Problem with HOA and Developer in CA

Hi everybody, I'm new here and like to get some advices, it's a long story so bear with me please. We own a condo in California and we had a flood problem just two weeks after we rent it out. Water came in from common area. All the flooring is damaged and when we took out the flooring we saw mold on the wall. Contractor said the whole building has drain and water proof problem but no body done any repair work. Since the building is only 4 years old I found a lawyer to file a lawsuit against developer. The lawyer then convince the HOA to suit the developer for the whole building defects as a group so we did. Lawyer at fist said he will have someone fix my unit so I can rent it out but it's been 5 months now still nothing done. So i give up on his promises and talked to HOA and the new management company, the management said they're waiting for board of directors to make a decision but no one step up to get the repair done. I'm losing rent (tenant left in January) and paying mortgage and getting the kick around treatment by HOA and Management. I cannot start any of the inside repair until outside is done so no water will come in. I just had enough and told HOA if they don't get it done I will take them to court for all the rent loss and repairs. Is this the right way to approach it? The HOA V.S. Developer case is still undergoing but I can't just let my unit sit there and wait for the case to settle. Any suggestions? Thank you very much.

Welcome...You may try ARBRITRATION instead of court. It usually goes faster and can offer a compromise to all parties. In some cases, it still doesn't prevent the parties to again go to court. Just make sure what the agreement is if it's ONLY arbritration process only. (Many car dealers do this to avoid court).

You can't sue for loss of rental. There's many reasons behind this reasoning why a court most likely won't award you this loss/cost. Mainly because no one can guarantee your able to rent this unit out. If anything, you would have to show proof that you had people to refuse to rent the property. Which could be difficult since you have to reveal the mold problem. Who's going to sanely sign a piece of paper stating "I was going to rent the place but the owner told me about the mold and lawsuit issues". A renter is most likely going to head out the door and NOT care about YOUR problems...

Not all mold is "Toxic". Most molds can be cleaned up safely with a bleach or TSP mixture. This is even how many mold companies DO clean up the mold. The whole mold issue is similar to having someone sell you a water-softening/water filtration system. You have to be careful about what bill of goods someone is selling you.

Your best bet is to keep waiting and finding out the process of where the case is in court. Your lucky the board and owner's recognized to file this as a "CLASS Action" suit. That is the BEST scenerio for your HOA to have done. Suing your HOA is suing yourself and your neighbors. However, if you do it as a group, it reduces the damage.

Court takes time...be patient...If your going to win the case, your still got more waiting to do after that. Just figure out what the contractor's are going to have to do once it's clear to get the repairs done. It's best to understand your repair options while you wait. Not every repair is the right one nor is it the right contractor. Do your homework!

Thank you for all the advices. Yes I understand the current lawsuit with developer is a long process but the lawyer told me that the HOA can do a temporary repair so at least water won't come in during the process. The HOA can then start the permanent fix after the lawsuit is settled with the money awarded. The legal process takes 1.5 yrs normally and I am not sure if I can make mortgage for that long without any rental income from the unit so I really need to get a temporary fix so I can rent it out. I can't even sell it at its current condition. As far as rental loss I had a tenant move in just two weeks before the flooding and we had a one year lease contract. He had to move out and cancel the contrat because of the flood. I've been paying mortgage and management fee for the last five months wihout any addidional income, I just don't know how long I can keep doing that if they don't fix the outside. Nobody in the HOA or Management seems to care at this point. I just don't know what to do now.....

Call your insurance company. You pay them to deal with this stuff. This is going to get very complicated, let the professionals take care of it.