Bats in Attics of Condos

Looking for any advise or help with this one. I am a HOA BOD member for a condo complex that has 76 condos that are all individually owned. I am one of 76 owners, We have 13 buildings in our Condo community. Our issue is Bats. They are in every signle building we have. There is no way to keep them out of the attics as our roofs are open roofs - I guess a better way to explain that is, the eves of the roofs are open and there are no soffits to keep them out. The condos are located in Southeast Texas and Northeast of Houston. Very heavily wooded area and there are bats everywhere. Have been for the 48 years I have lived here. Our HOA is responsible for building repairs, which includes, stairs, staircases, balconies, siding repairs and outside plumbing. We also paying of water bills, dumpster service, building insurance, roofs. Nothing on the interior of a condo as these are private owned.

So my issue is a young couple purchased a condo and now are getting bats into their condo and are blaming us for it. We tried to explain to her if they are getting into your condo, then there is a entry point for them to enter. And that is up to you to find and repair and call an exterminator. Its our fault that bats are in the attics and its our responsibility to remove them. Problem is that if you remove them, they will go to the next building and the next etc and return to this building in question as there is nothing to keep them out. Other then adding soffits to eves for about $10K-$20K per building. Again there are 13 buildings.

Nothing in our by-laws suggest that the HOA is responsible for exterminating, or removal of animals from attics. Nor does our Declaration. The attic space belongs to the homeowners as that is where their AC duct work and hoses for AC is.

Now this couple is threatening us with new media footage as well as an attorney. We are a non-profit organization. They have called the health department on us several This couple has been relentless this past weekend banging on some of our Board members doors, and we are strictly volunteers and to constantly bang on our doors at 8am on a Sunday morning is a bit unacceptable.

I understand their worry but this is nothing that we can handle. Again spending money to rid them is impossible. This whole neighborhood where we are located are full of bats and we are surrounded by trees.

My question is is this something are are liable to take care of? Or should this fall to a homeowner? The way I am looking at this is that they are the homeowner, and just like myself, (I live in a free-standing home, not a condo) If i get bats in my attic or my home, it is up to me to handle the situation and bring someone in to go through my home to pin-point where they are coming in from my attic and accessing my home as they cant just fly though sheetrock.

Any help is appreciated.

Peggy

You say attic space belongs to the owner. If this is so, then this is the answer.

https://batworld.org/bat-problems/

Call your local rescue people for help.

So you think the owners are letting them in through the front door of their unit? Give me a break.

The bats are entering through a void in the exterior of the condo, which is the HOA’s responsibility. The attic space is the HOA”s responsibility.

The HOA can accept bats in their attics if they chose, until the owners claim health risks from the bat droppings and take you to court. Where you will lose and pay to clean up the mess and maybe temporary lodging for the owners because you dinked around with this.

Quit being cheap and do the right thing.

Kerry, if the bats POE is the HOA's responsibility, then the mitigation to get rid of the bats is the responsibility.
This also tells me that the attic space is a big open void and lacks fire stop walls separating the units.
If the attics are the responsibility of each individual owner, I would be looking at installing fire stop walls
in the attic space of my unit.

Well, the bats are getting in somehow, and that's probably through a gap in the common elements. They go out at night to feed, so there has to be a convenient access point for them.

If we had the same situation in my condo community, the homeowner would be responsible for removing the bats from the attic (which would involve people who specialize in larger critters, not the folks who spray for bugs) and the association would be responsible for repairs to the common elements. And the attic will need cleanup. I love bats and their homely wee faces, but they carry a boatload of viruses - including rabies. You don't want them figuring out a way into your home - because if they do, everyone will need rabies shots.

Yes, I saw the part about the unsealed soffit. Since these are condos, I'm assuming that these are the responsibility of the association. Even if the building was designed that way, the design is a problem if it invites critters into the attics. Associations can be left holding the bag for construction defects, which is why they fight them legally.

I'm also skeptical about whether the soffit is the problem, since you'd expect the entire community would be having similar problems. If it's only one unit, then there is probably (but not necessarily) something specific to that unit. In any case, the board should get curious.

PS, I stick with my eerier post. Contact , via the board, your HOA attorney.

Gregory's key words: "...depending on the docs." Mot likely the CC&Rs. But look at the the Article of Formation too.

To be clear: The HOA IS responsible for the exterior common area. And that area "as built," has no soffits under the eaves. It was never otherwise. The attics were never enclosed so there are no enclosures to maintain, repair, replace by the HOA.

Following Kerry's line of thought in a construction perspective. Do you have a flat roof or not? If not then who is responsible for maintenance of the area of the roof and the top of the units? Basically the attic space. Let's replace the word "bat" with water intrusion. No soffits and now with weather climate changes you have driving horrific rain. One or two units have leaks from rain coming up through the open areas of the absent soffit area. .Who is responsible? Once I lived in a condo that worked fine for a number of years. Then one bad winter we had ice damming. Special assessment and several feet of ice guard on the lower end of everyone's roof. It was not part of the original construction but you can say it's part of a roofing system. So even though the soffits did not exist there has to be found out first responsibility and then various solutions. I am thinking with the number of building and unit combinations that you have several units per building. I was in a similar setup and my unit had access to the attic and there was firewall between my attic space and the adjoining unit's attic space. The attic space was mine. Some folks put up there plywood sheets so they can store things up there. What is your setup like?

Jeff puts it better than I. In the definitions s section at the front of your CC&Rs, there should be a definition of Unit, which includes its boundaries and everything in it that is the "separate interest "of the owner.

I don't even know why the OP thinks it's the HOA's job to remove the bats from the attics. "Because its "their fault," she means the HOA's, but that's not making sense to me.

hi Peggy,

JeffT has helped me in the past to really flushing out exactly who is responsible for what in the condo docs. Also to Tim's point we are in a grey area and I do fully support that this might be the Assn and could be the owner. The condo knowing there are bats and not doing anything is not a great situation. But right now you have one pissed off unit owner and they have a right to be upset. Without knowing your condo docs we are in the dark. My current condo we has one unit owner complain about mice. No one else had a mice issue. The condo assn did not do anything. Another unit owner complained about insects. I had them send them a picture. I was utterly shocked. It was about 80 flying termites. Well I treated it like a major emergency and got exterminators. Then I finally figured out how they were coming in. The caulking was old and shrunk and they were getting through the window caulking. That was condo responsibility to do maintenance for that and it was on the condo and we got the project done. Please keep us posted on this what your docs say and what steps the condo assn are going to take. It's a good topic.

Peggy

You say condos but what is the type construction? High rise, townhomes, stand alone homes, etc.