Board Exculpation

The current board is repairing T1-11 siding sections and leaks involved in years of deferred maintenance on all the buildings within the project, which is defined as an association responsibility under exterior building maintenance in the Declarations . We received a letter from a townhome who was told 7 years prior, by a different group of board members, that the leaks around their window trim and T1-11 siding was their responsibility to fix. After several months of discussions, the owner paid to have leaks fixed on their own dime.
Now they sent a letter to the new board stating that since the board has now made an effort to fix all this deferred maintenance with owner dues assessments, why are they not being reimbursed for the money they spent 7 years ago? The Bylaws covers directors and officers for liability for acts or defaults of prior board members... How would you respond to such a sensitive issue?

How to respond? Don't. 7 years after-the-fact is kind of too late to complain. The owner who paid 7 years ago should have put up more of a stink back then. That old board made a mistake. Move ahead. I mean, even if someone sues there's bound to be some kind of a statute of limitations in place somewhere that would preclude bringing a suit now.

I agree with Geno.

You can't put off leaks, so owner had no choice but to get it fixed 6 years ago, and could not wait.

Once it is formally determined - and, if it is determined that responsibility lies with association, then I like Melissa's answer.