2 unit condo association never enforced by laws/master policy

2 unit condo for 20 yrs just went 50 50 on everything. had a fire recently on my side their side water damage to prevent fire from going to unit 2. my ins. covered everthing even the other unit damage. however my insurance co. took a long time and they blamed me for it. now they want to enforce the by laws and are talking about replacing the driveway and roof due to normal wear and tear. they never mentioned this before or we could have planned it and paid to have each done separetly. now they hired a lawyer to enforce by laws and initiate condo fees of about 500-600 per month. i am on disability and was able to get into hamp program. i didnt include condo fees when applying for it because there wasnt any. even if i was working to initiate this high fee after 20 years would still be a financial burden. this is out of retaliation because when i went to a mtg with their lawyer (note i never agreed or signed anything) they were gloating. it was just out of retaliation because my insurance company took to long. this will probably put me in foreclosure which they want. i always tried to be niee even though the other unit treated us horribly. i also would say hi to neighbors even though they never said hi to me. when the fire happened no one in the neighborhood came up to us to see how we were they just went to the other unit. i also tried to hug her she snubbed me in front of everyone present on the day of the fire. i felt so low. i was told 20 yrs ago by the when the builders went to a town mtg. they didnt want our kind in their neighborhood. i guess i should have listened.

That's great in theory. However, as an Association, assessments should have been collected and reserves built up so things could be replaced when they needed replaced vs. when both owners could afford it.


To be honest, and in my opinion, all of this background is not relevant.


That certainly is one option (each paying for their half when they could afford it.
Another way is to operate the condominium as other condominiums operate and pay for things through assessments (regular or special).

My suggestion is to read and understand the bylaws. Typically, the bylaws work in both the members and the Assocaitions favor.


Although this doesn't make friends, it is the way condominiums work.


hamp = Home Affordable Modification Program

It's great that you are in the program if that helps you.
Have you contacted them to see what can be done to add the Condominium fees into the process?

That might be the first option for you to consider.


Keep in mind that if the fees were started when the condominium was formed or at least when you purchased 20 years ago, the fees may have been lower.

Living in a condominium provides certain benefits and requires certain expenses.
The smaller the condominium project, the higher the expenses are per person.

I'm sorry it will be a financial burden but, to be honest, this is part of ownership.
Again, read and understand the Associations governing documents.


Perhaps, and perhaps not.
I understand that from your perspective, it is certainly what you believe is the motivating factor behind all of it.

If your willing to look at other perspectives, it could also be because the neighbor is worried that when things do need replaced, they will have to foot the bill on their own and they simply can't afford that.

OR

It could be that the lengthy repairs due to the insurance caused them to realize that unless the Association is ran properly (with assessments being collected) other things may take longer then they think it should and they believe that they should't have to live like that. So they are taking steps to get the Association running like other associations.


Foreclosure is caused by the lack of ability to pay obligations or the choice not to pay obligations.

It's not relevant if the other owners want you in foreclosure or not.
The only thing that is relevant is the ability to meet your financial obligations.

If you can't meet the obligations, you may want to sell and move or seek other avenues of assistance to allow you to meet said obligations (bankruptcy, the hamp program you are in, church, friends, family, work from home, etc.).

I know that this likely isn't what you want to hear.

I hope it helps,

Tim

to respond. the neighbors have never had to foot the bill on anything we always went half. on the second to start a large condo fee makes it difficult to sell a home especially the way the economy is today. also it is out of retaliation because anything that needed to be done i would have went half. they were mad that the insurance co. didn't pay but when they did they made out like a bandit. yes we should have started condo fees but we agreed to do it this way long time ago and for 20 yrs. it worked out fine. it is not logical to all of a sudden want condo fees after 20 yrs unless your pissed out something. we can't go back but if we go forward this way no one will want to buy any of the condos. would you buy a condo if your mortgage if you not only have to pay high real estate taxes and your normal costs to run a home plus normal costs of maintenance and a 500 add for reserves. the condo never started out with a budget or any reserves. we just went half even when we had to put in a new sewer for 15,000. there was nothing that they had to pay that i didn't go half on. nothing. how many of you would buy a condo that has 500 a month condo fee. my mother use to say if you dig a ditch for some else you fall in it yourself. they will find out that they will have a difficult time to sell there condo in the future. i want to reiterate i always paid my share and they never had to foot the bill on their own for anything except for inside their unit. if i have to pay so be it but it is going to backfire on them in the end. there is no reason unless it is a raggedy shack that a driveway and roof need to be repaired within 12 months.

And the other party has half, stalemate. End of discussion.

I would suggest seeking the advice of an attorney. My reading of this is that the parties, representing 100% of the owners, have constructively altered the CC&R's over a twenty-year period. It would have helped if the parties would have recorded an amendment to their CC&R's but their actual conduct is just as persuasive as any written document. After twenty years of conducting their affairs one way I would find it hard to believe that a court would allow one party to reinstate provisions that both parties have ignored for over two decades.

A Democracy was Jefferson's worst nightmare.

"Gentlemen, I give you the Republic, pray that you may keep her."

remember: Hitler was actually ELECTED by the people of Germany.

the President of the USA is NOT elected by the people, but by their elected representatives - the ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Hitler never ran as a candidate in a nationwide election. His party received a minority of the vote in one election and was able to form a coalition with several other minority parties. Hitler was appointed to the position of Chancellor and he just took over from there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfDCwP2SnI4
great digging ( & hosted by Stephen Fry at BBC2 )

Yup. Everything requires 100% approval or it don't get done.

Just because both sides disagree does not mean that it's a stalemate and its the end of the discussion. More than likely there is a binding arbitration clause in the condominium documents for when such a situation happens, I have one in mine. Even if there wasn't this could still be taken to court for resolution.

Im currently is a slightly different situation where I do live in a 2 unit association but the other owner does not pay for anything. I've tried to be kind an understanding of their situation but I can no longer be financially responsible for their share of the cost to maintain the property. Therefore I am going to go through arbitration in an attempt to get a fee instantiated. The difference here is that there is a history of the other owner not paying for things so I think I have a fairly decent case to get the arbitrator to rule that a fee is necessary.

I can see things from both sides as far as the OPs situation goes. The OP and the other owner have paid 50/50 for everything along the way and things had been basically ok, ( I wish I had that) so why change. But the other owners want and have a right to a functioning association, this is something I fully understand.

Like others have said, you do have a vote in this. The other owners cannot just say thats it we are doing it this way take it or leave it. But don't think for a second that just by voting in opposition is the end of it because it probably isn't.

They are quite common in older, urban areas. They were your typical older, two family, two story homes. Usually one unit on the first floor and one unit on the second floor. Each unit had part of the attic and part of the cellar. Usually the front doors were side by side on the front porch. Typically a duplex was two units side by side (common wall) but front doors on each side of the front.

Google 36 Wellington St Waltham MA for a classic example of an urban two family. It now is a two unit condo building. I was brought up in that house. Also look at 21 and 24 for some other classic two family homes. These homes are over 100 years old.