situation is no different from buying a home that is not part of an association?

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

Depends on WHEN the grading was done. Before or after purchase?

SusanS9 (California)
Posts: 56

Posted:

About 38 years ago! Key question is HOA responsible for taking care of flood damage when it was not responsible for the drainage or grading. These are private homes adjoining common areas.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Susan,

The Association might not have done the actual grading. However, it is responsible for the common area and must address any issues associated with it.

I expect that your Association is incorporated (as most are). Being incorporated, they are considered a legal entity, similar to an individual. If an individuals landscaping was responsible for flooding a neighbors property, that individual would be responsible. This would be the same for the Association.

The Association should consult with their attorney to explore options of collecting damages from the developer who initially graded the area. This of course would be in addition to correcting the current issue of correctly dealing with storm water.

Tim

LynneV1 (South Carolina)
Posts: 211

Posted:

- In October we had a 100 yr rainfall in our area and there was some floodig between say four houses that back up to each other. There is no common ground in the area but the H/o came to the next monthly meeting expecting the HOA to regrade his property and the border between our community's end property line and a neighboring community so that this would not happen again. The builder had an engineer grade the community 5 yrs ago before these homes were even built. This would be very costly and I do not feel 200 people should pay for a problem affecting 4 privates homes.
I am not on the board and they are looking into fixing it at our expense. Is this proper? How do we stop it?

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

YOU SAID: to regrade his property

and

the border between our community's end property line and a neighboring community so that this would not happen again.

seems like a split on the cost would be in order . . .

JohnO6 (Georgia)
Posts: 424

Posted:

Responders to the original question here should not be quite so quick as to jump to the "obvious" conclusion(s).

For example, our CCRs specifically state that the HOA is not responsible for any damage to individual homes as a result of drainage (and a number of other) issues from the common areas.

Sorry to repeat the oft cited refrain, but the first step is to completely read and understand your governing documents.

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

John's correct. After all, this work was done 38 years ago. Therefore, much could change - by nature - to direct water in ways it wouldn't flow four decades ago. This may be chalked up to home ownership in a time when CA is receiving historically unusual precipitation.

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