D.M. from New Jersey writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I’m on the ground floor of a 3-level condo. We recently noticed condensations in our furnace room, me being on ground floor I got the brunt of the damage on my ceiling. The review (from a professional) was: water seeping down vent was found in 2 units above me, due to venting problem that connects all furnaces & 3 hot water heaters directly to same vent which is not properly venting possibly because it may be rotted internally. Both my HVAC contractor and an appraiser said this should be the responsibility of the condo association to fix this, however, the condo association says this falls under: vent/exhaust and it is the homeowner’s problem? Have you ever heard of this type of issue/damage?
Mister Condo replies:
Many association Boards get it wrong when it comes to association versus homeowner responsibility. However, association governing docs are often confusing and there is a lot of gray area when it comes to interpretation. Clearly, damage inside your unit is covered by your insurance but the problem of stopping future damage remains and the association says it isn’t their problem, leaving you and your insurer to take the next steps. The unit owner with the faulty venting may need to correct the problem if they are the owner of the faulty vent. If that owner is amenable to repairing the faulty vent, that should take care of the problem. If they are unwilling, you should speak with an attorney to get legal advice before proceeding. You might have to sue the association or the other homeowner to get the repair handled. It is unfortunate that the association won’t simply step in and correct the problem as their common areas are also being damaged. Yes, I have heard of this type of problem before, not only in New Jersey but other states as well. It really comes down to how willing to act the players are. I would like to see the Board step up but they may not be under any statutory requirement to do so, leaving the problem to the homeowners to settle. All the best!