J.H. from Saint Johns County, Florida writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I live in a condo that has garages and driveways. There is sludge from the overflow of the gutters on the driveway. My AC or water heater drain line drips along with this. It is clear that my drain line is clear and clean. Drips are coming from the roof. Who is responsible for the clean-up?
Mister Condo replies:
J.H., this sounds like a “he said / she said” to me. You say the sludge is from the overflow of the gutters and the Condo Board or Management Company says it is from your air conditioner drain line. The association has the upper hand here because they are citing you for the mess. Of course, it is a one-sided fight because you can’t make them clean up a mess they claim is yours. If they won’t listen to reason and they insist this is your mess, you will need to decide as to whether or not it is worth it to fight them (via lawsuit) or simply clean up the sludge. My guess is that it will be far less expensive to simply clean up the sludge this time but do so under protest and find out what it would cost to sue them next time in case this happens again, which it very well could. It is a “lose/lose” scenario in my opinion. At least you will be rid of the sludge! Good luck!