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MargaretF (South Carolina)
Posts: 15
Posted:
Perhaps someone can help me with this. Our owners who own an end unit condo have windows in the bedroom and in the living room. Our master doc states the following and as most master docs, it's not 100 percent clear. Can anyone offer an interpretation as to who would be responsible for the cost to repair and/or replace those windows? I've listed the info below. Sure would appreciate an opinion. It appears to me the cost rests with the owner of the unit and not the entire association.
******************************************************

Page 5: Apartments, General Common Elements and Limited Common Elements
(b) the window and window glasses, screens, frames, castings which are a part of the window openings of the Apartment
(e) all appurtenances which are an integral and are exclusive to the Apartment
(ap·pur·te·nance – noun 1. something subordinate to another, more important thing; adjunct; accessory.)

Page 6: Limited Common Elements means and includes:
(1) Those common elements which are agreed upon by all the Apartment owners to be reserved for the use of a certain number of Apartments to the exclusion of the other Apartments, if any, ....... Maintenance and repair of Limited Common Elements rests with the Owner or Owners of the Unit or Units to which they abut, adjoin, or service.

Page 20: Apartment Description and Numbers - last paragraph:
Included in the Limited Common Elements are exterior storage areas, permanent exterior trash collection areas (if any), exterior unit balconies and railings.

It mentions 'exterior unit balconies and railings but not north & south side windows.
BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535
Posted:
MargaretF,

I think it's pretty clear.

You said - "Those common elements which are agreed upon by all the Apartment owners to be reserved for the use of a certain number of Apartments to the exclusion of the other Apartments"

Look at the last words, "exclusion of other apartments" That usually means that it is a limited common element. Can other apartment owners use the windows? I don't see how this is possible, any more than they can use another's kitchen, bathroom, or whatever.

Since they are limited common elements and your documents say LCE repairs are the responsibility of the apartment owner, I think that answers your question.
DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posted:

Margaret,
I own a unit with the same type of wording. But you did not include where this is from. Is it owner responsibility or association responsibility. What is this quoted from, under the main heading? Normally, General common elements are the association responsibility, except for glass replacement, which is the owners responsibility.

Limited common elements is spelled out for you but there is no mention of windows and I think that the wording says that windows are under Association resp.
MargaretF (South Carolina)
Posts: 15
Posted:
That is the way I read the Master Deed. In years past, all those windows had awnings which the repair and replacement of rested on the entire association. I felt that was not an association cost but as a fairly new owner, I did not really get into it.

We are currently facing a very costly repair on those windows because of water penetration and I do believe the replacement rests solely on the owner whose windows are involved. It will be an extremely hot topic at our annual meeting because of the way things were in the past.

Being on the B.O.D., I'd like to avoid legal consultation costs but I know it will be an issue with the owners and we may have to go that route.

Thanks for your input. M.
MargaretF (South Carolina)
Posts: 15
Posted:
Thank you Donna, for your input. Most of the information came from Article V APARTMENTS, GENERAL COMMON ELEMENTS AND LIMITED COMMON ELEMENTS which is the description of the varying elements of the association.

Section 3 describes what each apartment shall encompass and include and that each Co-Owner shall be responsible for maintenance and repair of the following which, under (b), which states window glasses, screens, FRAMES... etc.

Under GENERAL COMMON ELEMENTS describing the 'Real Property' (excluding the LIMITED COMMON ELEMENTS), I cannot find 'windows' listed anywhere which indicates to me these windows are not the association's responsibility.

Which leads me back to "LIMITED COMMON ELEMENTS" which states that the maintenance and repair rests with the owner or owners of the unit or units to which they abut, adjoin, or service.

The rest of the info I stated comes from EXIBIT "B" to Master Deed 'Apartment Description and Numbers'. As this area only mentions 'balconies and railings'... as being 'included in the Limited Common Elements', this is where the 'gray' area comes into play. Based on your reply, I went back and checked EXIBIT "B" and found this section also states; "Specific designations of General Common elements contained herein are for clarification only and are to be read in conjunction with the definitions of such elements contained elsewhere in the Master Deed.. " which takes me back to Section 3 and the owner being responsible.

From all I've read, it does appear to be the owner's responsibility but I've thrown the question out there in case others may have faced a similar situation and could help clarify the issue.

The complex where I live is governed by another Master Deed which only mentions the owner being responsible for the 'glass'. The frames, in this complex, is the responsibility of the association. They are all different... Thanks again for you reply.

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