Who is responsible for a toliet overflow

Started by RuthF1 • 4 replies • 1881 views

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RuthF1 (Washington)
Posts: 117

Posted:

We had a toliet in an upstairs unit overflow and did water damage to the downstairs unit. Our property manager says it is the associations responsibility to pay for the damages. I was always told that anything inside the units were the owners responsibility?

I know this is pretty generic but what experiences have you had like this?

We are a 104 Unit Association in WA state.

RbR (Washington)
Posts: 4

Posted:

Hi RuthF1,

It'll probably be a lot less complicated having your own home in a real house. A lot less expensive, too!

Just the same, the flood damage is no fault of yours; however, this is a typical situation where you would normally have to shoulder the bill for the damage, but hold the culprit accountable for reimbursing you.

Of course, it would be exceedingly gracious for the association to assume the accountability, but, of course, in the meantime, the clean up and other damages are present, personal responsibilities.

Guess what? You're it!

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

In our COA it would be the upstairs owner who was responsible. In fact our president has had to pay twice for damages from leaks that originated in his unit. Once from a faulty connection to his refrigerators ice maker and once from a leak in his air conditioner. If the PM is sure it is the Association's responsibility to pay for the damages, I would ask that s/he show in the CC&R's where it states that.

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have problems with fractions

JackB8 (Virginia)
Posts: 141

Posted:

I'll bet the occupant/owner is ultimately going to be responsible. We have single family homes in our HOA, but I cannot imagine any circumstance where, if we had townhouses, our HOA would pay for damages which are largely usually the result of an occupant failing to prevent or abate such damage.

ChrisP5 (Missouri)
Posts: 165

Posted:

In our condo association the CC&Rs state it is the associations responsibility to cover these repairs. Our documents also allow us to bill back any amount not covered by insurance (our deductable) to the tenants. We have had 2 water incidents so far this year, one massive flood that damaged/destroyed several units and one toilet overflow.

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