Condo Boundaries & repairs

Hi,

I live in a condo community consisting mostly of a series of 72 mostly one story duplexes separated by a firewall. We're trying to clearly understand exactly what the Association is responsible for repairing/replacing and what repairs are the responsibility of the unit owner. Our covenants do say that "Each owner shall be responsible for the maintenance, repair, renovation, restoration and replacement of all portions of his unit, including, without limitation, the heating, air-conditioning and plumbing systems and the exterior doors, glass surfaces and window screens serving his unit".

Foundation: Our covenants say that "The unit shall have no horizontial boundaries."
Nowhere else in the covenants is the foundation addressed by name. Is the above sentence saying that the repair of a sinking foundation is the responsibility of the unit owner?

Damage of a common element also causes interior damage to the "unit": If a leaky roof needs repair, our covenants say that the roof is a common element and therefore the Association assumes the cost of repairs/replacement. However, the interior damage caused by the leak, such as stains isn't specifically addressed other than in our "Boundaries" definition where it states: "The upper horizontial boundary of each unit shall be the under surfaces of the joists which are the ceiling joists for the uppermost floor of such unit." In a literal sense,couldn't a person conclude that the ceiling is, in fact, an "under surface" of the ceiling joists and therefore the responsibility of the Association?

Any help y'all can give will be very appreciated.

Thanks.

Lets's put this in another way...Do you want the individual to pay for it or every member? Here's the deal. The HOA is the GROUP of ALL of the owners. So if a member wants the "HOA" to be responsible they are basically saying they want ALL the members to pay for that repair NOT them as an individual. Which is okay if the majority of the membership/BOD agree that the element in question is indeed a shared common element.

So when one demands the HOA be responsible for something, they are basically saying they want ALL of the membership to split the cost equally amongst ALL of them. A HOA is ONLY funded by it's members FOR it's members. Where else do you think the money comes from when one request a repair or to get paid from the HOA?

It's best to not be as general but state a specific situation. Do you have someone who has a roof issue or a foundation issue that wants the HOA to pay for it? Many could give better advice if there is a specific situation involved. Glen's advice above is the best to describe the situation in general terms.

Thanks for the input. Yes, the foundation and ceiling issues are real time events and are pending resolution. We decided to ask an attorney for his interpretation and we're waiting for his response. I just wanted some feedback from y'all.

Ours is a 30 year old Association and it would have been nice if these questions were cleared up in the past but they were not. Precidents have been set by paying for things that were probably not the Association's responsibility. I'm on a new board and we want to do things a/c to the covenants but as you are aware, the language used in covenants can sometimes be unclear, to say the least.

One of your comments seemes to be saying that if the problem originates with a common element, such as a leaky roof, then spinoffs such as ceiling repairs would also be covered by the Association, "fruit of the poisionous tree" so to speak. Perhaps the same would be true when a limited common element is in need of repair, such as a patio and patio wall damaged by a tree root originating from a tree on common ground. This was an actual situation a few years ago and the Association removed the tree and replaced the wall. But was that the correct course of action? Who knows!