Crossed wires - whose responsibility?

Started by MarcW • 4 replies • 1658 views

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MarcW (Texas)
Posts: 11

Posted:

I'm the President of a 10 unit condo HOA in Texas and have a small quandary:

Over a year ago, it became known in my 10 unit condo assoc. that an owner had their power turned off for failure to pay, but this person still had working electrical - meaning that that unit was miswired. This person has since moved out of our community, but the owner who lives below that unit (who is also a Board member) is complaining that his electric bill is high and wants the property to send out an electrician to see if his unit is connected to the one that previously was shut off (which now has a new owner).

Other than the common expenses for safety and perimeter lighting, each unit should own their own electrical wiring. Is it our responsibilty to diagnose and/or repair this issue? If this owner's wires are crossed with the unit that was previously disconnected, they've been that way from the start of our community, over 20 years ago.

DJ1 (Ontario)
Posts: 798

Posted:

Couldn't he just turn everything off in his unit and see if the wheel on the meter is still running, which would indicate someone else is tapped into his unit?

Jadedone4 (Virginia)
Posts: 495

Posted:

Better yet, shouldn't the local power/electrical company be the person to determine misuse of utilities? If this was a situation which was a builder error, etc - I would assume that the warranties have expired by now. If the power/electric is the responsibility of individual owners, shouldn't the solution to the problem also be with individual owners? I would have the local power company come out and determine the cause of the current owner's high bill/usage, and have them sort out the issue, so that the owners have all information before them.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

I would contact the local utility company. However, I will caution you that this situation may be somewhat "illegal". NOT that your HOA is doing it purposely. I believe there is a law about separate addresses must have separate meters. You can't run off someone else's meter. That's illegal.

With stating that... your HOA has the possibility of facing a fine for this offense. Not to get you worried. It's just a fact that may come up. Don't want you surprised to hear that information. So you may ask quizically like you don't understand what is going on...HINT HINT... Let the electrical company discover it on their own if possible. You may want the owner to "guide" them into the right direction but without acknowledging your awareness.

I am an Electrician. (NOT licensed or practicing). I do wonder what the connection was to the original owner. Were they involved with any of the building or knew the contractor? I smell a hint of favoritism here possibly or it was the first unit built. Either way, the situation will have to be resolved by the owners and the electric company. The owner may even get reimbursed if they play their cards right and not get fined instead.

I had similar situation when I lived in an apartment. 2 sets of apartments in the complex had their Hot water heaters reversed. Mine upstairs was the downstairs water heater. I knew this and turned off my breaker to the Hot water. It made a huge difference on the electric bill for me! However, one day, they had to replace the water heater. They had to come to my apartment to do it. I did tell them about the situation. However, they were well aware of it. They just didn't want to fix it. That repair required some expensive plumbing work. I later did turn my water heater back on. It was just lucky my neighbor and I were on different schedules and we never had run out of hot water.

Former HOA President

GloriaM (North Carolina)
Posts: 829

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MarcW on 06/22/2007 4:42 PM
I'm the President of a 10 unit condo HOA in Texas and have a small quandary:

Over a year ago, it became known in my 10 unit condo assoc. that an owner had their power turned off for failure to pay, but this person still had working electrical - meaning that that unit was miswired. This person has since moved out of our community, but the owner who lives below that unit (who is also a Board member) is complaining that his electric bill is high and wants the property to send out an electrician to see if his unit is connected to the one that previously was shut off (which now has a new owner).

Other than the common expenses for safety and perimeter lighting, each unit should own their own electrical wiring. Is it our responsibilty to diagnose and/or repair this issue? If this owner's wires are crossed with the unit that was previously disconnected, they've been that way from the start of our community, over 20 years ago.

Marc:

Condo's and townhome governing documents are written differently. Does yours read that anything that solely services the unit is the Owners expense? If so this is the Owners deal and he will have to hire an electrician to remedy the problem.

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