Roofs

Question? If a roof leaks and does damage to the interior of a unit is the damage the responsibilty of the Home Owners Association or the unit owner.Been told by management they are not resposible. My Insurance says they are.

If the roof is the responsibiity of the association and it can be proved that the damage to your unit was caused by a roof leak then it should be the responsibility of the association. that is my humble opinion.

'If a roof leaks and does damage to the interior of a unit is the damage the responsibilty of the Home Owners Association or the unit owner.Been told by management they are not resposible. My Insurance says they are.'

It depends. When was the leak reported?

Michael...not even sure why your insurance should be involved...take the association to small claims court if they refuse to pay. Seems pretty cut and dried if you can show the judge the roof is a common area and prove that the leak damaged your property. Unless I am missing something

Your right Brad thanks for everyones input on this.

Michael

In my opinion, the insurance deductable on your policy should apply only if your policy is picking up the tab, which it is not. Example: You have a small fire in your kitchen which causes only minor smike damage to only your unit. Your insurance company pays and the deductable applies.

In this case, the damage is caused by the failure of a common alement. Even if your policy would pay for the damage to your unit, the association should be responsible for your deductable.

The association is trying to behave like your insurance company and apply the deductable from your policy. Nice try. I don't buy it. IMO, the association is responsible for the entire $507.19. They can pay you that, or they can pay you that plus the court costs to collect that amount. With each legal step you are required to take, the bar goes higher. They need to think about that.

Melissa,

The declarations say the association is responsible for common and limited common areas. The association has 2 lawsuits pending right now for water damages. It's not my fault the roof leaked from neglect from the association. The homeowners are not permitted to do any repairs to the exterior of the buildings.I pay my association dues every month to cover exterior repairs. The roofs are a common element. I hate the thought of going to court over this as it will cost the association alot more than the damages are.

Michael

Michael,

We have the same covenants and the same problem. In fact our roof is leaking now. We are an association of leaking roofs. They are flat and the A/C units sit on the top of the roof. Sometimes those leaks are caused by the A/C units so everyone blames everyone.

Nevertheless, our attorney evidently claims: ‘when a leak is reported and promptly repaired by the association the owner is responsible for any damages to the unit inside. When the association fails to repair the roof the owner can claim ‘negligence’ and the association is responsible for the interior damage.’
It is a pain, I agree, and the only way to solve this problem is to either clarify the docs or, to have the roofs inspected periodically. Many associations do not have a preventive maintenance plan and these are the results.

Unfortunately, when the insurance companies start pointing fingers at each other, each saying "It's the other guy's responsibility to pay," which they often do since they each want to get out of paying, it takes a court to settle the matter. Then it ends up costing everyone more.

We never learn.

Why don't the insurance companies each agree to simply pay half the cost and be done with it?

I want to thank everyone for their comments on my roof leak. I went today to see a attorney. The attorney advised me to go ahead and file a law suit against the association so I did. It's sad it had to come to this the associations attorney fees will run way more than the claim is for. Thanks again for all the imput I have received.

Michael