M.E. from Wisconsin writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I have an issue with water coming into my basement due to drain tile issues and exterior grading problems. I bought the condo 6 months ago and the previous owner had the same issues, brought it to the Board and even though foundation issues are technically the homeowner’s responsibility, the HOA ended up paying for it – both the interior and exterior repairs. The repairs they completed obviously didn’t resolve the issue since it still persists. When they met with me to discuss my concern, they state that the previous Board was “corrupt” and they (HOA) should have never paid for the work done in my unit. Do I have any recourse against them to pay to fix the problem vs forcing me to pay?
Mister Condo replies:
M.E., corruption aside, it does appear that the previous Board made an error when they decided to pay for work done in the previous unit owner’s interior. Interiors are generally covered by homeowner’s insurance. As far as the cause of the problem, that is another story. Speak with an attorney to find out what rights you have in your state to force the association to remedy the cause of the problem. Your own insurer may even want to get involved seeing as this will be a regular occurrence until it is fixed. The association is on the hook for the exterior repairs. Keep on top of them for that. By all means, keep your homeowner’s insurance policy in good standing order. You may need to make more claims against it until this problem is fixed. Good luck!