hoa collecting on fees

Cathy,

You do not have the right under any circumstances to withhold your HOA dues payments. What you do have the right to do is to follow thru on getting repairs that are HOA responsibility. You send letters, make phone calls, show up at meetings and do everything possible to have this addressed. If that does not work, then a stern letter from an attorney is called for. Never stop paying your dues because the concequences to that can become very expensive and you might lose your home if you fail to resolve that with the HOA.

Cathy,

I am going to assume that you are a condo. What have YOU done to address this? Is there a leak up there, are you the top floor and if there is a leak, you said that it was repaired? Is it wet when it rains, telling me that there is an ongoing problem or is the ceiling damaged from the original problem and the repairs have been successfully completed?. Have you shown this to either the property manager or a Board member?

One possibility is that if there has been a repair AND the leak is no longer happening BUT you have ceiling damage, then there is a strong chance that if you read your owner responsibility in your homeowner documents, you might find that YOU are responsible for all inside repairs, no matter what caused the problem. Sorry but I am looking for lots of answers before we can help you get this resolved the right way before you make trouble for yourself by withholding your dues. Just don't do that!

You may be out of luck as far as the personal property damage is concerned - I also live in a townhouse and our master insurance doesn't cover anything from the drywall in, regardless of how the damage occurs. Check with your homeowner's insurance carrier for more information (maybe they can even intercede on your behalf with the association)

Cathy:
If the condo association is not responsive, there's probably a Penn. Insurance Administration in your state where you could file a complaint against your condo association. Things tend to move quicker when you file a complaint and the Insurance Administration starts an investigation.
Jeanne

Cathy, as others have stated you cannot withhold payment or even place it in an escrow account as you can sometimes do as a renter. If you do, the COA could place a lien against you (not to mention late fees and attorney costs) and eventually foreclose on you.

Do you have HO-6 insurance where you you could make a claim against your own insurance for the damages and let them fight it out with the COA's insurance. Also depending on your CC&R's the COA would be responsible for replacing any damaged drywall but you would be responsible for the paint. At least that's how our COA works.