Who is responsible owner or association?

Started by BonnieG1 • 8 replies • 1950 views

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BonnieG1 (Nebraska)
Posts: 1,186

Posted:

We hand a major thunderstorm the other day. One of the units on the ground fl received much water. The Resident Agent told her we would have to have a Board meeting to access the situation. That did not go over well with the owner and I can understand why.
Apparently there is a break between the ground and the building. Because the association has not taken care of this needed repair, I would say the association pays for her clean up. Other Board members have told her since the water is in her unit, it is her responsibily to clean up the water. (She did have the water extracted from her unit)
I did tell her my first step would be to take a picture of the break which I will do as soon as I am able to.
Who should pay for her clean up, the association or her as the owner?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,061

Posted:

Typically, when there is storm damage or other type of damages, the member should inform their insurance company and the Association. The members insurance takes care of the clean up and repairs on the property and, if the insurance determines the Association is responsible - will go after the Association for reimbursement. The Association should report the issue to their insurance company and take care of clean up and repairs to common area.

Sometimes the deductible is so large, the Association will decide to pay for the repairs directly and only report it to the insurance company if the members insurance company contacts them (not the best way but it does happen).

The homeowner should certainly take pictures and provide a copy to their insurance company.

Tim

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

Bonnie:

in the essence of getting it cleaned up in a prompt manner to avoid further damage the homeowner should work with their insurance company. But at the same time should provide notice to the HOA as to what happened and that they believe it was the HOA's issue. Probably will turn into a peeing match between insurance companies as to who pays.

My belief is if the association did not fix a problem that ultimately led to damage in an owner's unit the association is responsible for all the damages.

BonnieG1 (Nebraska)
Posts: 1,186

Posted:

Thanks, you both have been a great help. I love this site!

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

It's more of a 50/50 thing. The HOA is responsible for repairing the issue that caused the flooding. They are likely responsible for the removal of the water inside the unit. However, the homeowner's insurance should cover any personal items lost. It's best to contact the HOA's insurance and the owner's insurance company contact them as well. This is something best left for insurance companies to battle out and lessen the personal contact with the BOD. Tensions get in the way of progress...

My last week as President, a tree fell from one neighbor's yard into the house of another. The HOA's responsibility was to clean up the tree debris. It wasn't to repair the home. The house repairs were the responsibility of the owner's insurance. The fence it crashed onto was also the owner's responsibility. They put up the fence but had the board's approval to do so. There are several complications and lines to be drawn. That is why it's best that each party address the issue through the insurance companies as they will give the most complete answers than a group of people who have a hard enough time agreeing with eachother if it's a rule violation or not...

Former HOA President

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MelissaP1 on 08/26/2011 9:45 AM
It's more of a 50/50 thing. The HOA is responsible for repairing the issue that caused the flooding. They are likely responsible for the removal of the water inside the unit. However, the homeowner's insurance should cover any personal items lost. It's best to contact the HOA's insurance and the owner's insurance company contact them as well. This is something best left for insurance companies to battle out and lessen the personal contact with the BOD. Tensions get in the way of progress...

My last week as President, a tree fell from one neighbor's yard into the house of another. The HOA's responsibility was to clean up the tree debris. It wasn't to repair the home. The house repairs were the responsibility of the owner's insurance. The fence it crashed onto was also the owner's responsibility. They put up the fence but had the board's approval to do so. There are several complications and lines to be drawn. That is why it's best that each party address the issue through the insurance companies as they will give the most complete answers than a group of people who have a hard enough time agreeing with eachother if it's a rule violation or not...

There is a difference between an act of God and damage caused by maintenance issues. The tree falling would be considered an act of god, unless there was proof prior to it that the tree was unstable and should have been removed. In the case of an act of god each party is responsible for their loss and God is to blame and he doesn't have money.

But this on the surface doesn't seem to be an act of God. Failure to act to repair or maintain makes you liable for all the damage that is caused by the failure. The HOA's negligent behavior is a major contributing factor to the damage inside the unit and you bet your bottom dollar this person has every right to claim every little piece of property damaged and make the HOA pay. Now getting them to pay will be the hard part.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

I said they "MAY" not be responsible for everything. Personal property may fall under the owner's policy. It will depend on what the policies say is covered.

There's more details to my tree story. It wasn't exactly an act of God... The trees had been diagnosed during a tree project Estimate of having a tree disease/bug. The HOA couldn't afford to remove those trees at the time. One of the trees was infected that water got inside it. That water defrosted under a freak heat up occurred. This busted the tree and caused it to fall on the houses. The owner who's tree was in their yard had no insurance. The other owner did have insurance. The HOA had insurance. The tree was on "common property". The HOA insurance paid for the tree removal costs. The costs of the houses and fence damages was covered by the owner's insurances. However, since one owner wasn't insured the home whom the tree fell on paid up the costs.

I left before all of it was settled. The new board got upset with me for paying out 1500 for the clean up and insurance deductible. They wanted to say it wasn't any of the HOA's fault. The HOA shouldn't have paid anything. Which was wrong and I stepped up to the plate to take care of it...Insurance claims aren't fun...

Former HOA President

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MelissaP1 on 08/26/2011 4:05 PM
I said they "MAY" not be responsible for everything. Personal property may fall under the owner's policy. It will depend on what the policies say is covered.

There's more details to my tree story. It wasn't exactly an act of God... The trees had been diagnosed during a tree project Estimate of having a tree disease/bug. The HOA couldn't afford to remove those trees at the time. One of the trees was infected that water got inside it. That water defrosted under a freak heat up occurred. This busted the tree and caused it to fall on the houses. The owner who's tree was in their yard had no insurance. The other owner did have insurance. The HOA had insurance. The tree was on "common property". The HOA insurance paid for the tree removal costs. The costs of the houses and fence damages was covered by the owner's insurances. However, since one owner wasn't insured the home whom the tree fell on paid up the costs.

I left before all of it was settled. The new board got upset with me for paying out 1500 for the clean up and insurance deductible. They wanted to say it wasn't any of the HOA's fault. The HOA shouldn't have paid anything. Which was wrong and I stepped up to the plate to take care of it...Insurance claims aren't fun...

Doesn't make a difference if the owner has a personal property policy or not...HOA failed to maintain, they are responsible for any/all damage resulting from that failure.

In your example of the tree, if it could be proven in court that your HOA knew the tree was diseased and needed to come down or risk falling and you failed to do it you should of and could of been ordered to cover any and all damages. Failure to act on information is considered negligence

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

I know. That is why I made sure we paid our share in the claim. The new board didn't want to do it. They got upset that I paid out the money prior to my leaving as President. It was just better to pay out our portion to avoid unnecessary legal costs. Why hire an attorney if you know ultimately you were going to have to pay?

It wasn't official information...I was conducting interviews of potential contractors on tree removals. The tall pine trees were a potential future project as it hadn't been discerned who was responsible for their removal. The trees are in and out of our HOA and neighboring subdivsion. Out of curiousity, I asked about the costs of removing these trees just in case it was decided the HOA was responsible. The tree expert quoted me about 1-2K a piece. He then said that some were infected with a pine beetle disease. It wasn't an actual action item on our list but a concern. I was going to use this information for future reference when the subject did come up. So can't say the HOA "officially" knew about the issue. It was just something we hadn't fully explored...

Former HOA President

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