Wood rot repairs for wood trim

Our CC&R's say that the HOA pays for wood trim painting, but that each owner who has wood rot is required to fund their own rot repair, even though the HOA finds the contractor for all the wood rot repairs prior to painting. So, the HOA pays for the total repair/painting job and then charges individual homeowners by special assessment for their own rot repair.

Is this a common in way to handle wood rot and wood painting in HOAland?

BTW Our CC&Rs were rewritten in 2017, we are a 95 unit townhouse community in CA.

Thanks, Sue

Good question, Sue. Please cite the exact words in your CC&Rs about both the painting and the wood repair.

In addition, when you write "trim," what does this include? Is it, for instance, just trim around windows and doors? If other kinds of trim," can you write what that trim is/where is it found?

Considering that there are hundreds of HOAs in the country, it's impossible to say what's customary ir nit. I also live in a townhouse community and we're responsible for everything to do with the windows, including the trim. We also have to get new windows pre-approved by the board because that's an exterior change (written in our CCRS.)

All the money available to the association to pay for anything comes from the homeowners, so if your assessments weren't keeping up with inflation and/or the homeowners screamed about assessments being "too high", this may explain why your community is taking this route. Check those documents to see what else the assessments to cover vs. individual owners.

Remember, a townhouse community has a lot of things tge association has yo cover,, and there's a chance homeowners haven't been notifying the association of emerging wood trim that could have been resolved with preventative maintenance, like removing old caulk and replacing it. Get your wood trim taken care of and then talk to the board to get the back story of this policy. If you think of a better approach to save everyone a little money, let them know.

Hi Dean,

It's certainly possible that you share the maintenance cost for wood rot/painting. I own a townhome where a storm damage my shingles, a clear and small repair. The HOA had clearance to fix the roof and send me the bill or have me reimburse the HOA. If you can clearly see the need for repair (not the want to save money by deferring maintenance), I'd roll with the repair and get the painting side partially covered by your HOA.