Board imposed illegal penalties and vandalized my NEW car in the garage on my personal property.

Started by UnitO • 7 replies • 1357 views

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UnitO (New York)
Posts: 3

Posted:

I own the condo apartment in Brooklyn, NY. I wanted to share my experience and hopefully to hear some suggestions from the community. ( I'll try to be short)

After hurricane Sandy my balcony got damaged. The entire celling / structural wood frame overhead broke and was about to collapse. The bylaws show that the balcony is a common limited area and it is board's responsibility to repair it. I notified the board in writing that the dangerous and hazardous condition exist at the balcony and needs to be repaired. The board answered with the threatening letter that I have loose debris ( while I did not have any of debris) and if I 'll not remove debris they will begin to penalize me in the amount of $300 every month until the balcony is fixed. To make story short to stop these penalties I paid $1000 to repair the balcony. In addition to those fines the board issuing late fees every month.

Further more for not paying penalties the president released his anger and vandalized my car in the garage on my private parking spot. The action was caught on my personal camera. On the next day I called police. Detectives came, reviewed the multiple video footages and picked him up.

I have 2 civil cases opened against the association and HOA president for the property damage and the issue with the common limited element. The criminal case pending as well.

Can someone tell me if such president can still run the board? In this case can the board file lean against my property and add legal expenses to my account? Did anyone experience something similar? Any suggestion would be much appreciated.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,061

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 11:26 AM

Can someone tell me if such president can still run the board?

That will depend on your Associations governing documents.
As long as the individual meets any qualifications to serve, then they may serve.

If your asking if it's a good idea that they continue to serve, I don't think it is. However, that doesn't mean that he is banned from serving.

Quote:

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 11:26 AM

In this case can the board file lean against my property and add legal expenses to my account?

Depends on what the reason they are filing the lien.
Typically, Associations may include the cost of legal expenses if your governing documents allow them to or if the courts awarded the expenses to them.

Quote:

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 11:26 AM

Did anyone experience something similar?

No.

Quote:

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 11:26 AM

Any suggestion would be much appreciated.

As for the Balcony, I'm surprised that you didn't just file a claim with your insurance company for the damage and let them fight with the Associations insurance company to be reimbursed. This is the way it typically works.

My best suggestions, especially since your obviously already in legal battles is to obtain the services of a good attorney.

Another option is to try and recall the Board and replace them with others who may be more willing to listen to the issues and resolve things out of court.

ValerieS2 (Michigan)
Posts: 244

Posted:

If the membership is aware of his behavior and still lets him be on the Board - they deserve him.

Once he is found guilty in a court of law, it would benefit your neighbors to make sure they know and can make an informed decision.

UnitO (New York)
Posts: 3

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TimB4 on 10/28/2013 12:47 PM

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 11:26 AM

Can someone tell me if such president can still run the board?

Quote:

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 11:26 AM

In this case can the board file lean against my property and add legal expenses to my account?

Quote:

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 11:26 AM

Did anyone experience something similar?

No.

Quote:

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 11:26 AM

Any suggestion would be much appreciated.

Unfortunately I can not file a claim via my insurance company for the balcony. The balcony is not my property and my insurance won't cover the damage. I thought the board suppose to open a claim with their insurance company. No ?

Thank you

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,061

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 2:18 PM

Unfortunately I can not file a claim via my insurance company for the balcony. The balcony is not my property and my insurance won't cover the damage. I thought the board suppose to open a claim with their insurance company. No ?

Well, if you didn't initially try, and it is already repaired, your insurance company may or may not consider a claim.

If you did file a claim and the insurance company turned you down, then this would have been evidence for any complaint against the Association.

If you simply chose not to file a claim with your insurance company, then you lost the opportunity for additional evidence. You may or may not have lost the opportunity to still file a claim.

Without having access to your governing documents or the insurance policies (yours and the Associations), I couldn't offer a guess as to who should repair it or not. Typically when storm damage occurs, the resident will notify the Association and file with their own insurance company. Your insurance company will most likely address the issue and then fight with the other insurance company to be reimbursed.

This site can best help individuals prior to things escalating to legal action. Once it has entered legal action, as it sounds that your issue has, then the best advice we can offer is to take your insurance policy, a copy of the governing documents, a copy of your deed and all written communications between you and your Association on the issue to a local attorney versed in the field needed. In your case you may need a firm versed in both contract law and insurance claims.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Quote:

If you did file a claim and the insurance company turned you down, then this would have been evidence for any complaint against the Association.

He can't file a claim, it's not his property. It's the associations. If he files a claim, it will show as a claim filed on his CLUE report, doesn't matter the reason. Personally, I don't think he should file one.

He needs to work with the HOA to get the deck repaired. This may mean letters, meetings, or even a lawsuit. The HOA can choose to pay for the deck out of pocket, or file a claim.

Bottom line is, this is HOA property, they can deal with it as they choose. It may take awhile.

JM10 (California)
Posts: 503

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By UnitO on 10/28/2013 11:26 AM
I own the condo apartment in Brooklyn, NY. I wanted to share my experience and hopefully to hear some suggestions from the community. ( I'll try to be short)

After hurricane Sandy my balcony got damaged. The entire celling / structural wood frame overhead broke and was about to collapse. The bylaws show that the balcony is a common limited area and it is board's responsibility to repair it. I notified the board in writing that the dangerous and hazardous condition exist at the balcony and needs to be repaired. The board answered with the threatening letter that I have loose debris ( while I did not have any of debris) and if I 'll not remove debris they will begin to penalize me in the amount of $300 every month until the balcony is fixed. To make story short to stop these penalties I paid $1000 to repair the balcony. In addition to those fines the board issuing late fees every month.

Further more for not paying penalties the president released his anger and vandalized my car in the garage on my private parking spot. The action was caught on my personal camera. On the next day I called police. Detectives came, reviewed the multiple video footages and picked him up.

I have 2 civil cases opened against the association and HOA president for the property damage and the issue with the common limited element. The criminal case pending as well.

Can someone tell me if such president can still run the board? In this case can the board file lean against my property and add legal expenses to my account? Did anyone experience something similar? Any suggestion would be much appreciated.

I am so sorry to hear that your condo suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Chances are that your HOA didn't know who to deal with Hurricane Sandy. You note that the balcony is common limited area (in California it's exclusive use common area). You notified the board in writing, but received a threatening letter.

I'm not clear on why you have late fees. Did it take several months to fix the balcony?

You are in civil court, but you don't say that you have an attorney.

An attorney should be able to help you get through this and give your information about a lien. I'm not sure why a lien would be filed against your property because you've paid to have the property repaired, correct?

By legal expenses do you mean those incurred by the HOA defending the president?

What you should look at is the insurance for your HOA. You should have a right to see it in full. You should also have the right to call an agent to explain any of the details to you.

In your civil code (for your state) and your CC&R you need to check and see if your president or any board member needs to be in good standing and if so, how good standing is defined.

In my case, we had property stolen and not vandalized although we suspected attempts to poison our dogs. We informed the membership that property was stolen and that the board had taken us to court (three times and lost three times), however, no one was willing to stand up to the board members in public.

I do wish you luck in your legal cases against your HOA. You might find that some members feel you are suing yourself, and thus give you little sympathy. Keep a camera on your car!

UnitO (New York)
Posts: 3

Posted:

I'm not clear on why you have late fees. Did it take several months to fix the balcony?

receiving late fees for not paying back penalties ( for 2 moth) . The penalties were not removed by the association even the balcony was repaired

You are in civil court, but you don't say that you have an attorney.

An attorney should be able to help you get through this and give your information about a lien. I'm not sure why a lien would be filed against your property because you've paid to have the property repaired, correct?

correct. but still have penalties on the account and associated late fees...

By legal expenses do you mean those incurred by the HOA defending the president?

I meant legal fees which they spend to force me to pay penalties and associated late fees.

What you should look at is the insurance for your HOA. You should have a right to see it in full. You should also have the right to call an agent to explain any of the details to you.

good idea. I have it. Can I call and open the claim my self or only the board members can open claims?

In your civil code (for your state) and your CC&R you need to check and see if your president or any board member needs to be in good standing and if so, how good standing is defined.

I was not able to find anything in by-laws regarding the good standing of the board members. I will check this with NY attorney general

In my case, we had property stolen and not vandalized although we suspected attempts to poison our dogs. We informed the membership that property was stolen and that the board had taken us to court (three times and lost three times), however, no one was willing to stand up to the board members in public.

camera runs 24/7 - Thank you !

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