Garbage Disposal Removal

Not sure fully understand who has paid for what?

Could you be a bit more specific about who paid for what, and when? ie, has COA already paid for something? Is this something, per your docs, sued to be paid for by the COA, or owners?

Odd that the association would pay for garbage disposal repairs - shouldn't that be homeowner responsibility, especially if homeowner caused the problem by tossing down stuff that shouldn't be there? Ditto for the clogged drains.

An education program is fine and shouldn't cost very much - out together some tips with the plumber's help and distribute that. Tell the go downers how much this has cost - and effective immediately, they will be responsible for all repair costs. If their negligence or abuse results in damage to the part of the plumbing that's association responsibility, they will have to pay for that too.

It is highly recommended that all disposers be removed permanently. UNIT OWNERS WILL BE RESPONSIBLE for the cost.
Our building has had 2 calls in the last 45 days for this issue.
2 different plumbing companies stated that is the best thing that we could do.
Chances are this is going to get approved on tuesday and unit owners will be given either 60 or 90 days to comply (TBD)

We lived in a Chicago high rise that'd had all disposals removed long before we lived there for the same reasons as James' board is considering.

How many units are there, James? You did the right thing having all the drains cleaned and I imagine it ws expensive.

Do you have a plan for what to do with all the garbage once the disposals are removed? Do you, for example, have refuse or trash rooms on each floor? Residents already dispose of bones, & other organic matter somewhere in your buildings, maybe on each floor. will what you have a accomodate additional garbage? Will you need to hire an additional custodian?

Just how would you identify which individual unit is responsible for the problem?

We have a regular trash dumpster and a recycling dumpster. So food waste goes in regular trash.
There are 6 buildings 144 units total. Some don't have disposers but most do. Drains were cleaned last year done by a plumbing contractor.

The educational piece isn't about singling out specific homeowners since you may not be able to identify them. The point of showing everyone the photo is to demonstrate how someone's thoughtless behavior is resulting in inconvenience and increased costs for all. People may not admit they could be directly or indirectly responsible, but they and God knows thats how they got rid of that old tray of kitty litter or their three year old flushed down that box of Legos.

When you are in a HOA, everyone shares in the expenses, so if costs are going up because of bad behavior, it would help if everyone would try to change their behavior and maybe costs can get under control. I for one, get tired of my assessment having to increase to cover the cost of F***ed up behavior in trying to take care of my portion of the property that were both paying for, so is it too much for you to act like a responsible adult and try to take care of yours?
.

Yep, had the same issue. Multiple units and it clogs before it hit main sewer line. Could have been any one of the units.

Our solution was the same, remove all garbage disposals. Not all units had them, so it wasnt a big deal. Never a problem since.

A plumber once told me...... garbage disposals have paid off many mortgages and college for plumbers children. He is grateful people have them. Anytime you put solids down drain pipes means he gets a call at some point.

Don't think it belongs in your bylaws, James. It could be a new rule if it doesn't conflict with your CC&Rs and (more remotely) your bylaws.

I don't understand how a condo association can legally remove them. In my Declaration the garbage disposal and the piping connecting it to the building's main line belong to the unit owner, not to the association. People who bought the condos paid for those disposals. Besides, there are many other things getting flushed into the building's pipes that contribute to blockages (diapers, sanitary products, pet waste, toys, etc. etc.). A plumber once told me that people should use the cheapest toilet paper they can find - the plush, multi-layered "comfort" stuff is guaranteed to cause problems.

I get it, everybody has to pay. This is one of those things that people who hate condos complain about. But aside from encouraging more informed and responsible behavior, I'm not sure how much power the association has to change the situation.

Our CC&Rs don't list owners property, i.., toilets, garbage disposals, personal HVAC (heat pump) that's connected to the common area. But our CC&Rs do say that changes can be made to units' equipment to prevent damage to or to benefit the common areas. And th HOA's agents can enter the condo units and make these changes.

So....we have 200+ garbage disposals. I wonder how many clogs a year that, let's say, that caused damage would need to occur before our HOA could remove ours? I think James' HOA needs their attorney's advice.

And I still think it is not their bylaws that need to be amended. Do your CC&Rs say something similar to Cathy's, James?

This what we are looking to change.
Our Management team (New since august 1) has been looking into this.
They are consulting with legal and we should find out by our February meeting.

I don't see the problem - in our community, garbage disposals are the responsibility of the homeowner, just like other plumbing issues. I live in a townhouse community and the association is only responsible for the line from the point it leaves the unit, and if homeowner negligence or abuse causes it to fail, THEY have to pay.

You're in a building, so check your documents to see who's responsible - I would think it would be the homeowners. If the association paid for those clogged drains, why on earth didn't the board check them before forking over the money?

If the association is responsible, the board should pass a resolution stating that if misuse or abuse (like putting grease down the drain) causes backups, they have to pay, so you're on the right track. If they want the association to pay, a hefty assessment increase will be necessary to cover any damage (along with it being addressed in a reserve study). That should make them behave, and if not, holding a few homeowners accountable for a few hundred dollars or more in repair bills will drive it home.

Update: This is happening.

We had several issues over the past several months with plumbing calls and most of them were disposal related,
One was hair related that caused 30k damage between 2 units.( Not disposal related)
We are in the process of re writing rules and regulations and hope to approve at our meeting later this month.
Garbage disposals will not be allowed so all unit owners will have to remove them.
The Company that owns several units have been removing them as they turn over and only have 3 units left. Those will be gone by the end of November.
We did set a target date of end of February for all unit owners to remove them.
Plus if there is an issue and it gets traced back to a specific unit and if a disposal is present the fine will be $300.

On another note we did sent out a educational e mail back in the spring. We did also state that we are looking to ban disposals.

Just curious if homeowners did not put up a fight about this. If they purchased the condo with the disposal, how can the HOA require removal without offering compensation for it? And what added trash services did you add?

The OP posted a follow up on their original thread, I think that is a valid use of an old post.