M.M. from outside of Connecticut writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
If the condo HOA has contracted with a firm, using funds from an assessment, to do spalling on your deck, is the condo owner responsible for paying for tile removal and replacement and also a sliding glass door replacement they say needs to be removed to do the spalling?
Mister Condo replies:
M.M., that is a tricky question. My gut instinct is to say that the unit owner is responsible for those items that the unit owner owns and the association is responsible for any common elements that it owns. In the case of a deck and spalling, my question is who owns the tiles? Are they your tiles (installed by you or a previous owner)? If so, it is likely that you own the tiles and would have to pay for the replacement. Who owns the slider? Again, that is typically unit owner responsibility but your documents may state otherwise. My best advice is for you to review your documents and see who owns what. If the documents are silent on the subject, you might ask neighbors who have faced a similar situation how it was handled previously. My best guess is that you will be responsible for the tiles and the slider. On the upside, you will have beautiful new deck spalling, tiles and a slider to come and go to enjoy your deck. All the best!